Modern-day slavery

Nigerians who fled the violence of Boko Haram are being sent back to danger

7 September 2022

Nigerians who fled the violence of Boko Haram are being sent back to danger

A decision by Nigeria’s government to close the camps housing hundreds of thousands of refugees uprooted by the Boko Haram conflict has cost lives, increased human trafficking and labour exploitation in the area, and will make it harder for NGOs to provide humanitarian [...]Read the full article

One year after the protests, workers in Belarus are still pushing for democracy and labour rights

18 August 2021

One year after the protests, workers in Belarus are still pushing for democracy and labour rights

Protests, walk-outs and work stoppages from workers at some of Belarus’s biggest heavy industries played a key role in Belarus’s historic pro-democracy movement last August.Read the full article

Commodity trading: the shadowy industry destroying the planet

29 July 2021

Politics & economy

Commodity trading: the shadowy industry destroying the planet

Joseph Baines: Commodity traders wreak havoc on global markets and profit from ecological and social devastation. Can they be stopped?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

Here's how we make 2021, the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour, count

7 January 2021

Here’s how we make 2021, the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour, count

Purva Gupta: “2021 is possibly the last chance for all actors to engage their heads, hands and hearts to make meaningful progress as we embark on the five-year countdown towards zero child labour in 2025.”Read the full article

Uyghur refugees speak out against genocide and crimes against humanity

18 November 2020

Uyghur refugees speak out against genocide and crimes against humanity

Tens of thousands of Uyghurs have fled China in recent years since Beijing began its policy of subjugation and assimilation of the minority group. Around 60,000 of them have found relative safety in Turkey, but pressure from China has made their future [...]Read the full article

As incremental efforts to end child labour by 2025 persist, Congo's child miners – exhausted and exploited – ask the world to “pray for us”

16 October 2020

As incremental efforts to end child labour by 2025 persist, Congo’s child miners – exhausted and exploited – ask the world to “pray for us”

Despite the government’s stated intention to put an end to the practice, child labour remains a reality in Congo’s mining sector. In the absence of effective political coordination to address the problem, trade union, community and non-profit leaders are working to tackle the root causes as well [...]Read the full article

The ongoing struggle to protect Guinea's domestic workers

24 September 2020

The ongoing struggle to protect Guinea’s domestic workers

Guinea has ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and ILO Convention 189 on domestic workers, yet the reality on the ground is that domestic workers, mostly female and some underage, continue to suffer all kinds of abuses at the hands of their [...]Read the full article

The technology used to facilitate human trafficking can also be used to fight it

30 July 2020

The technology used to facilitate human trafficking can also be used to fight it

“The technology to combat human trafficking is there,” says Cucos. What we need to do now, as he underlines in the report, is “to move beyond the cycle of developing and piloting new initiatives, and toward expanding the coverage of those existing initiatives that are showing [...]Read the full article

Commitment or marketing: is there really an ethical awakening in the fashion industry?

20 July 2020

Commitment or marketing: is there really an ethical awakening in the fashion industry?

In 2013, year zero of the ethical awakening in the fashion industry, absolutely everyone – brands, states, consumers – came to know about the dismal and perilous conditions in the factories that dress our shop windows. The current health emergency is exposing the seams of inadequate [...]Read the full article

In the shadow of Taiwan's coronavirus success, hostesses have been organising for financial support and solidarity

17 July 2020

In the shadow of Taiwan’s coronavirus success, hostesses have been organising for financial support and solidarity

Taiwan has been widely praised for its success in preventing the spread of COVID-19, but the forced closure of hostess bars and dance halls sparked controversy.Read the full article

Saving workers from the hell of the fishing industry in Asia

1 July 2020

Saving workers from the hell of the fishing industry in Asia

The fishing industry is one of the world’s most violent. With demand exploding and owners looking to cut costs, cases of forced labour on fishing vessels are multiplying.Read the full article

In Tunisia, Black Africans face “the harshest exploitation”

3 May 2020

In Tunisia, Black Africans face “the harshest exploitation”

Since the 2011 revolution, Tunisia has experienced high levels of South-South migration flows, but this has been an immense challenge for a country that traditionally exports its workforce.Read the full article

Bangladesh is already living with the consequences of climate change

13 March 2020

Bangladesh is already living with the consequences of climate change

In Sundarbans (in Bangladesh, one of the most densely populated countries in the world, as well as one of the country’s worst affected by climate change) a combination of a rising sea level and river erosion is submerging entire villages and causing the forced displacement of millions of [...]Read the full article

Let's remember our union wins as we gear up in 2020 for the fight of our lives

16 January 2020

Let’s remember our union wins as we gear up in 2020 for the fight of our lives

Sharan Burrow: “We have just 10 years to stabilise the planet for our own survival. We know that the pathway to high ambition is just transition, and trade unions can take credit for the broad recognition of this demand.”Read the full article

5 November 2019

A UN treaty on business and human rights is vital for economic and social justice

Sharan Burrow: How can transnational corporations be held to account in a world of nation states? A binding UN treaty would be an important step.Read the full article

12 September 2019

The long and winding road to respecting workers’ rights in supply chains

Justine Nolan: Prominent initiatives to address forced labour in supply chains are likely to fall short of their stated objectives because they fail to tackle the root causes of forced labour.Read the full article

Between high rates of HIV/AIDS and punitive new trafficking laws, India's sex workers are struggling to assert their humanity

12 August 2019

Between high rates of HIV/AIDS and punitive new trafficking laws, India’s sex workers are struggling to assert their humanity

“We are considered the rotten, dirty apples of society. This country shall never perceive our identities to be beyond that of sex work, even though most of us are here not by choice, but because of our circumstances.”Read the full article

Ex-child domestic worker Angela Benedicto calls on the Tanzanian government to shore up protections to “break the cycle of poverty”

14 June 2019

Ex-child domestic worker Angela Benedicto calls on the Tanzanian government to shore up protections to “break the cycle of poverty”

“Gender-based violence in school and at home, harmful traditional practices – all aggravated by poverty – are the factors pushing children into domestic work. If we had good and strict laws which prohibit children from working, we will not be where we are [...]Read the full article

15 October 2018

Let’s seize the opportunity to ensure a strong, international binding treaty on business and human rights

Ruwan Subasinghe: “It is high time for governments, business, trade unions and civil society to collectively engage in meaningful and constructive dialogue to address the existing accountability gaps with respect to corporate human rights obligations.”Read the full article

The many faces of labour exploitation

3 August 2018

The many faces of labour exploitation

As global inequality widens, so do the various manifestations of extreme exploitation, as this fourth edition of Equal Times’ summer themed-article series illustrates.Read the full article

In north-eastern Nigeria, traffickers are preying on vulnerable children in IDP camps

9 July 2018

In north-eastern Nigeria, traffickers are preying on vulnerable children in IDP camps

“This first thing one man who said he wanted to give me a job in Niger asked me was: ‘Do you have parents?’ When I said yes, he walked away from me.”Read the full article

Work, fight, protect: around the world in workers' rights in 2018

7 June 2018

Work, fight, protect: around the world in workers’ rights in 2018

The International Trade Union Confederation’s (ITUC) latest annual survey on workers’ rights around the world is published on 7 June.Read the full article

Abused Ethiopian domestic worker is “the poster girl for kafala” in Lebanon

22 May 2018

Abused Ethiopian domestic worker is “the poster girl for kafala” in Lebanon

“Social media works, but the Lebanese government should bring these women under the protection of the labour law.”Read the full article

10 May 2018

RecruitmentAdvisor: the new platform for fair recruitment and migrant worker empowerment

Jeroen Beirnaert : Recruitmentadvisor.org allows workers to connect and learn from each other’s experiences with recruitment agencies and employment abroad.Read the full article

One hundred years of servitude in Brazil

27 March 2018

One hundred years of servitude in Brazil

In the state of Amazonas, extractivists work to pay off debts to their ‘bosses’. For three generations the cycle has bound families to a life of cutting piassava, the palm fibers used to make brooms.Read the full article

15 December 2017

An alliance to put decent work at the centre of sustainable and integral development

Abraham Canales: The Church and the trade union movement agree on the imperative need to place work at the heart of the social question, and for human dignity to be the foundation of a new ethical paradigm.Read the full article

Libya is sinking even further into the abyss

7 December 2017

Libya is sinking even further into the abyss

Jesús A. Núñez Villaverde: Essentially, in this macabre zero sum game, it is important to understand that Libya today is a highly divided territory in which nobody really represents anybody, and in which the majority of the actors on scene are seeking solely to make off with whatever is in their [...]Read the full article

17 October 2017

“Leaving No One Behind” when fighting against extreme poverty

Genevieve Defraigne Tardieu: “In September 2015, the principle of ‘leaving no one behind’ was officially recognised in the formulation of the new Sustainable Development Goals, replacing the discredited MDG goal of a 50 per cent reduction in poverty.”Read the full article

“There must be zero tolerance of modern slavery in the shipping industry”

13 October 2017

“There must be zero tolerance of modern slavery in the shipping industry”

Ruwan Subasinghe: “Heightened legal accountability means that leads firms and buyers can no longer afford to have a blind spot in their transport and logistics supply chains.”Read the full article

Mauritania is failing to eradicate slavery and forced labour

4 July 2017

Mauritania is failing to eradicate slavery and forced labour

16 June 2017

Gulf states’ slow march toward domestic workers’ rights

Rothna Begum: "Gulf states like Oman, UAE, and Qatar are introducing reforms for domestic workers that are only improvements on paper."Read the full article

Ugandan domestic workers are stuck between poverty wages at home and extreme exploitation abroad

16 June 2017

Ugandan domestic workers are stuck between poverty wages at home and extreme exploitation abroad

Bilateral agreements cannot offer concrete solutions unless Gulf countries take a lead in reforming their own labour laws.Read the full article

What will it take to protect Filipino domestic workers from abuse and exploitation in the Middle East?

15 June 2017

What will it take to protect Filipino domestic workers from abuse and exploitation in the Middle East?

One in every five overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) is a domestic worker and every year many of them suffer from terrible, even fatal, abuse.Read the full article

“We must prevent Kenyan migrants from being slaves rather than workers”

14 June 2017

“We must prevent Kenyan migrants from being slaves rather than workers”

Most African governments sign bilateral labour migration agreements (BLMA) with Gulf states without any provisions for the guarantee of migrant worker rights.Read the full article

Red gold and blood money: the fight to end modern slavery in Italy's agricultural sector

10 May 2017

Red gold and blood money: the fight to end modern slavery in Italy’s agricultural sector

“We cannot put the burden of competitiveness on the shoulders of vulnerable workers.”Read the full article

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