Stories about Labor from March, 2010
Brazil: São Paulo State police beat striking teachers
Departing governor of São Paulo José Serra will run for presidency; teachers today marked his final day with another protest. During a previous demonstration calling for pay rises and other benefits, police hit peaceful strikers hard.
Japan Government: On the Fall of the Employment System
A think tank for Japan's Cabinet, the Economic and Social Research Institute (内閣府 経済社会総合研究所) (ESRI) published a study that quantified the present status of lifetime employment and seniority-based wage (i.e. the Japanese employment system). They used the data (1989-2008) from Basic Survey on Wage Structure (賃金構造基本統計調査) (BSWS) of the Ministry of...
Spain: MyWorld Video Winner tackles unemployment
The BBC's video contest My World Video has come to a close, and from the hundreds of submitted entries, they've selected their winner: Frederico Teixeira of Samapayo in Spain who made a 2 minute video on the unemployment situation in his country. The simple video shows his reflection in a...
Japan: Foreign trainees’ sad stories
A photo-reportage by Buddhika on five Chinese female trainees who reportedly escaped from the fabric factory of Tode Bussan (in Toyama prefecture) where they were underpaid and exploited.
Lebanon: Runaway Maids
“When a maid runs away from her employer's house, the police station is unable to act because there's no law criminalizing runaway maids. So the police station officer tells the Lebanese employee to say that she stole money,” writes Ethiopian Suicides.
Russia: Filipina Babysitter and Moscow Police
English Man in Moscow recounts his family's Filipina babysitter's ordeal with the Russian police.
China: Confession of a ‘Second Generation Migrant Worker’
China’s hukou system, adopted in 1958 to control population movement, has long been criticized for tying the population to their place of origin. With the mass migration of rural workers to China’s cities and coastal regions, the system is under the spotlight. One blogger airs his grievances.
Egypt: And the IslamOnline strike continues
The IslamOnline employees sit-in continues in Cairo, Egypt, after 250 employees were given their notice. The disgruntled employees are livestreaming, blogging and using Twitter to broadcast their plight. Mohamed El Gohary brings us the latest update.
Egypt: IslamOnline Employees Strike
Hundreds of employees, editors, and journalists started an angry sit-in in the widely read Cairo-based IslamOnline news website after 250 employees were sacked. For the first time, strikers are using new media efficiently and effectively to draw all the attention needed to support their cause, from continuous Twitter updates to live streaming.
China: Debating hukou reform
Earlier this month, 13 Chinese newspapers appealed to the National People's Congress' 3,000 delegates for social reforms. They attacked China's hukou (household registration system), which severely limits the access of rural migrant workers to basic services in China’s metropolises.
Maldives: Migrant Workers And Human Rights
Hassan Ziyau discusses about the plights of the migrants workers in Maldives and criticizes the government for not doing enough to protect their rights.
Jamaica: Consumer Win
“Thank you OUR (Office of Utility Regulations) for standing up for the Jamaican consumers by telling the JPS (Jamaica Public Service) no to their latest attempt of robbery!”: Stunner lets loose.
Bermuda: Stinking Budget
Vexed Bermoothes says that Bermuda's most recent budget “seeks to live on debt and on increased taxes on both businesses and workers…but beyond that, something else stinks.”
