· December, 2008

Stories about Labor from December, 2008

Fiji: Dispute over local jobs

  31 December 2008

A government infrastructure project in Fiji was delayed after local residents demanded that workers in the project should come from the local community.

Egypt: Down sizing Car factory

  30 December 2008

In the middle of everybody's talk about Gaza's siege and Israeli brutal attack on Palestinians, Egyptian blogger Zeinobia is asking people not to forget Egyptian internal affairs. In her new post, “Don't forget the inner line” , she highlights the Government's new decision to downsize the Nasr Car Factory as...

Cuba: Subsidies

  30 December 2008

As “Raúl Castro reaffirmed the idea of ending subsidies”, Generation Y observes: “Between the symbolic price of a pound of rationed rice, and the enormous ‘slice’ of our salaries taken by those who govern us, we are more the givers than the receivers of subsidies.”

Haiti: Restavek

  29 December 2008

“In the truest definition of the word it means ‘one who stays with'”: Tara at The Livesay Haiti Weblog says that the Restavek system “might be one of the most frustrating ones of all for me to accept. The fact that children are used for labor and for the benefit...

Japan: Un-hiring fresh graduates

  27 December 2008

Job hunting for fresh graduates in Japan is an intense trial called shushoku katsudo or shukatsu for short. University students in their third year start shukatsu during the winter in hopes of receiving several naitei (informal job offer/promise of employment) in May at the earliest, to start their new jobs on April 1st of the following year.

Southeast Asia: Newsmakers of 2008

  26 December 2008

For Southeast Asia, 2008 was a year of terrible disasters, both natural and man-made. Rice consumption was reduced, milk products were contaminated with melamine, jobs were lost, bloggers were arrested, and homes were destroyed. But the situation is not hopeless.

Jamaica: Bailout Plan?

  24 December 2008

“It is indeed a sorry state of affairs. Usually in times of downturn, alcohol sales increase as people look to drown their sorrows!”: As employees of a rum manufacturer are laid off, Jamaica Salt wonders whether “the government of Jamaica should be considering a bailout plan.”

Japan, Brazil: A centenary of Japanese Immigration to Brazil.

  20 December 2008

In June 1908, the Japanese ship Kasato Maru docked in the Port of Santos after a 52-day voyage, bringing the first Japanese families to Brazil. A hundred years later and after a hard period of adaptation, Japanese and Japanese-Brazilians reflect on the history and cultural heritage of this cross ocean cultural mix.

Russia: Ethnicity, Labor Migration, Human Rights

  17 December 2008

A roundup on ethnicity, labor migration and human rights in Russia: IZO cites death statistics for Tajik labor migrants in Moscow. Moscow Through Brown Eyes writes about an attack on Stanley Robinson, an 18-year-old African-American student in Volgograd – here and here. Window on Eurasia writes about a strike by...

Brunei: The ‘Ali Baba’ syndrome

  14 December 2008

Brunei has the potential to achieve economic diversity. However, development is hampered by little or lack of productivity. The Bruneian Malay culture may in fact be one of the reasons as to why progress is slow.

Migrant Workers in the Gulf

  12 December 2008

Nimr, from America-Palestinian Kabobfest, discusses the issue of migrant workers in the Gulf – and how their governments are not fending for their rights thanks to the millions of remittance payments they send back home every month.

South Asian Laborers Duped Again in Iraq

  10 December 2008

After 12 Nepalese laborers had been kidnapped and murdered by Iraqi terrorist group Ansar al-Sunna in 2004, there was hope that officials in Iraq, United States and in Nepal would take steps to ensure the safety and security of those traveling to Iraq in search of work. Unfortunately, reports suggest...