Labour rights: Bangladesh’s hazardous shipyards launch race for cleaner, safer future
NAIMUL KARIM, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on progress to clean-up the ship-breaking industry…
Asia’s gig workers strive to match global gains on labour rights
Bangkok, ThailandThomson Reuters Foundation Emboldened by the victories of delivery riders from New York to the Netherlands, gig workers in Asia are increasing pressure for better conditions from app-based businesses that have thrived during the pandemic. The platforms, like their counterparts in the United States or Europe, have taken advantage of lax labour protections to demand long […]
Pope Francis champions workers’ right to organise in unions
AP Pope Francis is championing the right of all workers to unionize, as economic activity is poised to increase when the pandemic threat eases. The pontiff stressed the needs of the most vulnerable workers, including migrants, in a video message Thursday to participants at a conference organised by the International Labor Organization, a United Nations […]
Switching off?: Right to disconnect gains ground as pandemic brings work home
As many people work remotely due to the coronavirus pandemic, UMBERTO BACCHI, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on a renewed push for employees to have the right to disconnect…
Brands urged to extend workers’ safety deal, eight years after Rana Plaza disaster
Dhaka, BangladeshThomson Reuters Foundation Labour activists on Thursday urged brands to extend a factory safety deal in Bangladesh ahead of the eighth anniversary of the Rana Plaza disaster, in which some 1,100 workers died. The collapse of the eight-storey building near Dhaka – the industry’s deadliest accident – on 24th April, 2013, led some 200 […]
Workers’ rights under threat as online work surges five-fold – UN
Berlin, GermanyThomson Reuters Foundation Digital platforms have soared five-fold over the past decade, offering opportunities to some but also eroding workers’ rights, the International Labour Organization said on Tuesday. From ride-sharing apps like Uber and online marketplaces like UpWork linking freelancers and clients, to software that allows employers to oversee workers, digital platforms have transformed […]
Declaring war on bonded labour, Indian state launches anniversary crackdown
Chennai, IndiaThomson Reuters Foundation Promising to eradicate bonded labour for good, the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu said on Tuesday it would ensure strict enforcement to root out a form of slavery that persists despite being banned 45 years ago. India has about eight million modern slaves, according to Australia-based Walk Free’s Global Slavery […]
Ecuador’s plantation workers pin hopes on historic slavery ruling
Bogota, ColombiaThomson Reuters Foundation Susana Quinonez was born and raised on an abaca tree plantation along Ecuador’s western coast where back-breaking work and extreme poverty were what passed for a normal childhood. For 16 years, Afro-Ecuadorian Quinonez laboured on the estate, stripping abaca fibre from the stalks of banana trees, removing the pulp then washing […]
Essay: What Christians can learn from Indian Sikh farmers’ desperate protests
JOSEPH D’SOUZA, founder of Dignity Freedom Network, Archbishop of the Anglican Good Shepherd Church of India and president of the All India Christian Council, says it’s time for greater unity among Christians…
Laws to leaders: three aims for the anti-slavery movement in 2021
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation With less than a decade for the world to meet a United Nations target of ending modern slavery, experts say gains in tackling human trafficking risk being undone by the COVID-19 pandemic. About 40 million people globally are estimated to be enslaved – in forced labour and forced marriages – in […]