SRI LANKA: Unions strike landmark deal to protect migrant workers

By Feizal Samath

COLOMBO, May 8 (IPS) – Trade unions from Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait came together with their Sri Lankan counterparts here to strike an unprecedented agreement on the welfare of migrant workers. The Colombo agreement is seen as breaking the tight grip on migrant workers of recruitment agencies here and in recruiting countries.

The impact of the economic crisis on women migrant workers

The UNIFEM East and Southeast Asia Regional Office, in cooperation with the International Labour Organization and with support from the European Commission, organized a Forum on the Gendered Impact of the Economic Crisis on Asian Migrant Workers on 23-25 April in Bangkok.

Australia cuts worker migrant intake by 14 percent

Australia on Monday said it will cut its annual skilled worker migrant intake by 14 percent in an effort to preserve jobs for Australians after a spike in unemployment. Immigration Minister Chris Evans said the skilled migration visa program, under which people can immigrate to Australia to fill certain jobs, will be cut from 133,500 to 115,000 in 2009-10. The list of occupations will also be cut, Evans said.

US: workers without borders

The idea of a Transnational union helping migrant workers in bilateral agreements between States is challenging, indeed. Please also consider that there are some important Conventions of the ILO that already deal with the subject, like C66 Migration for Employment Convention, 1939.

By Jennifer Gordon
NYTimes

AMERICANS are hardly in the mood to welcome new immigrants. The last thing we need, the reasoning goes, is more competition for increasingly scarce jobs. But the need for immigration reform is more urgent than ever. The current system hurts wages and working conditions – for everyone.

China: “Undercover” migrant worker exposes labour violations

On 1 September 2008, Huang Weimu walked into Guangzhou’s Panyu District Labour Bureau and demanded 55,334 yuan for the past five month’s work done at the Huizhi Garment Factory. Huang wasn’t a stereotypical migrant worker, willing to be cheated and exploited, on the contrary: he specifically chose the factory because he knew it didn’t sign labour contracts. Huang deliberately worked at the Huizhi Garment Factor for five months “undercover,” stealthily collecting evidence of labour violations.

Sri Lanka: Trade unions say labour rights violations not helping to retain GSP+

By Dilshani Samaraweera

A number of leading trade unions said on Thursday that the government and businesses were jeopardising the extension of the European Union’s (EU) GSP+ by using the judiciary to suppress legitimate trade union rights.

US-Labor Day: Employee Free Choice Act restores basic freedoms for workers

By Bruce Nissen

Labor Day brings to mind barbecues, blow-out sales and back-to-school, and the only thought most of us give to labor is to be glad that we have the day off from it. But just as workers decades ago struggled for the basic protections we now have — a minimum wage, an eight-hour day and the right to form a union — many workers in Florida continue to struggle. Wages are stagnant, and workers have few organizations or opportunities to improve their situation. The Employee Free Choice Act is an opportunity to reverse this backsliding and restore the spirit of our labor laws.

US: Workers really feeling insecure

By Raju Chebium

American workers are worried about job security and want the government to help them gain new skills and prevent jobs from being shipped overseas, according to a national survey. The survey, which Rutgers University released Thursday, shows workers are as anxious now as they were during the 2001 recession, and their worries have persisted despite economic gains after the 2001 terrorist attacks.

US: Democrats hope economy trumps workers’ doubts on race

By Andrea Hopkins

(Reuters) – Union leaders know that ringing speeches at this week’s Democratic Party convention will not in themselves win over white working-class Americans reluctant to elect Barack Obama the first black president of the United States.

US: Government wages war on immigrants

The mostly-immigrant workers who toil in the nation’s meatpacking industry face many of the same dangerous conditions and stark exploitation as the immigrant meatpackers depicted in Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle 100 years ago.