· October, 2007

Stories about Labor from October, 2007

India: Child Labour

  30 October 2007

Atanu Dey raises some questions about banning child labour, especially relevant in the context of recent media reports about GAP sourcing its clothes from vendors who use child labour.

China: Province scraps Hukou system

  30 October 2007

Jeremy Goldkorn at Danwei with breaking news of southwestern Yunnan province's plans to abandon the hukou system, implemented in the 1950s, making it the first province in China to do so: “This is significant news. The hukou system is one of the biggest problems migrant workers face in getting urban...

South Korea: Worker's Public Suicide

  30 October 2007

CINA blogs on two workers’ demonstration on 27 October in Seoul, one organized by construction workers, one by irregular workers. In the former protest, a worker committed public suicide by burning himself.

Egypt: Red Card for Professionals

  24 October 2007

Egyptian Mostafa Hussein discusses the Red Card – available to professionals in his country. “In Egypt, we already have a system called the ‘Red card’ for expelling highly skilled professionals. Ensuring that the country will keep the finest of its minds away,” he notes.

Bahrain: The times they are a-changin'…

  22 October 2007

Many of Bahrain's bloggers are either lamenting or advocating change of one kind or another this week, whether concerning family celebrations, employment practices, political priorities – or even footwear, writes Ayesha Saldanha, in her latest round up of the Bahraini blogosphere.

Japan: Investigation commission to discuss welfare cutbacks

  21 October 2007

Starting in 2008, according to blogger tokyodo-2005, an investigation commission will begin discussing plans to cutback the welfare system in Japan. tokyodo-2005 writes that the existence of the commission has only been covered by one media organization (Hokkaido shinbun), and that otherwise there has been a virtual media blackout on...

Japan: NOVA on the brink of collapse

  21 October 2007

Despite numerous statements to the contrary from an increasingly evasive management, the collapse of Japan's largest English language school operator NOVA appears imminent as bloggers have been reporting lesson cancellations, school closings, and busy phone lines. Read about the thoughts and first-hand experiences of Japanese bloggers in today's post.

Japan: Starving in the Land of Plenty

  19 October 2007

The recent story of a man starving to death as a result of not being able to receive welfare assistance, made famous thanks to his having documented his last days in a diary, sparked many Japanese bloggers to reflect on the broader implications of their country's welfare policy. Read some of their thoughts on the issue in today's post.

Iraq: Teens Work to Help Families

  17 October 2007

Alive in Baghdad brings us the latest from a war torn Iraq, where at least 50 per cent of the population are under the age of 18. “Despite the ongoing impact of violence and terrorism that affects all Iraqis, children must even risk their lives to get to school, and...

Japan: NOVA Union Action Day

  15 October 2007

Tomorrow (October 15), NOVA Union will organize an action day to give pressure to the President Nozomu Sahashi for filing to the court for bankruptcy protection, so that employees can retrieve 80% of their unpaid waves through government subsidies and start to receive unemployment benefits. Debito has blogged the Union's...

Philippines: Racist Remarks

  12 October 2007

Mukamo Philippines is carrying a post on a retired Filipino nurse who encountered racist insults at her workplace in the U.S. and is now trying to seek justice.