Labour group seeks help for hundreds of thousands of seafarers stranded by COVID
New York, USThomson Reuters Foundation Hundreds of thousands of seafarers around the world are stranded at sea due to coronavirus travel restrictions, unable to go home or get medical care, the International Labour Organization said on Tuesday, calling on nations to address their plight. Many shipping and transport workers have been at sea as long […]
Pandemic seen rolling back conditions in Asia garment factories
Phnom Penh, CambodiaThomson Reuters Foundation The pandemic risks triggering a race to the bottom that could push tens of millions of Asian garment workers into greater hazard on the factory floor, with women hardest hit, the International Labour Organization said on Wednesday. About 40 per cent of workers furloughed or laid off by the COVID-19 […]
Jobless youth risk lifelong “scarring” from pandemic – ILO
Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters Young people who have lost jobs or schooling during the COVID-19 pandemic risk carrying “scarring effects” throughout their working lives unless governments provide immediate support, the International Labour Organization said on Tuesday. An ILO poll of 12,000 youths in 112 countries showed in May that more than one in six people under 24 […]
UN hails “historic” milestone in global drive to end child labour
London, UK Thomson Reuters Foundation The United Nations’ labour agency hailed a “historic” milestone on Tuesday in the drive to end child labour after a global treaty to protect children from sexual exploitation, forced labour and armed conflict was signed by all member states. The International Labour Organization’s convention against the worst forms of child […]
‘Lockdown generation’ looms as pandemic risks robbing young of future
New York City, USThomson Reuters Foundation Economic fallout from COVID-19 is hitting young workers so hard they risk becoming a “lockdown generation” scarred for life, with women the worst hit, the United Nations said this week. A study by the UN’s International Labour Organization pointed to the “multiple shocks” young people now faced worldwide – […]
Cash in hand: Could basic income protect livelihoods in coronavirus crisis?
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation Once a radical idea on the fringes of mainstream economics, handing out cash to citizens has been mooted in the United States and Britain as a way to protect vulnerable peoples’ livelihoods as the coronavirus crisis accelerates. Universal Basic Income involves giving citizens cash payments each month to spend however they […]
UN sees “major progress” on forced labour in Uzbek cotton harvest
Tbilisi, GeorgiaThomson Reuters Foundation Uzbekistan made “major progress” on stamping out forced labour in its cotton harvest last year, when 94 per cent of pickers worked voluntarily, the United Nations said on Wednesday. The Central Asian country, one of the world’s biggest cotton exporters, has for years been under international pressure to end the use […]
Indian state to map cotton supply chain to stamp out child labour
Chennai, IndiaThomson Reuters Foundation A top cotton producing state in India is to start mapping its entire supply chain as part of a unique collaboration with the International Labour Organisation to weed out child labour and slavery from its fields and factories. The southern state of Telangana will this month begin a three-year project with […]
To end slavery, free 10,000 people a day for a decade, report says
New YorkThomson Reuters Foundation Ten thousand people would need to be freed every day to eliminate modern slavery over the next decade, according to research on Wednesday showing countries making little or no progress in efforts to end forced labour. Less than half of countries rank forced labour as a crime and most do not […]
Warnings over new law to protect workers in Thai fishing industry
Phnom Penh, CambodiaThomson Reuters Foundation A new law to address abuses in Thailand’s multi-billion dollar fishing industry contains loopholes, labour rights campaigners have said, warning of difficulties in enforcement. The legislation published last Wednesday follows years of global scrutiny over abuse of Thai and migrant workers and mandates basic rights such as social security, medical […]