Stories about Labor from August, 2007
Kuwait: Jailed Blogger Released
Following a local and regional outcry, jailed Kuwaiti blogger Bashar Al-Sayegh was released in Kuwait earlier today. While some bloggers celebrated the release, others warned that it could be a signal of more restrictions which could curtail freedom of speech in Kuwait. Another blogger expresses his disgust with men in...
The Balkans: Youth Activism
Balkanizer believes that in the Balkans, “it is the youth that should be at the vanguard of social revival and instead they are the most passive part of the society.”
Nepal: Building a House
Wagle Street Journal on building houses in Kathmandu, and on observing “unskilled” labour.
Hong Kong: Construction Workers’ Strike
In 1997, the daily salary of metal workers in construction site is HKD1,200 (USD150), today it is less that HKD600. Workers from Southeast Asia are even less. More than a thousand metal workers have been striking for 13 days to demand for an increase of daily salary to HKD950. Citizen...
Bahrain: Poetry Slammed!
This week Bahraini bloggers express their concerns about the country's electronic identity cards. With the school year about to begin, education is a hot topic. Be careful what you write when you send a job application – you might unwittingly become one of the new superheroes, The Employables! We finish with some strong opinions regarding the literary scene in Bahrain.
South Asia: Slaving in the Middle East
South Asian migrant workers (Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal) have a notable contribution in the developments of Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf region. But the abuse and exploitation of these workers is shocking and serious issue. Migrant workers fuel the engine of the economy but they are exploited,...
Japan: New Labour Contract Law
Japan Law Blog summarized the new labour contract law, which was called “A ‘Contract Law’ that Enslaves Japanese Working People” by Japan Focus.
Moldova: Migrant Workers & Economy
According to TOL's Moldova Matters, “Moldova is ranked second in the world after Togo, in the list of countries with economies that depend on money sent from abroad” by Moldovan migrant workers.
China: Kidnapped and sent to the mines
Joel from DANWEI translated the kidnapped case of a 17 years old boy, Wei Wenlin. He was kidnapped from Hebei on 6 of Aug and sent to a mine in Shanxi, working there as slave. According to Beijing News, in Shanxi Province alone, there were 36,286 unlicensed work units, making...
China: Manpower Parallel Rail
Kanchai pointed out that the labour market in China is now in parallel rail, which means two different salary system for same the same job, people coming from rural areas earn far less that urban citizen. Such discrimination is caused by the rigid political system (zh).
Estonia: Eternal Remont
Itching for Eestimaa writes about remont in Estonia: “…the point of remont is not to finish it, but to keep doing it. This is Estonia, and in Estonia, remont is one of the national pastimes, along with drinking õlut and explaining Estonian history from the 13th century to unsuspecting listeners.”
Documentary on Workers Rights in the Gulf
Jane in Doha points us to a documentary (in Arabic) produced by AlJazeera on the condition of workers in the Gulf States. She is happy that the regional media is paying attention to this problem since there are “17 million foreign workers in the Gulf. Most are from Asia and...
China: Cultural Revolution
Zhao Si-long recommended an article about the economic background of Cultural Revolution (zh) with some class and social grouping analysis.
Iran:More worker activists arrested
Kaargar says [Fa] that several members of Tehran Bus Drivers Union were arrested today in Tehran.They were planning to hold a protest outside the house of Mansour Osanlu,their jailed leader.They asked for the release of Mansur Osanlu and another jailed union activist, Mahmud Salehi.Security forces surrounded Osanlou's house, preventing anyone...
Syria: Lebanese Border and Toilet Etiquette
Yazan Badran takes us on a tour of Syrian blogs where bloggers are discussing the worsening of conditions of Syrian workers and families at the Lebanese-Syrian border, calls for the return of the Golan Heights occupied by Israel to Syria, the Czech machine gun and toilet etiquette.
China: Silent Working Class in Shenzhen
Maryannodonnell writes a reflective piece on the historical forms of silencing or glossing over the question of working class politics in Shenzhen.
Ukraine: “Seeking the Past”
Taras Kuzio writes about his father's recent trip to Germany: a Ukrainian, he was taken there “as a Nazi slave labourer in 1942 and never to return home again until exactly 50 years later in 1992.”
Russia: Notes From Irkutsk and Poronaysk
Two more sketches from Oleg Klimov, Siberia-born photographer and blogger who has been traveling across Russia since June 23: the first excerpt is about Siberia and its people; the second one is about the fish-smelling town of Poronaysk, located on the island of Sakhalin.
Iran:Workers support jailed worker activists
Kaargar says[Fa] that there will be several demonstrations, from 9th to 11th of August, in different countries, to ask for freedom of two jailed woker activists:Mansour Osanloo and Mahmoud Salehi.Kaargar adds Iranian government continues its repression against workers.
China: Motorbikes banned in Dongguan
“Today is the last first day of a month that motorcycles can legally ride the streets of Dongguan,” wrote manufacturing executive and blogger A. Bryson on August first. “Come September 1 they are banned.”
Israel: Child Slaves
Yudit from Israel writes about child slavery in the country here. “Who are those children? Whose children are they?” asks the blogger.
