Changes in Labor Law in Burma, and What That Really Means
U Maung Maung, general secretary of the Federal Trade Unions of Burma (FTUB), visited the AFL-CIO last week to give some perspective on the draft Labor Organizations Law the Burmese government has introduced. The International Labor Organization (ILO) will decide in November whether to send a Commission of Inquiry to the country, a move Burma would like to avoid.
Although the law is a step in the right direction, U Maung Maung pointed out several holes in its reach, foundation and application and says it lacks adequate procedures for protecting collective bargaining or freedom of association. The announcement of changes in the labor law was accompanied by the release of 15 activists in October, all of whom were held on charges of “affecting the morality or conduct of the public or a group of people in a way that would undermine the security of the Union or the restoration of law and order.” However, 22 activists are still being held for this same reason, with sentences reaching up to 28 years.
Labor Department Seeking Nominations for Anti-Child Labor Award
 |
||||
|
||||
Iqbal Masih was a Pakistani carpet weaver who was sold into slavery at age four. After escaping from his servitude at 12, he became an outspoken advocate against child slavery.
He told the world of his plight when he received the Reebok Human Rights Award in 1994. He was tragically killed a year later at the age of 13 in his native Pakistan.
Now the U.S. Labor Department is seeking nominations for its annual award named for Masih to honor those who have made extraordinary efforts to combat the worst forms of child labor internationally and raise awareness about child labor.
Human Rights Watch: Bahrain Illegally Fired 2,000 Workers
More than 2,000 workers in Bahrain have been dismissed from their jobs since late March, apparently for participating in or supporting pro-democracy demonstrations, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.
The labor movement in Bahrain has asserted that the dismissals have violated Bahraini labor laws. Human Rights Watch adds the dismissals may also violate international standards, in particular those banning discrimination on the basis of political opinion. HRW called on Bahrain’s government to reinstate and compensate the workers if an investigation finds they were illegally fired.
ILO Seeks Protections for Domestic Workers
Domestic workers around the world play a crucial role in raising children, caring for the elderly and the infirm, and generally supporting those in need of household help. But these same workers are all too often exploited and have little recourse because they are largely excluded from the legal protections that safeguard almost all other workers.
This month at the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) annual conference in Geneva, Switzerland, delegates will take a special look the plight of domestic workers and are expected to set a global standard outlining basic rights for domestic workers. The ILO is part of the United Nations.
In the opening statement for the United States at the first session of the Decent Work for Domestic Workers discussion, the Department of Labor’s Robert Shepard, said: Read the rest of this entry »
Domestic Workers Unite Nationally, Globally
Not covered by U.S. labor laws—and until 1974, denied even minimum wage protection—domestic workers are among the most vulnerable. But in recent years, they, like other workers, have found innovative ways to organize, mobilize and spread their message.
Marina’s experience as a domestic worker is typical. She left her home and family in Colombia to find work in the United States. She was desperate for a job that could help pay for insulin and other medications her children need to take daily.
She was hired to care for a child with a disability in New York. At least, that’s what she was told. But she ended up cooking, cleaning and doing the laundry as well.
Her conditions were appalling. Marina worked 18 hours a day, six days a week for $3 per hour. Her living quarters were a basement with an overflowing sewage system. Then, after three years, she was summarily fired and instantly became homeless.
U.S. Unionists Demand End of Saddam-Era Labor Law in Iraq
 |
|
When the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, “we were told democracy would be built in Iraq” says Stan Gacek of the AFL-CIO’s International Department. But speaking at a rally today outside the Iraqi consulate in Washington, D.C., Gacek added:
There won’t be democracy in Iraq until the workers’ right to organize is guaranteed.
Every law from the Saddam Hussein regime has been rewritten—except the 1987 labor law that abolished the freedom to collectively bargain, the right to strike and a guaranteed minimum wage. That is the labor law today’s Iraqi government is using to bust the country’s union movement. Workers have been fired, harassed, exiled and even killed for forming unions and taking job actions.
Today Is World Day for Decent Work
 |
|
Today is World Day for Decent Work, and union members in more than 100 countries are mobilizing to address the global economic and employment crisis and demand fundamental reform of the world economy.
The deepest global recession since the 1930s has led to a jobs crisis with millions of people out of work. The International Labor Organization (ILO) predicts that as many as 50 million more workers could be kicked out of jobs worldwide in the next year and could lead to a dramatic increase in the number of working poor.
Live online coverage of the activities around the world, including videos, photographs and messages from events in every continent, will be broadcast on a special website, www.wddw.org, which will be updated via a 24-hour live feed.
New Reports Detail Global Child Labor Products and Abuses
 |
|
Child labor, says U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, continues to be a serious global “problem in 21st century society” and says the United States “must do everything in our power to end these shameful practices.”
Solis’ comments came with the release earlier this month of three new reports by the Labor Department’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB). The central report is a list of goods believed to have been produced by child or forced labor and it includes 122 products from 58 nations.
The report includes many products companies around the globe use as raw materials for finished products that are purchased by U.S. consumers. They include cotton, sugar cane, tobacco, coffee, rice, cocoa, bricks, garments, carpets, footwear, gold and coal.
Brian Campbell, International Labor Rights Forum director of policy and legal programs, calls the new list:
a critical tool that consumers and businesses can use to identify the sectors where forced and child labor abuses continue…this list helps to focus attention on problematic sectors and the challenge now is to implement business practices that lead to higher labor standards and living and working conditions for workers.
Click here for the report, “2008 List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor.”
Unions Pushing for Global Jobs Policy
 |
The global union movement is pushing hard to make sure the issue of jobs is high on the agenda when leaders of the G-20 governments meet in Pittsburgh in September.
Around the world, unemployment and lack of decent work are devastating economies. The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that another 20 million women and men soon could be out of work.
A plan developed by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) at the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) calls for G-20 governments to spend at least 2 percent of their nation’s gross domestic product on solving the crisis. Currently, European nations are spending no more than 1 percent. The plan urges a coordinated international recovery and sustainable growth plan to create jobs.
G-8 Union Leaders Issue Urgent Call to Tackle Jobs Crisis
The global union movement is issuing an urgent call for the leaders of the Group of Eight (G-8) nations to tackle the deepening jobs crisis at their summit meeting in L’Aquila, Italy, next month.
The leaders must develop a coordinated and jobs-orientated international recovery and sustainable growth plan that focuses on creating good jobs and re-regulating the global financial system, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney told a gathering of G-8 union leaders today in Rome.
The global economy continues to deteriorate at an unprecedented rate. Workers around the world—who are the innocent victims of this crisis—are losing their jobs and incomes.
