Employment

Bolivia's contraband markets: an unsustainable lifeline in a country where informality abounds

8 April 2024

Bolivia’s contraband markets: an unsustainable lifeline in a country where informality abounds

Bolivia’s urban contraband markets are a reflection of the country’s economic, social and historical reality. Operating on the margins of legality, they provide a vital lifeline for many families and reveal a complex relationship between necessity, informality and economic [...]Read the full article

Kenya's ambitious affordable housing project faces major legal obstacles as opposition grows

28 March 2024

Kenya’s ambitious affordable housing project faces major legal obstacles as opposition grows

“A multi-faceted approach is necessary to address the housing needs of urban workers and the urban poor effectively.”Read the full article

Exporting labour to earn foreign currency: Egypt's new economic strategy

29 February 2024

Politics & economy

Exporting labour to earn foreign currency: Egypt’s new economic strategy

The Egyptian government is launching a plan to “export Egyptians abroad” in order to increase remittances from Egyptian expatriates, which have become the country’s number one source of foreign currency.Read the full article

Although beset with challenges, cotton growing has returned to Idlib

25 January 2024

Politics & economy

Although beset with challenges, cotton growing has returned to Idlib

Twenty years ago, cotton growing employed almost 20 per cent of the Syrian population. Ravaged by the war, the sector is now being relaunched, particularly in the Idlib region, under the control of an autonomous government led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. But the latest harvest [...]Read the full article

Malawian demographer Eliya Zulu: “Africa's youthful population could drive the continent's socio-economic transformation”

6 November 2023

Malawian demographer Eliya Zulu: “Africa’s youthful population could drive the continent’s socio-economic transformation”

“The question is: can the world ignore Africa? The fact that other regions don’t have youthful populations means that Africa has an opportunity to actually help address labour shortages elsewhere and the rest of the world will have Africa’s young people to go and contribute to development. But [...]Read the full article

A new era of opportunity is opening up in Iraq with the development of the private sector and the creation of start-ups

13 October 2023

Politics & economy

A new era of opportunity is opening up in Iraq with the development of the private sector and the creation of start-ups

Iraq’s private sector has suffered greatly from years of armed conflict. Today, the country’s entrepreneurial landscape is comprised of a mosaic of small and medium-sized enterprises that contribute, to a greater or lesser extent, to the country’s economic [...]Read the full article

Unemployment and older workers: overcoming the barriers to decent work

9 October 2023

Unemployment and older workers: overcoming the barriers to decent work

At the same time as consideration is being given to extending our expiry date as workers, there are people in the last stage of their careers who simply cannot find a job.Read the full article

From basements and back rooms, Afghanistan's businesswomen are trying to circumnavigate the Taliban – and international sanctions

6 September 2023

From basements and back rooms, Afghanistan’s businesswomen are trying to circumnavigate the Taliban – and international sanctions

In the first year of Taliban rule, the Afghan economy lost US$5 billion, wiping out the previous ten years of growth. One in three businesses shut down, and women bore the brunt of the crisis, with the number of women in employment dropping by 25 per [...]Read the full article

Women across the world struggle to find emancipation and empowerment through work

14 August 2023

Politics & economy

Women across the world struggle to find emancipation and empowerment through work

Acquiring new skills, enriching social relations and, above all, achieving a degree of financial independence: these are just some of the benefits that women around the world seek through access to decent employment.Read the full article

In the wake of devastating forest fires, residents of the Greek island of Evia are helping each other to rebuild through mutual aid and solidarity

19 July 2023

In the wake of devastating forest fires, residents of the Greek island of Evia are helping each other to rebuild through mutual aid and solidarity

Two years after the fires burned roughly 15 per cent of its surface area, inhabitants of Evia, Greece’s second largest island, are doing their best to move forward. Solidarity still plays an essential role in reconstruction efforts, just as it did when the tragedy was [...]Read the full article

Thanks to an age-dependent minimum wage, young Dutch workers are both over the hill and barely keeping their heads above water

3 July 2023

Thanks to an age-dependent minimum wage, young Dutch workers are both over the hill and barely keeping their heads above water

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

15 June 2023

The impact of forced displacement on labour market outcomes in Jordan

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

Syrian women make advances in the face of war

26 April 2023

Syrian women make advances in the face of war

The armed conflict has created new employment opportunities for all Syrians, both men and women. Many believe that the war has led to the ‘democratisation’ of the civilian sector since 2011 and, significantly, to the qualitative participation of women in areas with social [...]Read the full article

This is how our work will be shared with algorithms and robots

19 April 2023

This is how our work will be shared with algorithms and robots

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

In California, ex-prisoners have won the right to a second chance

2 December 2022

In California, ex-prisoners have won the right to a second chance

In September, California governor Gavin Newsom signed ground-breaking new legislation allowing people who have committed a crime to apply to have their records expunged. A first of its kind in the United States, the law comes as a relief to hundreds of thousands of former inmates who struggle [...]Read the full article

Montenegro's dependence on its coal-fired power plant is holding back the country's energy transition

21 November 2022

Montenegro’s dependence on its coal-fired power plant is holding back the country’s energy transition

In Montenegro, a single coal-fired power plant provides almost half the country’s electricity needs, but it may be forced to close if the country wants to meet its climate commitments.Read the full article

Tackling youth unemployment – and stemming the brain drain – is an urgent task for the Arab world

18 November 2022

Tackling youth unemployment – and stemming the brain drain – is an urgent task for the Arab world

Economic and political conditions, combined with the effects of the pandemic, are placing the labour market out of reach for millions of young people in the Arab world.Read the full article

In Brazil, workers' rights have been continuously eroded since the 2017 labour code reform

26 October 2022

In Brazil, workers’ rights have been continuously eroded since the 2017 labour code reform

For the past five years, workers in Latin America’s largest country have faced job insecurity, rising unemployment and weakened trade unions.Read the full article

Precarious work, exploitation and poverty: the ordeal of young workers in Italy

12 October 2022

Precarious work, exploitation and poverty: the ordeal of young workers in Italy

For most young Italians, working without protection or union rights, the job market, far from being a means of emancipation or personal fulfilment, is a jungle where the employer is king.Read the full article

Faced with the difficulty of organising in the informal sector, trade unions in the Democratic Republic of Congo are taking a step-by-step approach

31 August 2022

Faced with the difficulty of organising in the informal sector, trade unions in the Democratic Republic of Congo are taking a step-by-step approach

Administrative abuses, intimidation, economic insecurity – protecting workers in the informal economy is no easy task and many are often forced to rely on themselves when difficulties arise. The Trade Union Confederation of Congo (CSC) is choosing its battles carefully and doing its best to [...]Read the full article

Could underexploited groundwater supercharge economic development in sub-Saharan Africa?

6 July 2022

Could underexploited groundwater supercharge economic development in sub-Saharan Africa?

Worldwide, groundwater, which constitutes almost 99 per cent of all liquid freshwater reserves on earth, provides half of the water extracted for drinking water, agriculture and industry. A very small proportion is utilised on the African [...]Read the full article

28 June 2022

We need a new social contract to rebuild workers’ trust and lives

Sharan Burrow: The 2022 ITUC Global Rights Index reveals a dire situation for working people across the world. We must reverse this trend.Read the full article

As coal mines close, Silesia's miners face an uncertain future

17 June 2022

Politics & economy

As coal mines close, Silesia’s miners face an uncertain future

Poland has closed two-thirds of its mines over the last 30 years, reducing the number of jobs in the sector from 300,000 to 80,000. The energy transition raises both hopes and fears. While miners understand the need for change, they fear for their future and the future of their [...]Read the full article

The metaverse is a labour issue

16 June 2022

The metaverse is a labour issue

Valerio De Stefano: The metaverse has been talked about only in terms of gee-whiz technologies – but it raises very serious labour concerns.Read the full article

19 May 2022

Our leaders need to stop repeating the myth that refugees are an economic burden

Sunit Bagree: The notion that refugees are an economic drain on countries that provide them with sanctuary is simply false.Read the full article

Mexico needs more holidays

18 May 2022

Mexico needs more holidays

The boom in teleworking triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of mental health in the workplace and initial steps are being taken to change a work culture characterised by long hours in the office and low [...]Read the full article

Workers in Indonesia fear for their future as the country plans to relocate its capital city

9 May 2022

Workers in Indonesia fear for their future as the country plans to relocate its capital city

As the South-East Asian country makes plans to relocate its capital city to another island, millions of workers face an uncertain futureRead the full article

Saleemul Huq and Karl-Petter Thorwaldsson on the road to a post-fossil fuel economy

29 April 2022

Saleemul Huq and Karl-Petter Thorwaldsson on the road to a post-fossil fuel economy

Saleemul Huq, the director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development, and Swedish business minister Karl-Petter Thorwaldsson both believe that the transition to a low-carbon company should not leave fossil fuel workers [...]Read the full article

In Barbuda, locals fight to protect a wetland and a centuries-old way of life

25 April 2022

In Barbuda, locals fight to protect a wetland and a centuries-old way of life

A massive construction project in Barbuda threatens to harm a wetland site that is essential to the lives of locals, both as a means of subsistence and as a natural defence against coastal erosion.Read the full article

7 April 2022

Long-term care is in crisis; building worker power is the solution

Christy Hoffman: The broken global long-term care system can be repaired, and worker power is a fundamental part of the solution. The pandemic has proven this.Read the full article

Despite abuses, expulsions and ever-tightening immigration rules, Haitian workers continue to eke out a living in the Dominican Republic

28 March 2022

Despite abuses, expulsions and ever-tightening immigration rules, Haitian workers continue to eke out a living in the Dominican Republic

Despite facing racism and discrimination, close to 500,000 Haitian migrants try to survive in the Dominican Republic. The Dominican government has made the fight against undocumented migration one of its priorities.Read the full article

Guatemala's youth pay the high cost of mass emigration

4 March 2022

Guatemala’s youth pay the high cost of mass emigration

A photo essay illustrating how decades of migration to the United States has created a generation of abandoned children for whom gangs have become a surrogate family.Read the full article

A fight for justice: how Dutch trade unions stood up for chromium VI victims

29 November 2021

A fight for justice: how Dutch trade unions stood up for chromium VI victims

In recent years, there have been a number of scandals in the Netherlands over workers being exposed to the carcinogenic chemical chromium VI. Hundreds have suffered damage to their health as a result of restoring military and railway equipment. Representing the workers’ cause, trade unions have [...]Read the full article

18 November 2021

After 30 years on Bogotá’s buses, I fear that just transition is slipping out of our hands

Francisco Mora: “December 2021. That’s the last date when the buses I have been working in and around my whole life will be phased out, for a new generation of all-electric ones. That is also the date I will lose my job, just three years short of retirement and without other alternatives to fall back [...]Read the full article

Armenia: wounds unhealed one year after the war

10 November 2021

Politics & economy

Armenia: wounds unhealed one year after the war

On 10 November 2020, the Nagorno-Karabakh war between Armenia and Azerbaijan came to an end. The conflict left thousands dead and wounded and tens of thousands of people displaced. Armenia is still stinging from its defeat and has yet to turn the [...]Read the full article

Businesses and workers affected by the Beirut port explosion find themselves caught in multiple crises

8 November 2021

Politics & economy

Businesses and workers affected by the Beirut port explosion find themselves caught in multiple crises

The destruction of the port has only exacerbated food shortages, unemployment and economic hardship caused by government corruption and the Covid-19 pandemic. More recently, the obstruction of the investigation into the disaster has frozen the reconstruction and could awaken [...]Read the full article

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As digital censorship concerns cloud DR Congo's crucial election, elsewhere in Francophone Africa, internet shutdowns also threaten livelihoods and democracy

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Equal Times is a trilingual news and opinion website focusing on labour, human rights, culture, development, the environment, politics and the economy from a social justice perspective.

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