Stories about Labor from May, 2010
China: Responses to FoxConn's suicides
SACOM have several updates on reactions and responses to FoxConn workers’ consecutive suicides, including 1. Appeal by Sociologists on FoxConn suicides, 2. Global Day of Remembrance for Victims of Foxconn,...
Jordan: A Day with a Grave Digger
From Jordan, Karabeeb (Ar) interviews a grave digger – and discusses his profession.
Egypt: On Street Activists and Citizen Journalists
Between online activists, citizen journalists, and street demonstrators, it seems that the cause lost it's purpose and the Internet turned into a soundproof room for cursing and cussing. Marwa Rakha takes a closer look at online activism and its relationship to events on the ground.
Iran: Economic problems and Green Movement
Culturallogic writes [fa] that Green Movement should learn lesson from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's humiliation in Khoramshar where protesters chanted “we are unemployed” during his speech. The blogger asks Green...
Iran: “We are unemployed”
Several Iranian protesters at an outdoor speech by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday shouted their concerns about unemployment in Khoramshahr. Here is a video film where we can hear...
China: Dying young in FoxConn
SACOM, a NGO in Hong Kong which concerns about labour rights issue, posted an investigative report on the 10 consecutive suicide cases in FoxConn, one of the I-phone subcontractor in...
Egypt: The State Versus the People on Minimum Wages
The current minimum laborer wage, set in the mid-1980s, is LE35. Tabula Gaza reviews the workers strife since the late 90s until today.
Egypt: Workers on Protest Face Security Crackdown
Amonsito textile factory owner Syrian-American Adel Agha fled Egypt in 2007 and responsibility for the factory was assumed by Manpower and Immigration Ministry and Bank Misr. Amonisto workers went on...
Japan: The part-time jobs that Japanese never want to do again
Japan Style sums up [en] a discussion on “the part-time job I never want to do again” that took place on the the Japanese bullettin board 2 channel [en].
Qatar: NYT's article draws fire from locals and residents alike
Shabina Khatri reports on rising tensions between locals and expats as Doha residents extol, protest New York Times depiction of Qataris as coddled, self-indulgent creatures, hated by the foreigners who live amongst them.
Russia: Coal Miners Block the Railroad
Desperate coal miners in Mezhdurechensk [EN] (Kemerovo region, Siberia) blocked the Transsiberian Railroad and were suppressed by the police (video here [RUS] and here [RUS]). Miners claim that the official...
Russia: Coalmine Disaster
Vadim Nikitin writes about the May 9 coalmine disaster in Russia's Kemerovo region.
China: I-Phone subcontractor's workers commit suicide
7 workers from Foxconn, I-Phone subcontractor in China, have committed suicide since January 2010. China Hush summarized an investigative report on the consecutive suicide.
China: expelling the unemployed from Shenzhen
Ridding the city of those unemployed for longer than three months—that’s what Shenzhen’s vice mayor and police chief suggested April 29 in response to security problems in this special economic...
China: Apple hexane poisoning
SCAOM has a report on a poisoning incident at a subsidiary factory of Wintek Corporation, which is an Apple Computers contractor in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. The incident is believed to...
Philippines: Labor Day 2010
Workers of the world celebrated International Labor Day on May 1. In the Philippines, thousands of workers marched on the streets to demand higher wages and better working conditions as the government held job fairs and moved the official labor day holiday to May 3.
Ecuador: Social Groups March in Celebration of Labor Day
Like many countries around the world, Ecuadorians commemorated International Worker's Day on May 1st. This day has historically been a day where workers in the country have pushed for better working conditions, ever since it was officially made a national holiday in 1915.
Egypt: A Strike for Minimum Wages
A court ruling was issued to force the Egyptian government to set a minimum living wage for both the private and public sector workers. Egyptian bloggers are reacting and promoting this strike.
Iran: Workers demonstrated in several cities
Iranian workers demonstrated in several cities in Iran today. Iranian blogger,Nasabonline, has published a photo from workers’ demonstration in Shiraz. According to [fa] the blogger at least 50 workers protested...