Tokyo, Japan – When the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) launched in 2005 promising to promote the use of traceable, sustainable cotton in global supply chains, the non-profit organization (NGO) honed in on cotton-growing regions with a documented history of human rights abuses. BCI’s mission took it to Xinjiang, China, the homeland of the Uighur ethnic … Read more
Los Angeles, California, US – Facing longer and more intense wildfire seasons, US federal firefighters say their workforce is being set by low wages and mounting vacancies, which are affecting their ability to do their job. As prolonged periods of drought and rising temperatures turn overgrown forests into kindling, you have thousands of fires ripped … Read more
Tokyo, Japan – When Nami Sakai returned to Tokyo in 2016 after 15 years working in the United States, she struggled to acclimatize to Japanese corporate culture. As a woman and self-described “outsider”, Sakai, who works in consulting, found that her ability to effect change and get her voice across had diminished, irrespective of seniority. … Read more
Phnom Penh, Cambodia – When the Thai government in May ordered a Hong Kong clothing company to pay unpaid wages to 1,250 laid-off Thai factory workers, union leader Sia Jampathong knew the rare win would not be the end of the fight. Jampathong, the president of the Textile, Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation of Thailand, … Read more
Aqaba, Jordan — While employees at the Aqaba Ports Corporation (APC) have ended a seven-day strike following a deadly toxic chlorine gas leak last week, many of the survivors in the face of long convalescence and have recounted a litany of long-standing health and safety problems at the southern Jordanian port. The leak happened after … Read more
There is a cost of living crisis in the United Kingdom. Soaring inflation is causing real incomes to fall; companies are using inflation as a pretext to price-gouge and reap handsome profits, which in turn contribute to further inflation. It is a vicious cycle. The opposition Labor Party rightly blames the governing Conservatives, who have … Read more
Los Angeles, California, US – Prison labor in the United States creates $11bn in goods and services annually, a new study has found, but imprisoned workers perform vital services for low wages and with few safety guarantees. In a nearly 150-page report released in mid-June, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the University of … Read more
There are more than 160 million children forced into child labor around the world. June 12 marks World Day Against Child Labor – an annual event to raise awareness of the economic and social consequences of child labor on children. Around the world, at least 160 million children above the age of five – nearly … Read more
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – When Mirron* came from Somalia to Malaysia in 2018, she had no idea what it was really like to be a refugee in the Southeast Asian nation. The 24-year-old thought she would be able to work while she waited for the UN refugee agency to offer her resettlement in a third … Read more
The powerful UGTT union says it will hold a strike over wages and the economy, as it accuses Kais Saied of unilateral moves. Tunisia’s powerful UGTT trade union has refused to participate in a national dialogue proposed by President Kais Saied, its spokesperson has said, arguing the process excluded democratic forces. Saied sacked the democratically-elected … Read more