India plans welfare measures for gig workers ahead of elections
New Delhi, IndiaReuters India plans to roll out welfare measures for “gig” workers employed through platforms like Amazon, Uber and India’s Zomato as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government prepares for elections, government and trade union officials said. The plan, part of the Social Security Code enacted in 2020, could include accident, health insurance and retirement […]
Worker rights: Qatar risks own goal with World Cup
ANURADHA NAGARAJ, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on the ongoing controversy over worker rights in Qatar which from Sunday hosts the World Cup…
Labour rights: Food delivery drivers question gig platforms’ safety nets
KIM HARRISBERG, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports, amid a surge in the gig economy, about growing concerns over the rights of food delivery drivers around the world…
Women in Argentina claim labour exploitation by Opus Dei
Buenos Aires, ArgentinaAP Lucía Giménez still suffers pain in her knees from the years she spent scrubbing floors in the men’s bathroom at the Opus Dei residence in Argentina’s capital for hours without pay. Giménez, now 56, joined the conservative Catholic group in her native Paraguay at the age of 14 with the promise she […]
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 […]
Explainer: Can my employer make me get a COVID-19 vaccine?
Thomson Reuters Foundation After widespread disruption caused by COVID-19 in 2020, businesses around the world hope the roll-out of vaccines this year can accelerate a return to normal. To speed things up, some are even incentivising their staff to get vaccinated. Dollar General Corp, Instacart and Trader Joe’s in the United States are paying frontline employees to […]
Will Cambodia’s garment sector rebound after ‘horror year’?
Kandal Province, CambodiaThomson Reuters Foundation Lon Vanna has been working around the clock for months but she doesn’t sew clothes anymore – she guards the machines in the abandoned garment factory in Cambodia where she once worked. Vanna believes the sewing machines are her only hope for saving her home and land, which she put […]
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 […]
Race protests spark calls for Arab states to end “exploitative” migrant worker system
Amman, JordanThomson Reuters Foundation Global anti-racism protests sparked calls on Monday for Arab countries to abolish an “exploitative” system of sponsorship for migrant workers that has been likened to modern slavery. About 23 million migrants, mostly from poor African and Asian countries, work in the Arab world under a system known as ‘kafala’ that generally […]
LABOUR RIGHTS: BABY OR A JOB? TAIWAN’S MIGRANT WORKERS FACE A STARK CHOICE
NICK ASPINWALL, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports from Taipei…