Stories about Labor from November, 2009
Egypt: Spotlight on Zabbaleen
Regine, at we make money not art, introduces us to photographs by Bas Princen of Cairo's Mokattam Ridge or Garbage City (Zabbaleen) – where a community of mainly Coptic Christians live and make a living out of collecting, sorting and disposing of Cairo's waste.
Singapore: Middle Class and recession
Seah Chiang Nee writes how the recession is affecting Singapore's middle-class population.
Singapore: Illegal employment termination
Illegally terminated pregnant workers in Singapore can lodge complaints. Barnyard Chorus identifies the process on how to file a complaint with the Ministry of Manpower
Difference between Japanese and American Résumés
Daniel at the How to Japonese blog outlines the differences between Japanese and American résumés.
Japan: Images of Minanamata Disease
@Minori_okd points us to the photographic work MINAMATA by W. Eugene Smith and Ailejjen M. Smith that covers the Minamata Disease.
Poland: Online Campaigning for the Rights of Employees
Sylwia Presley writes about the plight of and online campaigning by a group Polish citizens who work for IKEA via another, smaller, company called Solid Security: they claim to be earning amounts below the national minimal wage, being assigned to work up to 16 hours daily and lacking the basic benefits.
Japan: When an Employee Catches H1N1
The Kirai blog describes what happened at his company after an employee caught a case of H1N1: “Notice that from his perspective, he is NOT a victim, he is the culprit of having caused so much trouble to the company: because he couldn’t work for one week and we had...
Peru: Blind Lawyer Strives to Be Judge
Peruvian lawyer Edwin Béjar Rojas' goal of becoming a judge had been interrupted by National Council of the Magistracy, who rejected his candidacy because of his visual impairment and refused to give him the test.
Trinidad & Tobago: Will The Performing Arts Centre Perform?
The construction of Trinidad and Tobago's new National Academy for the Performing Arts has been controversial, but despite the obstacles, the academy was opened earlier this week, soliciting reactions from local bloggers...
Uzbekistan: Thank you, cotton-growers!
Musafirbek says that the president of Uzbekistan officially thanked the cotton-growers for gathering the harvest of this strategic product for Uzbekistan. However, those who sweat away, collecting this cotton (including children) were not mentioned in the president’s address.
China: The worker struggle
The China study has an in-depth report on the rise of semi-autonomous worker struggle through collective actions in China..
Russia: Potential for Rebellion in Toliatti
Window on Eurasia reports that “Russian government plans to lay off 50,000 autoworkers in Toliatti […] have sparked rumors that Moscow plans to introduce interior ministry troops to keep order and that at least some of the workers plan to use arms to defend their jobs.”
