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In June 2019, the International Labor Organization adopted Convention 190, along with Recommendation 206, the first global binding treaty to address gender-based violence and harassment (GBVH) in the world of work. The treaty calls on governments, employers and unions...
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‘Hunger or the Virus’: COVID-19 & Informal Workers
Among the world’s most vulnerable workers are those marginalized within their economies and societies, namely the women and labor migrants who predominate in the informal economy, where they perform valuable work in low-wage jobs as janitors, domestic workers,...
Women & Their Unions Stand Strong during COVID-19
In Tunisia, 150 women garment workers self-quarantined in their factory to manufacture desperately needed protective masks, churning out 50,000 a day as the COVID-19 crisis broke out. The South African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union (SACTWU) reached an agreement...
Migrant Workers Essential Workers Not Only in COVID-19
Sabina, a domestic worker from Bangladesh, has worked in Jordan for the past eight years, sending money home each month to her mother, sister and 11-year-old son who rely on her to survive. But with the COVID-19 crisis, she has been out of work for more than a month....
COVID-19: Unions Mobilize Across Middle East/N. Africa
Across the Middle East and North Africa, unions and worker associations are mobilizing to educate workers about their rights during the COVID-19 crisis, provide them with resources to protect themselves and their families, and push for fair treatment at the workplace....
COVID-19: ‘Maquila Workers Shouldn’t Bankroll Employers’
Maquila workers in El Salvador and Honduras are challenging employer attempts to use the coronavirus as a way to cut wages, layoff workers and even stop worker efforts to form unions. In Honduras, after the government on March 15 barred groups larger than 50 from...
With Unions, Informal Economy Workers Gain Rights
Taxi drivers in Ghana, tortilla vendors in Honduras and Asian domestic workers in countries across the Gulf region—all are part of the world’s informal economy, comprising 2 billion workers or 61 percent of the global workforce. Although informal economy workers...
Workers Rights Key to Ending Trafficking
Imagine the population of New York City. Then triple that number. That’s how many people around the world are being robbed of their freedom through human trafficking—24.9 million. While “trafficking” seems to imply movement across borders, some 77 percent of those...
Union Women Rock 16 Days of Activism Against GBVH
During the recent 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, workers and their unions from Honduras to Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, Nigeria and Bangladesh made big gains raising awareness about gender-based violence and harassment at work (GBVH) and demanding that...
Landmark Agreement for Kenya’s Informal Workers
Three trade unions representing Kenya’s formal-sector workers in food, health, education and metals signed memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with informal worker associations in their respective sectors yesterday. The agreements formalize efforts by affiliates of the...
Report: Call to Action for Rights of People on the Move
The freedom to speak, join unions and take part in community life are basic human rights that apply to all people—including migrant workers and refugees, panelists at a United Nations side event said this afternoon in New York City. “Migrant workers and refugees don’t...
Union Women Leaders Urge Nations: Ratify ILO C190
Women union leaders around the world have launched campaigns urging their governments to ratify Convention 190, a new global International Labor Organization (ILO) treaty to prevent and address violence and harassment in the world of work that includes gender-based...
New Radio Show in Jordan Showcases Worker Issues
Callers to a recent radio show about taxi workers in Jordan had many questions, including: Why are taxi drivers classified as independent contractors rather than as employees who are eligible for better wages and benefits? Why do Jordan’s laws prohibit taxi drivers...
New Domestic Worker Organization in Ukraine
In Ukraine, domestic workers formed the country’s first organization for domestic workers, including childcare workers, this week. The organization’s formation is part of a growing global movement to assert the rights of this vast, mostly hidden and primarily female...
Workers Craft Rule on Gender-Based Violence at Work
Workers and their unions are starting discussions this week on a global standard that would address violence and harassment in the world of work. They join representatives of employers and governments at the June 10–20 International Labor Conference (ILC) in Geneva,...
MAY DAY 2019: STANDING UP FOR WORKER RIGHTS ACROSS THE GLOBE
From Haiti to Kenya, Nepal and Palestine, hundreds of thousands of workers and their families celebrated International Workers Day last week, honoring the dignity of work and the accomplishments of the labor movement in defending human rights, job stability, fair...
Kuwait Union Opens Doors to All Migrant Workers
The Kuwait Trade Union Federation (KTUF) this week celebrated the relaunch of a migrant worker office within its headquarters to help address legal cases related to wage theft or other forms of exploitation brought by migrant workers, including domestic workers, in...
Kenya, Kuwait Unions Sign Migrant Workers’ Agreement
The Central Organization of Trade Unions-Kenya (COTU-K) and the Kuwait Trade Union Federation (KTUF) signed a cooperative agreement last week in Kuwait City, formalizing the federations’ effort to jointly address issues affecting workers who migrate from Kenya to...
Liberia Workers Win Large Pay Raise
Benefiting hundreds of miners, forklift drivers and other workers, the United Workers Union of Liberia (UWUL) and ArcelorMittal Liberia (AML)—part of global steel giant ArcelorMittal group—signed their fourth labor contract in Monrovia December 14. The three-year...
Video: Ending Gender Violence at Work with Collective Action
Seeking a job to support her family but lacking opportunity in her native Bangladesh, Shahida became a domestic worker far from her home. Beyond duties in her employer's home, she was forced to work at the houses of several of his relatives, giving her little time to...