· May, 2012

Stories about Labor from May, 2012

China: Netizens Want Confucius to Return Home

  29 May 2012

A new visa policy was announced on May 17, 2012 by the U.S State Department which put the Confucius Institute under the spotlight in the Chinese blogosphere. Chinese netizens take the opportunity to ask Confucius to return home and teach the poor Chinese kids instead.

Mayotte: Capsizing Boat Kills at Least 5 Economic Refugees

  21 May 2012

Malango Actualité provides the social context [fr] related to the sinking of a boat  that killed at least 5, including 3 children and an infant. The fishing boat was carrying 43 people from Comoros to the French territory of Mayotte. It is the third disaster  of such kind in 2012 for Comoran...

Portugal: Unemployment as the New ‘Thang’

  18 May 2012

Portuguese Minister of Economy Álvaro Santos Pereira‘s speech on the Parliament today, May 18, has become a national joke [pt], with the hashtag #Coiso (slang for “thing”) trending on Twitter. The minister stated [pt] that “we all must to work together – unions, employers and parties so that we can...

China: Motor-Powered Breakfast Crepes

  16 May 2012

The Presurfer shares a video where we can see how the Beijing Jianbing is made. This large breakfast crepe is made possible thanks to a very steady hand and a motorized wheel that allows a really large and thin crepe to be evenly cooked.

Kenya: To Pay or Not to #PayInterns?

  14 May 2012

Kenyan tweep @RobertAlai started a lively debate on Twitter on 14 May, 2012 about the need for companies to pay interns. He argued that using interns without pay is a form of exploitation. Tweeps have been using the hashtag #PayInterns to question the practice forcing some companies to clear their names on Twitter.

Kenya: #PayInterns Trending

  14 May 2012

#PayInterns is trending in Kenya. @mainneli writes: “Interns should be paid. they do the same work and same stuff like anyone else in the office,stop exploitation #Payinterns”

Bolivia: Protests Sweep Across the Country

  10 May 2012

A wave of protests are sweeping across Bolivia, affecting at least six of the largest regions of the country. Although conflicts are not initially linked to each other, they have generated a climate of political instability, raising challenging questions for the government of Evo Morales. Netizens share videos, reports, and reactions to these protests.

Colombia: Nationwide Demonstrations Mark May 1

  7 May 2012

Colombian workers took to the streets to commemorate May 1 and protest against the free trade agreement with the United States, the high rate of unemployment, low salaries compared to the high cost of living, among other topics. In this post we gather some citizen reports and reactions to the day.

Colombia: Telework Law or Microsoft Law?

  4 May 2012

lncognito wonders what is behind [es] the ‘telework law’ (Decreto 884 de 2012 [es], which regulates the Ley 1228 de 2008 [es]), signed by President Juan Manuel Santos at the headquarters of Microsoft Colombia [es], and whose official website [es] seems to be sponsored by the Labour Ministry and the...

India: Photo Essay On Working Mothers

  3 May 2012

Pattabi Raman’s photo essay on working mothers in parts of rural India is up at the International Museum for women. The photo essay highlights issues that are specific to women in parts of rural India, such as the threat of displacement due to industrialization.

Panama Commemorates May 1 with Protests and Work

  2 May 2012

In Panama, the public holiday of Labour Day which falls on May 1 was moved to April 30 in order to give workers a long weekend. However, various labour unions decided to carry out acts of protest on May 1. Netizens share their reactions.

Cuba: Nothing Changes on May Day

  1 May 2012

Today, Cuba marks May Day, an occasion that is strongly linked to the concept of labour empowerment, as workers from various towns march with their colleagues to Plaza de la Revolución. National public service announcements about this year's parade state that it “will serve to demonstrate the people’s commitment to complying with the Communist Party’s economic and social reform guidelines.” But some bloggers are wondering whether anything has really changed in Cuba, despite the fact that self-employed workers will be taking part in the march for the first time.

May Day Marked Around the Arab World

May Day, or Labour Day, is commemorated in many Arab countries. In this post we look at some of the day's events this year: in Libya it became a national public holiday, in Bahrain demonstrations were attacked by riot police, and in Lebanon the website of the Ministry of Labour was hacked.