Health and safety

In the face of climate change, workers' health is put to the test by new dangers

26 April 2024

In the face of climate change, workers’ health is put to the test by new dangers

Climate disruption is leading to the onset of health problems, such as ‘heat stress’ or skin and eye diseases, while certain extreme weather events are responsible for a large number of work-related deaths every year. In Brazil, workers in the least skilled jobs are often hardest [...]Read the full article

The targeting of Gaza's essential workers and civilian infrastructure is an attack on us all

13 March 2024

The targeting of Gaza’s essential workers and civilian infrastructure is an attack on us all

Daniel Bertossa: “All governments and actors have an obligation under the Geneva Conventions to protect civilians, especially those providing lifesaving services in conflict zones. Making human rights law optional or context-dependent sends a dangerous message, endangers public service workers and undermines the [...]Read the full article

Mining in the 21st century Hispanosphere and beyond: transition, resistance and empowerment

5 February 2024

Mining in the 21st century Hispanosphere and beyond: transition, resistance and empowerment

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

“Homecoming”: former emigrants struggle to reintegrate in Senegal

1 February 2024

“Homecoming”: former emigrants struggle to reintegrate in Senegal

This photo documentary chronicles the lives of Senegalese migrants who return home after leaving their country in search of a better life.Read the full article

The chlordecone health and racism scandal in the French Antilles: case dismissed, but the fight goes on

15 January 2024

The chlordecone health and racism scandal in the French Antilles: case dismissed, but the fight goes on

After a 16-year legal battle, a court has ruled to dismiss the case of chlordecone poisoning in the French Antilles. This pesticide, used in the banana plantations from 1972 to 1993, despite its proven toxicity, continues to claim lives. But, be it in Paris or the French overseas departments, [...]Read the full article

Death, injury and disease: the battle to improve working conditions in South Asia's shipbreaking yards

17 November 2023

Death, injury and disease: the battle to improve working conditions in South Asia’s shipbreaking yards

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

High-stakes treaty negotiations expose the challenge of just transition in the plastics sector

30 October 2023

High-stakes treaty negotiations expose the challenge of just transition in the plastics sector

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

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

In a landmark case, Kenyan tea workers continue to fight for damages from a Scottish tea giant over musculoskeletal injuries

28 April 2023

In a landmark case, Kenyan tea workers continue to fight for damages from a Scottish tea giant over musculoskeletal injuries

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 decades-long legal struggle of Taiwanese electronics workers

12 April 2023

The decades-long legal struggle of Taiwanese electronics workers

In March 2022, after 18 years of judicial wrangling, the mainly female workforce at the Radio Corporation of America Taiwanese factories won a lawsuit for recognition of their occupational diseases as well as damages for the anxiety caused to [...]Read the full article

2 March 2023

As the Orpea scandal and others remind us, profit-making has no place in care

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

What about the health of agricultural workers?

20 January 2023

What about the health of agricultural workers?

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

Polluting cooking methods, used by billions of people around the world, remain a threat to women's health

16 January 2023

Polluting cooking methods, used by billions of people around the world, remain a threat to women’s health

The use of solid fuels is damaging to health and the environment. Despite the availability of clean cooking solutions and technologies, the prospects for improvement are compromised by successive crises, Covid-19 and the war in Ukraine, and a lack of structural investment. In many countries, [...]Read the full article

High value, low pay: the care sector in Spain

9 January 2023

High value, low pay: the care sector in Spain

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 heavy toll of poor sleep

9 December 2022

The heavy toll of poor sleep

Like women, the elderly and people with mental health issues, the working poor and people with multiple jobs are also likely to sleep worse, wake up worse, make more mistakes and sustain more injuries.Read the full article

In Uganda, virus hunters search for traces of next pandemic

16 September 2022

In Uganda, virus hunters search for traces of next pandemic

A group of veterinarians and health workers are collecting and analysing samples from animals and humans at a tourist hotspot in Uganda to determine the presence of pathogens and viruses with the potential to cause a global health [...]Read the full article

Safety at work: a trojan horse for new monitoring technologies?

25 August 2022

Safety at work: a trojan horse for new monitoring technologies?

Ana Belén Muñoz Ruiz: Safety at work can be and already is being used as grounds for collecting and processing employees’ data, but the measures must be part of a rationale of prevention.Read the full article

At Greece's largest port, dockworkers fight for a collective agreement

22 June 2022

At Greece’s largest port, dockworkers fight for a collective agreement

Hundreds of dockworkers at Greece’s largest port are demanding better working conditions and a new collective agreement. Ever since the Chinese state-owned enterprise COSCO became the majority owner of the Piraeus Port Authority, workers there have had fewer rights and [...]Read the full article

Motherhood on the stage

15 June 2022

Motherhood on the stage

Writers, directors and playwrights break with the idealised narrative of motherhood to give real mothers a voice.Read the full article

In DR Congo, unsafe and unsanitary slaughterhouses are a danger to butchers and consumers

13 June 2022

In DR Congo, unsafe and unsanitary slaughterhouses are a danger to butchers and consumers

In the DRC, slaughterhouses lack the equipment required to ensure that the cows slaughtered there are in good health, which poses a danger to both consumers and slaughterhouse workers.Read the full article

The rise of telework poses opportunities and challenges, particularly for women

1 June 2022

The rise of telework poses opportunities and challenges, particularly for women

Teleworking has expanded rapidly and haphazardly due to the pandemic. The risks include teleworking being confused with work-life balance and certain costs being placed on workers.Read the full article

Sandstorms, an increasingly common global disaster exacerbated by land degradation

2 May 2022

Sandstorms, an increasingly common global disaster exacerbated by land degradation

Sandstorms can paralyse an entire economy, cause road accidents, ground aircraft, and jam radar and electronic systems, with consequences for agriculture that are still poorly assessed as well as serious long-term health impacts.Read the full article

In Cambodia, informal construction workers are still reaching for the labour rights won by garment workers

11 April 2022

In Cambodia, informal construction workers are still reaching for the labour rights won by garment workers

“During Covid, the government provided support for the formal sector, but the informal sector had nothing: construction, brick kilns, nothing. This is inhumane.”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

Staunching the plastics tide

6 April 2022

Staunching the plastics tide

Waste pickers call for their voices to be heard in negotiations for a global treaty on plastics that some compare to the Paris climate agreement.Read the full article

3 February 2022

Politics & economy

This Beijing Olympics, ‘Faster, Higher, Stronger’ also applies to Omicron

Annie Sparrow: “The substandard, get-by-on-the-cheap procedures that the Chinese government and the IOC have instituted for the Beijing Olympics risk lowering global standards for everyone. It is unlikely that only athletes will pay the price.”Read the full article

Is enough being done to stop harassment at work?

31 January 2022

Is enough being done to stop harassment at work?

The social stigma attached to harassment is so deeply ingrained in the world of work that victims often prefer to remain anonymous and most cases go unreported. Employers are reluctant to hire victims of harassment, which makes it almost impossible for them to re-enter the labour [...]Read the full article

Turkey's flagship online food ordering company is failing to deliver on workers' rights

21 January 2022

Turkey’s flagship online food ordering company is failing to deliver on workers’ rights

In Turkey, tech companies are pushing back hard against any attempts to unionise, to prevent riders from being able to demand basic labour rights.Read the full article

Brazil's labour justice system is battling with growing rights violations

6 December 2021

Brazil’s labour justice system is battling with growing rights violations

Brazil’s Public Labour Prosecutor’s Office is fighting on all fronts to defend the country’s workers. At the centre of this battle, which has intensified since the onset of the pandemic, are the institution’s prosecutors. Since President Jair Bolsonaro came to power in 2018, they have been faced [...]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

Colombia has signed a peace agreement, so why are trade unionists still being threatened and murdered?

25 October 2021

Colombia has signed a peace agreement, so why are trade unionists still being threatened and murdered?

The threats linked to trade union work in Colombia are so constant that trade unionists have grown accustomed to them. Today, the country’s trade unions are struggling to survive the violence of the present whilst appealing to the transitional justice system to end the impunity surrounding the [...]Read the full article

With widespread kidnappings and violence, daily life is becoming increasingly dangerous in Haiti

24 September 2021

With widespread kidnappings and violence, daily life is becoming increasingly dangerous in Haiti

With gangs taking control, many Haitian neighbourhoods have become impossible to live in. The violence and assassinations have not spared political circles either and the situation became even more acute in the aftermath of the 14 August [...]Read the full article

For India's stigmatised and exploited sanitation workers, the pandemic has only made conditions worse

20 September 2021

For India’s stigmatised and exploited sanitation workers, the pandemic has only made conditions worse

The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the discrepancy between the pivotal social, economic and public health role of India’s sanitation workers and the fact that they “remain at the bottom of society”.Read the full article

In Italy, the institutionalised exploitation of migrant care workers has been exacerbated by the pandemic

3 September 2021

In Italy, the institutionalised exploitation of migrant care workers has been exacerbated by the pandemic

The pandemic has highlighted the crucial social role played by migrant domestic workers in Italy, yet the state continues to discriminate against them and to deprive them of adequate protection. The plight of those working without papers – the majority – is even [...]Read the full article

Taiwan's foreign factory workers face rights violations amid latest Covid outbreak

30 July 2021

Taiwan’s foreign factory workers face rights violations amid latest Covid outbreak

While factory workers in Taiwan’s booming semiconductor industry serve as the backbone of its economy, the rights and dignity of these workers often take second place to company profits.Read the full article

Clinical waste collectors – unprotected, untrained, underpaid and undervalued

5 July 2021

Clinical waste collectors – unprotected, untrained, underpaid and undervalued

“While there might be a recognition of the role that waste pickers play in urban systems now, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s actually translating into effective and inclusive policies.”Read the full article

Despite the efforts of trade unions and NGOs, seafarer abandonment is on the rise

25 June 2021

Despite the efforts of trade unions and NGOs, seafarer abandonment is on the rise

Every year, thousands of seafarers are abandoned by their shipowners while the world looks on with indifference. Trapped on board without wages until their ships are sold, some spend months and even years in their floating prisons.Read the full article

With the government reluctant to ratify ILO C176, Pakistan's miners are condemned to work in death traps

31 May 2021

With the government reluctant to ratify ILO C176, Pakistan’s miners are condemned to work in death traps

With the world gradually moving away from coal, Pakistan continues to rigorously extract from its estimated three million tonnes of reserves. But primitive working conditions and poor enforcement of existing laws led to the deaths of at least 208 miners in [...]Read the full article

20 May 2021

Trade unions have an important role to play in combatting vaccine hesitancy

Owen Tudor: “Unions must have no truck with anti-vaxxer conspiracy theories, but we need to address sympathetically those who are worried by that propaganda, or just naturally concerned about the safety of newly developed vaccines.”Read the full article

Will the pandemic provide an opportunity for positive change in the cruise industry?

10 May 2021

Will the pandemic provide an opportunity for positive change in the cruise industry?

“Calls to take action on sustainable fuels and climate change are increasing, destinations are taking steps to ban cruises or regulate access, and the effects of mass tourism are becoming increasingly visible.”Read the full article

6 May 2021

Does the IFC still have the leverage to push for labour rights?

Ambet Yuson: “The Karot case shows that although the IFC is renowned for having been at the forefront of the development of labour standards for international finance institutions, implementation is lacking.”Read the full article

Evicted in the midst of a pandemic: Belgium's housing crisis

26 April 2021

Evicted in the midst of a pandemic: Belgium’s housing crisis

Before the coronavirus arrived in Belgium, around 600 families were being evicted from their homes every year. The impact of the health crisis has made the universal right to decent housing a virtual chimera, particularly for the most [...]Read the full article

Covid-19 makes a bad situation worse for agricultural migrant workers in Canada

23 April 2021

Covid-19 makes a bad situation worse for agricultural migrant workers in Canada

Canada ties migrant workers to their employers through specific visas, which facilitates exploitative conditions on farms, greenhouses and food factories.Read the full article

On the road with Côte d'Ivoire's cocoa beans

31 March 2021

On the road with Côte d’Ivoire’s cocoa beans

European chocolate makers will make a significant portion of their annual turnover around Easter time thanks in part to cocoa from Côte d’Ivoire, the world’s leading producer. But this ‘brown gold’ is the product of an environmentally destructive industry with precarious working [...]Read the full article

18 March 2021

After the Covid-19 storm, it’s time to rebuild care homes on solid ground

Adrian Durtschi: Fixing care is about rebalancing the ways in which the decisions that shape it are made. Ensuring workers have a strong say is fundamental.Read the full article

The communities striving to “protect life” and create “sustainable societies” in the wake of Japan's 2011 tsunami disaster

11 March 2021

The communities striving to “protect life” and create “sustainable societies” in the wake of Japan’s 2011 tsunami disaster

The tsunami took away loved ones, homes, infrastructure and jobs, as well as the sense of belonging in communities already suffering from depopulation. For the affected villages in rural Japan, rebuilding is a matter of survival.Read the full article

Even in peaceful countries, journalists are increasingly being identified as ‘public enemies'

3 March 2021

Even in peaceful countries, journalists are increasingly being identified as ‘public enemies’

Since 2018, most of the murders of journalists no longer occur in countries where there is armed conflict. Now they happen in nominally peaceful nations. Neither criticism from those in power nor populist speeches assassinate journalists directly. However, they do worsen the environment for the [...]Read the full article

In Ecuador, abaca workers are demanding justice and an end to 60 years of modern slavery

22 February 2021

In Ecuador, abaca workers are demanding justice and an end to 60 years of modern slavery

In 2018, after decades spent working and living under inhumane conditions, Ecuador’s abaca workers decided to demand their rights. Their initial victory in a court case against the Ecuadorian State and agro-industrial giant Furukawa represents an important step in the fight against modern [...]Read the full article

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