“As these flashpoints become increasingly the norm, [global] companies should be using their agility to deal with these crises in a way that improves supply chain resiliency and workers’ ability to make a living safely. When there is a dent to profits, the go-to should not be that suppliers, and [...]Read the full article
Anime is on the rise. Translated manga are flooding into new markets, attracting readers from all over the world. But despite their remarkable popularity and sales, the inner workings of these dream factories are unknown, especially when it comes to the creators and their working [...]Read the full article
Atahualpa Blanchet:Platform cooperativism represents more than just an alternative employment model: it also offers a vision of hope for building a more equitable and participatory world of work in the digital age.Read the full article
The global digital and energy transition is increasing the demand for minerals. At the same time, resistance against projects is rising, support networks are being woven and initiatives to guarantee the rights of communities and decent working conditions are being [...]Read the full article
Tamara Gausi:To round up the year, each Equal Times editor picks the stories that have stayed in their heart and mind, long after publication.Read the full article
Luis Linares:Bernardo Arévalo’s election victory offers a glimmer of hope that efforts will be made to promote green and decent work. But the ‘pact of the corrupt’, trying to prevent the social democrat from taking office on 14 January 2024, is fuelling uncertainty, and could block the reforms needed in rural [...]Read the full article
The trauma of the pandemic, reduced pay in the context of inflation, and the weight of years of austerity in government health spending. Under these combined pressures, midwives in the United Kingdom’s National Health Service are choosing to leave the occupation entirely – leading to critical [...]Read the full article
Alex Nkosi:“The journey of trade unions in Burkina Faso and Sierra Leone represents a beacon of hope for unions worldwide. By prioritising peace alongside economic interests, these unions have become catalysts for positive change in fragile [...]Read the full article
Atahualpa Blanchet:“The declaration by Mercosur human rights ministers on artificial intelligence stands as a guiding light in the search for a fair balance between technological innovation and the protection of rights.”Read the full article
Every year, thousands of ships around the world reach the end of their lives. The vast majority meet their end in South Asia, where, every year, almost 70 per cent of the vessels are dismantled on just three beaches, often with no regard for the workers’ health and [...]Read the full article
“The risk of depopulation is real. Although they feel a deep attachment to their douars, those who have the opportunity will not wait for the lengthy reconstruction process. Migration will primarily affect the younger generation, who will likely move to already overcrowded [...]Read the full article
Unions and many environmentalists want to see all waste workers – including waste pickers – in decent working conditions, while ensuring that upstream workers are not left behind.Read the full article
“The work of a caregiver is no joke. We make all other work possible, and we work not only with our hands but with our hearts, because the people under our care also deserve love, respect and dignity.”Read the full article
Bolivia continues to face significant challenges in addressing its digital divide. Although progress has been made with extending the fibre optic network, large numbers of people are still unconnected and digitally illiterate.Read the full article
“Everywhere I go within care and speak to our members, they ask us, why can NHS staff negotiate their pay on a national level, but we can’t? The care workforce is bigger than that of the NHS, and the skill sets are very similar. Collective bargaining is the first level of investment we would [...]Read the full article
Giulia Massobrio:“Since 2018, the ITUC has been calling for a new social contract in line with SDG 8. This contract includes six demands that are crucial to achieving truly sustainable development: from rights-based and climate-friendly jobs to wage justice and greater democracy in global [...]Read the full article
Against a backdrop of globalisation and fierce competition between economies, with automation, digitalisation and artificial intelligence for the masses moving ahead at full speed, which approach to education (without falling into dichotomies) is best suited to respond to these [...]Read the full article
In an environment of accelerating automation and digitalisation, will lifelong learning be the key to staying in our chosen job or profession? How should we address the challenge of informal work? What will happen to jobs impacted by the climate crisis? And what role will trade unions play in [...]Read the full article
Loredana Carta:“The ITUC Global Rights Index is now, more than ever, a powerful force to build a better world for working people. It has been used to force governments to improve workers’ right in return for international loans, trade unions have used the Index for targeted action to force legislative change [...]Read the full article
The Dutch system flies in the face of a key principle under international labour standards: that of equal pay for equal work. “If you have more skills or qualifications or expertise, you should be better remunerated. But not just because you are [...]Read the full article
Vicente Salas:“Many of the proposed initiatives for change and groundbreaking reform start from a recognition of the limitations of nation states to act in cooperation. Instead, these reforms seek to turn companies/legal entities into the implementing arms of public objectives and [...]Read the full article
Mohammad Al Maita:From the point of view of trade unions, which play a crucial role in defending the rights and welfare of all workers, including refugees, the refugee situation in Jordan presents unique challenges and opportunities.Read the full article
Jesús A. Núñez Villaverde:Global military spending has continued to rise for the eighth year in a row. Seen from a traditional state security perspective – which generally assumes that more weapons means more security – this could be interpreted as good news. But is [...]Read the full article
Trade unions – which consider solidarity and the respect of the human rights of all people as fundamental principles – have a crucial role to play in challenging discriminatory laws, supporting the LGBTQI+ community at work and ensuring that we live in a more inclusive and respectful [...]Read the full article
Between 2,500 and 3,000 workers have come together to file a case in Scotland against James Finlay Kenya, accusing the company of creating the terrible working conditions that have caused them life-limiting musculoskeletal injuries.Read the full article
“The same individuals who own the garment factories also hold positions in the parliament and cabinet. There is no representative of the workers in the parliament. The rulers are exploiting us.”Read the full article
Job automation could affect the quality of work more than the quantity. The issue is not machines taking over our jobs but pushing us into poorer quality employment. The best way to avoid this is to invest in preventive training and to call on companies to act [...]Read the full article
Ira Rachmawati:Recruitment Advisor has been actively used as an organising tool by unions to reach out to migrant workers and build trust. In addition, unions that utilise the platform have been able to increase cooperation with other unions in origin or destination [...]Read the full article
Hawkers in the state of Meghalaya in north-east India have been successful in ensuring that an unfavourable state law is repealed and a more progressive national law is adopted.Read the full article
Online grocery delivery businesses in the Netherlands have been accused of “trying to find paths toward profitability that essentially lead over the backs of workers” but delivery riders and their trade unions are fighting back.Read the full article
While Moroccan legislation guarantees a number of individual freedoms and social rights, including freedom of association, workers who make too many demands are likely to face harsh reprisals.Read the full article
Tuscany Bell:“Long-term care facilities are subsidised to a large extent by public money. When financial risks aimed solely at increasing profitability do not pay off, it is the state which must ultimately step in to ensure the welfare of care recipients, once again from the public [...]Read the full article
Frédéric Thomas:The CTH (Haitian Workers’ Confederation) and the CTSP (Public and Private Sector Workers’ Confederation) reassert their firm anchorage in the Haitian social movement and their commitment to promoting a ‘transition of rupture’, with the support of an international solidarity [...]Read the full article
Cameroon is one of Africa’s most successful footballing nations. But away from the spotlight of the country’s celebrated national team, local players face exploitation and precarious conditions. They are underpaid and lack social security while the clubs they play for act with [...]Read the full article
Maeve O’Sullivan:The world is reeling from recent tech job losses and the global recession. But Ireland is well positioned to respond to these challenges if it can address its labour market inequality.Read the full article
The creative AI revolution has sparked fascination and fear in equal measure. Could AI be exploited to cut costs, to demand more work in less time, to make sectors such as design even more precarious or to automate the easiest [...]Read the full article
Recognition is lacking when it comes to the ailments and diseases associated with agricultural work, such as those caused by exposure to potentially toxic substances. And the workers affected are often faced with barriers to health [...]Read the full article
Marga Zambrana:Experts and international organisations warn that only those who are able to quickly adapt to change through lifelong learning will survive.Read the full article
Workers and trade unions have long argued that the management of dependency care – like health and education – should be public. They argue that as public sector employees, not only would their working conditions improve but so too would the care they [...]Read the full article
The Indian trade union SEWA has created childcare cooperatives and a home-based elderly care service that are boosting the economic participation of women care workers by solving their own caregiving needs.Read the full article
Livia Spera:“Profit-focused policies have only led to a transport industry defined by poor wages and poor working conditions, as the skyrocketing profits of companies mean that transport workers are the ones paying the price.”Read the full article
Luis Linares:While the journey that migrants take to cross the US border can be perilous, those who are deported face another series of trials upon their return home, including stigma, shame, and difficulty reintegrating into families and finding [...]Read the full article
Sharan Burrow:“Working people are clear in their demands. They know that the answer is a new social contract based on climate-friendly jobs, rights, wages, social protection, equality and inclusion.”Read the full article
Experts have applauded the Canadian government’s decision to move toward a universal childcare system, but are also warning that it will exacerbate geographic disparities and create long waiting lists for subsidised childcare.Read the full article
Despite increasingly trying to gain recognition as a profession, the sector is still largely embedded in the informal economy and many of its workers are undocumented migrant women. Could regulation of the sector open up new avenues for legal [...]Read the full article
While some governments, development funders and business groups in South and South-East Asia are pushing for the increased use of incinerators to manage waste, informal workers are making their objections known – not only for environmental reasons but also because of the negative impact on waste [...]Read the full article