Download The theme of this newsletter is the financial crisis and its impact on women workers.

Oil palm plantation and rubber estate workers today gathered in Parliament angry at Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Bernard Dompok’s statement that they were above the poverty line. “It is a blatant lie and it has been going on for a long time… the fact is misleading and confusing,” slammed M Sugumaran, a coordinator for [...]

The update below is based on an article in Prachathai (http://www.prachatai.com/journal/2009/11/26676) On November 17, 2009 at approximately 9am, Triumph tested the fire emergency alarm. However, they had not notified anyone beforehand. Neither relevant government officials, union or OHS committee had been told. When the alarm thus sounded the workers panicked and scrambled for the exit. [...]

Some 1273 workers were killed and 1617 others injured in various work related incidents across the country on first nine months (1 January to 30 September) of 2009. Bangladesh Occupational Safety, Health and Environment Foundation (OSHE) revealed the said statistics after monitoring sixteen national daily newspapers from January 1, to September 30, 2009. Of the [...]

Tata, the transnational Indian conglomerate which makes the world famous Tetley teas, has taken 6,500 people hostage through hunger. The hostages are nearly 1,000 tea plantation workers and their families on the Nowera Nuddy Tea Estate in West Bengal, India. Permanently living on the edge of hunger, the workers and their dependants are being pushed [...]

Hainan garment workers take on European lingerie giant ‘Triumph’ chinaworker.info, Hong Kong Women workers at a garment factory in Hainan, southern China, began a strike on Wednesday 11 November to press their demands on pay and vacations after management announced drastic cuts in bonuses. Around 3,000 workers at the Hainan Youmei Underwear Co., Ltd in [...]

Journalist, photographer and author, David Bacon, talks about his latest book, ILLEGAL PEOPLE: HOW GLOBALIZATION CREATES MIGRATION AND CRIMINALIZES IMMIGRANTS. You can purchase the book at: Pdxjustice Media Productions —————- Reviews of the book: Editorial Reviews From Publishers Weekly Starred Review. In this incisive investigation of the global political and economic forces creating migration, journalist [...]

The African regional organisation of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC-Africa) has called on Robert Mugabe and the police to immediately release five members of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), who were arrested over the weekend. On Sunday night, the ZCTU members, including ZCTU President Lovemore Matombo, were arrested in Victoria Falls and [...]

Title: Women Workers Summit 2009 Location: Bangkok, Thailand Start Date: 2009-12-09 End Date: 2009-12-10 —————————————– For more information, please visit www.womenworkerssummit.org In the Women Workers Summit, CAW while examining the impact and consequences of the crisis on women workers, will look at the various policy orientations that have been offered by Labour movements, feminist economists [...]

Download Conference Report (DRAFT REPORT is now available for review) รายงานการสัมมนาเรื่อง “คุ้มครองการทำงานและความมั่นคงของค่าจ้างท่ามกลางวิกฤติการณ์ทางการเงิน” The conference on “Protecting Job and Wage Security in Time of Financial Crisis” provided a platform to discuss commonalities and strategies for trade unions affected by the financial crisis in Thailand and the Philippines. The conference also initiated a dialogue between unions and [...]