Stories about Labor from May, 2009
Russia: “Uncle Mirza's Cabin”
Sixty-one photos of Moscow's migrant workers, by Yuri Kozyrev and LJ user kunstkamera – at LJ user burtin‘s blog (RUS).
Go Farm, Young Man! – How Farming in Japan is Changing
For a country that identifies strongly as being historically agricultural people, the landscape of Japan's agricultural sector is bleak, and has been for some time. Simply put, the workforce is rapidly aging and there aren't nearly enough successors. The price of rice has gone down, and structural reform is unlikely...
Japan: Nova under G-Education
Koichi gives us a rare glimpse of life after the collapse of giant English school Nova at ‘Post-Nova Bust: How is G-Education for teaching English in Japan?‘. [en] His blog post is an interview with a teacher who worked for both Nova and G-Education, the company that bought them out.
Israel: Bloggers Back the Struggle for Workers’ Rights
One of the issues Israeli bloggers truly care about and campaign for is workers' rights. At present, two topics are stirring up the Hebrew blogosphere: supporting the academic staff of the Open University that has been on strike for five weeks and counting, and boycotting AMPM drugstores (the "seven eleven" of Tel Aviv) for their workers' rights infringements.
Bahrain: Our Need For Indians Is Like Our Need For Air
Earlier this month, Bahrain announced that it would be ending the system of sponsorship of foreign labour. While the move is intended to stop the exploitation of workers, especially from the Indian subcontinent, for some Bahrainis the idea of it becoming easier for foreigners to work in the country is worrying. In this post a blogger talks about the Indian presence in Bahrain.
Haiti: Minimum Wage Increase
Wadner Pierre says that “Haitian labor activists applauded the Preval administration's decision to raise the minimum wage in Haiti from 70 to 200 gourdes ($5.50 USD) per day”, but notes that “the increase has been strongly opposed by Haitian industrialists.”
China: Netizens stand with the waitress who killed an official
Deng Yujiao, a waitress in Hubei Province stabbed an official to death and injured another in resisting their sexual advances. Comments on the internet showed no sympathy with the dead official and generally support the 21-year-old girl, acclaiming that she is another Yang Jia who acted in response to an...
UAE: Susan's in Saudi Arabia
Susan, a Dubai-based blogger, visits Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on a business trip. Read her impressions and watch her video at amazingwomenrock.com.
Russia: Translation of Baymurat Story
Jost A Mon translates Roman Gruzov's Bolshoi Gorod text (RUS) about Baymurat, “an unlikely star” of the Russian internet, mentioned on GV back in April – here: “… a poorly dressed Tajik gastarbeiter who brilliantly performed the song ‘Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Aaja’ from the Hindi film ‘Disco Dancer’ with such...
Russia: Visa Application Process
White Sun of the Desert writes about the Russian visa application process: “Then at the beginning of this year they decided that all applications had to come with a notarised translation of every page of your passport, including all visas and stamps therein. I have a 48-page passport with stamps...
Iran: A blogger and social activist was arrested
Change for Equality reports that six members of One Million Signatures Campaign were arrested during and after a peaceful demonstration on Friday which was held in Tehran to celebrate May 1st. One of them is Nikzad Zanganeh, an Iranian blogger.
Taiwan: Labors protested against unemployment on Labor Day
Chaotang took some photos on Labor Day showing the protest against unemployment. David had an article describing why the labors gathered.
Japan: For the Price of a Plane Ticket…?
Recently, an initiative by the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare offering to cover the travel expenses for unemployed nikkei nationals who wish to return to their home countries has been causing a stir.
Kuwait: Election Drama, Filthy Clinics and Domestic Abuse
Salutations from Kuwait! Amer Al-Hilal here with another round-up from the Kuwaiti blogosphere, ranging from posts concerning after shocks of Swine Flu, to embarrassing official printing gaffes, to the humanitarian plight of the domestic workers and much more.
Japan: Doctor shortage, the medical system in crisis
Together with the economic crisis the shortage of doctors (医師不足, ishi busoku in Japanese) is becoming more and more urgent in Japan. As a Fire and Disaster Management Agency survey pointed out in 2007, the causes are the uneven distribution of the doctors mainly settled in urban areas and the...
Cuba: May Day
As Havana Times blogs about the traditions of May Day in Cuba, complete with photos of the festivities, Generation Y does something non-traditional: “The limited drumming arose from the smallness of the individual who dared, and not from the massive automatism of those who paraded in the morning..in spite of...
Tunisia: Call to Embrace Work Ethics on Labour Day
May 1st marked International Labour Day around the world and Tunisian bloggers grasped the occasion to comment on the situation of workers and encourage some of them to give up laziness and embrace better work ethics. Lina Ben Mhenni has the story.
Japan: On Takiji's “Cannery Ship”
‘The “Boom” was Manufactured and Real’ – ikjeld.com offers an online edition of Norma Field's “Commercial Appetite and Human Need: The Accidental and Fated Revival of Kobayashi Takiji's Cannery Ship” (published in the Asia-Pacific Journal) on how and why Takiji's pillar of Japanese proletarian literature hit it off with the...
Cuba: May Day and Name Calling
Havana Times and Along the Malecon blog about different aspects of Cuba's May Day celebrations, while The Cuban Triangle notes that “the Obama Administration designated Cuba a ‘state sponsor of terrorism'…and Cuba responded by calling the United States an ‘international criminal.’ So we’re even.”
