· January, 2008

Stories about Labor from January, 2008

Bahrain: Are Gulf Arabs Lazy?

  29 January 2008

Earlier this week the Bahraini Labour Minister Majid Al Alawi was interviewed in the pan-Arab newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, and in the interview he said that the Gulf was facing an 'Asian tsunami' because Gulf nationals are 'lazy' and 'spoilt' and depend on imported labour to do even simple tasks. He said that that the nearly 17 million foreign workers in the Gulf, mostly Asian, represented 'a danger worse than the atomic bomb or an Israeli attack'. What do Bahraini bloggers think?

South Korea: Cry from a Nepalese Migrant Worker

  29 January 2008

Suwash Budathoki, a Nepalese citizen, was arrested in the S. Korean capital Seoul on July 7, 2007 and now struggling to overcome his ill-health in Hwaseong Immigration Detention Center. IBMK has interviewed the desperate migrant.

Poland, Ukraine: Border Crisis

  28 January 2008

Leopolis writes about the crisis at Poland's eastern border: “Traffic has come to a standstill on the Polish-Ukrainian border. Polish customs officers are on strike for the sixth day, demanding pay increases.”

Barbados: Impact of CSME

  26 January 2008

While Bajan Free Press believes “the future of Barbados is inextricably linked to the future of the Caribbean region of which we are a part”, Barbados Underground says: “We will probably import many of the social ills of T&T, Guyana and several of the other islands.”

Hong Kong: Retraining 15 Years Old?

  25 January 2008

Fai Mao criticizes the Employees Retraining program which exploits foreign domestic workers by imposing an unreasonable tax for local workers’ retaining. Now the program plans to retrain 15 years old youth.

China: A net campaign for the parents of slaves

  25 January 2008

A net campaign has been launched to aid the forgotten victims in the 2007 Chinese slave scandal--- the parents of the kiln workers. They share the pain of their children, the afflicting memory being a life-time scar. Some of their kids are yet lost, while the government is putting no more concern on the issue, leaving them wading alone. The internet is rallying a donation to comfort them with a warm Chinese New Year.

Poland, Ukraine: The Border

  24 January 2008

Our Man in Gdansk writes about Poland's eastern border, the non-Schengen, closely guarded one: “A lorry driver died in the 20-mile queue at the Ukrainian-Polish border crossing at Dorohusk. Warsaw sat up and noticed: Poland has an eastern border.”

Brazil: Brazilian Landless Workers Movement turns 24

  24 January 2008

The Brazilian Landless Workers Movement (MST) celebrates today its 24 years. João Valente Aguiar [pt] publishes a beautiful black and white picture and describes it as a “movement which consists of activist people committed to the fight for another kind of society. A movement that because of its tenacity and...

Sri Lanka: Indian Labour

  24 January 2008

Transcurrents.com reacts to a historian's claim that the Indian labour, shipped to Sri Lanka to work on the estates are now a burden in Sri Lanka.

Ukraine: A Porous Border

  24 January 2008

Ukrainian news site Korrespondent.net posted a translation of a Sunday Times story on Ukraine's porous borders and illegal migration. The English-language original has received 16 reader comments so far, the Russian translation - 88 comments. While many readers admitted that the problem of illegal migration existed in Ukraine and that corruption among officials contributed to it, most did not seem happy about the Sunday Times' story.

China: Women at The Wheel

  23 January 2008

Tiger temple introduces an online documentary about woman taxi drivers’ life in China. The director is a Chinese migrant in Germany. The whole documentary is streamed at 24hr blogbus (zh).

Jamaica: Misdirected Gratitude?

  22 January 2008

“Here in the Caribbean we relate to people who provide us with good service with some gratitude, and perhaps with too much gratitude”: Francis Wade explains.

Hong Kong: Worker Union is Equal to Triad?

  21 January 2008

A district councilor Raymond Ho commented, in an internet video show, on a local artist Eason Chan's urge for the establishment of trade union for creative workers by saying that worker union is equal to triad society. Sidekick points out that local worker unions should demand an open apology from...