Many female labourers, particularly those working in industrial parks, suffer from low wages, overwork and inadequate living conditions, according to a survey of 34 enterprises in 10 provinces by the Viet Nam General Confederation of Labour. The enterprises, which employ 70 per cent of the total female workers in those provinces, are divided into joint [...]

On 31 March 2010, 23-year-old Park Ji-yeon died of leukaemia. She contracted the blood cancer at the age of 20 after working at the Samsung semiconductor factory in Onyang, South Korea. Her case is part of a cancer cluster affecting workers at the microelectronics giant. Samsung’s response to a high profile campaign for justice for [...]

OECD takes up case against Triumph International after Irregular Dismissals in Asia Almost nine months since irregular mass dismissals of workers of lingerie brand Triumph in Thailand and the Philippines, the OECD National Contact Point in Switzerland has accepted to handle the case. Although non-binding, the OECD guidelines provide standards for responsible business conduct to [...]

The National Commission on Violence against Women (Komnas Perempuan) is demanding the government provide better legal protection for female workers both at home and overseas. Commission chief Yuniyanti Chuzaifah, said Friday that women working overseas and those working as domestic maids as well as in the industrial and plantation sectors were the most vulnerable to [...]

Tens of thousands of protestors rallied across Asia Saturday in May Day rallies calling for higher wages and better working conditions. Most of the protests passed off without incident but in the Chinese territory of Macau riot police used water cannon and pepper spray in clashes with protestors who fought back with stones and bottles. [...]

Asian Women Workers demand for Decent Wage and Decent Work May Day, referred also as International Workers’ Day or Labour Day commemorates the fight for an eight-hour work day initiated by workers in 1886 in what was called the Haymarket affair-a rally supporting striking workers in Chicago USA was violently dispersed resulting in many deaths, [...]

Authorities in Guangdong province will raise the minimum wage by 21.1 percent on average for both corporate employees and part-time workers beginning May 1 after the province reported a shortage of workers early this year. “The wage rise is being introduced to help companies attract more workers,” said Lin Wangping, deputy director of Guangdong provincial [...]

Pre-existing inequalities exacerbates effects of the financial crisis on women, concludes a meeting of metalworker unions held in commemoration of International Women’s Day in Luxembourg.  Over-represented in precarious and low paid employment, women in manufacturing jobs have been badly hit by the financial crisis concluded women participating in a metalworker meeting on March 10, 2010. [...]

Bangladesh unions and international labour rights organisations are calling for immediate action from brands and the government of Bangladesh following a fatal factory fire which killed at least 21 workers and injured a further 50. The Garib & Garib Sweater Factory in Gazipur, Bangladesh has been producing knitwear for Swedish retailer H&M, reportedly a main [...]

The families and friends of electronics manufacturing workers at Samsung in Korea have discovered a cancer cluster among young workers exposed to toxic chemicals. The pattern of cancer deaths bears a striking resemblance to the pattern of cancer deaths among IBM “chip” workers in the US and to other electronics cancer clusters around the world. [...]