Nestlé factory employees in Pakistan are experiencing hard working conditions. Many employers refuse to raise wages in relation to inflation and even after many years of service the workers are still employed as ‘daily wagers’ without contracts. This legal status denies them their basic workers’ rights such as the possibility to join a Trade Union.
Many of them have been working for already fourteen years in the factory and they receive a daily salary of 317 rupees (about €4,60). They don’t have access to social security or the EOBI (Employees’ Old-Age Benefit Institution, the Pakistani pension system).
The Global Network national coordinator for Pakistan, the Labour Education Foundation (LEF), provides legal support to workers from the Nestlé Sheikhupura factory who lost their jobs after protesting for their rights to be recognised. In October 2011 a LEF representative had an interview with a daily waged labourer who shares his story (read it in the full article).
On 13 January, the third edition of the International Seminar "The rights of workers in the Peruvian labour migration: Opportunities and Challenges" took place in Lima at the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Peru. The Global Network regional coordinator for Latin America PLADES was co-organiser of the event that aimed at evaluating the progress made in the management of labour migration issues in Peru.
On the occasion of International Human Rights day the 10th of December, hundreds of female workers in kindergartens and day care centres participated in a sit-in in front of the Council of Ministries headquarter in Ramallah, co-organised by the Global network member DWRC. The Kindergarten Union members spoke out against the marginalisation of their role in society and the non-application of labour laws in their workplaces.
The 28th of October was a victorious day for all Indonesian workers. After a long period of advocacy and activism by the Indonesian metal union federation FSPMI, the indonesian House of Representatives passed the social insurance provider bill.
This year`s Asia Regional Conference was organized by the International Domestic Workers Network (IDWN), Global Network - Asia, Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA), International Trade Union Confederation in the Asia and the Pacific (ITUC-AP) and the Technical Working Group (TWG) for Domestic Work in the Philippines in cooperation with the International Labour Organization (ILO).
With the major theme ``Advocacy towards the Ratification and Implementation of ILO Convention 189 and Recommendation 201 on Decent Work for Domestic Workers,`` the regional conference had delegates who come all the way from the Middle East, Southeast Asia, East Asia and South Asia.
To mark the fourth World Day for Decent Work (October 7th), the Global Network Latin America coordinated by PLADES has launched a series of case studies on decent work and social protection in Ecuador, Bolivia, Argentina and Uruguay.
On October 7th, the Labour Education and Research Network launched the Global Network Report 'Realising Decent Work and Social Protection for All' in Asia.
According to Reynaldo Rasing, Executive Director of LEARN and Regional Coordinator for Global Network in Asia: "From Pakistan, Bangladesh and India to Indonesia, Cambodia and the Philippines, the need for universal social security to cover the vast majority of working people in the informal sectors is one of the most important work for the labor movement today.”
Today (5 October), the Global Network is launching its 2011 report on 'Realising decent work and social protection for all: How civil society organisations are creating change'. This report will be launched at an event in the European Parliament in Brussels.
This week - on Thursday 16th- the plenary conference of the ILO ILC adopted the texts of a Convention and a Recommendation which set up international standards for tens of millions of domestic workers worldwide.
At least 3,7 millions of Bolivians work in informal economy to survive. This situation affects especially self-employed women and women domestic workers who are excluded from social protection coverage and lack decent job opportunities.
The Global Network in Asia, in collaboration with several organisations convened a Regional Preparatory Consultation in relation to the 2011 International Labour Conference (ILC) on 23-25 April 2011 in Singapore.
The Labor Education and Research Network, together with its affiliates and partner organizations held mobilizations nationwide for the May Day Celebrations. The issue of Domestic Workers was also brought to the streets.
In Ramallah a study day on ways to strengthen the Palestinian trade unions struggle will be organized to celebrate May 1st. Themes on the agenda will be the right to strike, arbitrary dismissal, pension law for the private sector, labour courts, unemployment protection, and health insurance for all workers in Palestine.
The NIGERIA LABOUR CONGRESS took part in the Pre-may Day Lecture given by the Nigeria's Minister of National Planning, Dr Shamsudeen Usman. The lecture - whose theme was "growing the National Economy for Job Creation and Peoples Welfare" - highlighted the challenges facing the Nigerian economy, amidst high growth rate with little or no impact on the people wellbeing.
Global Network member in Kenya (COTU) will be having labour day celebrations in different towns with the main one being held in Nairobi at Uhuru Park. The theme for this year is "Workers' full participation in change process and implementation of the new constitution in Kenya".
Global Network member in Pakistan (Labour Education Foundation, LEF) and the National Trade Union Federation will be jointly organizing workers' rallies in Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar and Islamabad on 1st May. LEF will also be organizing a joint rally of Glass Bangle workers in Hyderabad along with Home Based Women Workers Federation.
Decisions for Life Campaign supports and empowers young women, individually and collectively, to make well-informed decisions about work, career and family, have access to secure jobs, earnings and social benefits, demand equal opportunities at work, and improve their leadership and negotiation skills.
The first convention of the Home Based Women Workers Federations (HBWWF) - organized jointly by the Homenet South Asia, Labour Education Foundation and Homenet Pakistan - took place on 11 April in Karachi.
On 20 April, a Day of Action on Social Protection was organised by the European Working Group on Social Protection and Decent Work in Development Cooperation, of which SOLIDAR is an active member. The event, hosted by Gabriele Zimmer MEP (GUE/NGL), saw the participation of MEPs Véronique de Keyser (S&D), Charles Goerens (ALDE) and Michael Cashman (S&D).
The Global Network – Asia, through the efforts of the Labor Education and Research Network, joined this year’s successful celebration of the March 8 International Women’s Day in Manila, Philippines.
The Global Network – Asia, under the coordination of the Labor Education and Research Network, held its regional training this year on February 22-24, 2011 at the LEARN Workers’ House in Quezon City.
Horas atrás fue detenida en San Juan la ambientalista de Greenpeace, Eugenia Segura, quien se encontraba manifestando junto a otras organizaciones y movimientos sociales por la aplicación de la ley de glaciares.
On the Occasion of the World Day for Social Justice, DWRC has published a press release demanding
the end of the blockade of the Gaza Strip so that the men and women in Gaza will be able to earn a living in dignity instead on relying on humanitarian assistance and survival strategies.
The Labor Education and Research Network, through the Global Network-Asia, sponsored a two-day seminar for public sector employees to increase their awareness of social protection particularly in the areas of labor rights and social insurance.
These lectures are part of the 2011 installment of the South-South Exchange Programme for Research on the History of Development-Third World Studies Center’s “Social Movements in the South” lecture tour series, which began in 2009.
The Global Network Cambodian member CWMO took part in the legal strike organised by the Cambodian National Labor Confederation (CNC) and other union federations on mid-September.
According to the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), despite recently legislating a minimum wage, Hong Kong continues to violate core labour standards.
In the framework of the Decent Work Decent Life Campaign, SOLIDAR Belgian member, Solidarité Socialiste has produced, together with the Femmes Prévoyantes Socialistes, a compilation of tales which illustrate the importance of social protection for women in both Northern and Southern countries.
The Social Protection for Inclusive Development report calls the EU and its member states to support developing countries efforts to set up and scale up sustainable social security schemes.
Ghana TUC, with the support of the Global Network Africa, held a one day advocacy workshop on social Protection for Domestic Workers on Monday, 15th November. The purpose of the workshop was - among others - to advocate for social protection for domestic workers in Ghana.
The Labour Education and Research Network (LEARN), in cooperation with the Federation of Cooperatives of Workers' Organizations (FedCoWorkers), hosted a Financial Management Seminar on December 2-3, 2010 at the LEARN Workers' House in Quezon City.
The Global Network Latin America/PLADES participated in a workshop on labour rights and social protection for workers in the agro export sector in Ica, Peru.
Beginning of December, 25 Palestinian unions and federations in the public and private sectors mobilized to protest against unilateral decisions of the Palestinian government regarding the introduction of amendments to the tax law, the civil service law and the compulsory health insurance law.
DWRC went on an exposure visit to the Self Employment Women Association (SEWA) in India for a one week training from November 22nd to 29th, 2010 to learn from SEWA's long experience in organizing and empowering informal economy women.
On the World Day for Decent Work 2010, representatives from the Asian Network for Transformative Social Protection and Rudi Delarue, Head of the ILO Brussels Office, shared their messages with European decision makers on how to make social protection a reality for all.
LEARN managed to have a closer discussion with Daniel Edralin (Social Security System's Commissioner) where the commissioner disclosed his views on improving less privileged people's access to social security benefits.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) met on November 10 to suspend the three-day warning strike to ask for the implementation of the new national minimum wage of 18, 000 Nairas (89 Euros) negotiated in 2009.
While social security measures have played a critical role in reducing the social and economic impact of economic crises in Developing countries as well as in Europe, now and in the past, basic social security coverage remains out of reach for most of the world, especially in low-income countries.
Representatives of the Indonesian Metalworkers' Federation visited the The Philippines to exchange experience about the common challenges the labour movement in Indonesia and The Philippines have to face.
Mr. Nasir Mansoor, Deputy General Secretary National of Trade Union Federation and LEF (member of the Global Network) have recently met with the Minister for Women Development to celebrate the adoption of the resolution on home based women work
October 7 is World Day for Decent Work (WDDW). This proposal, originally introduced by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in 1999, tries to promote the idea that decent work should be the basis of global, national and local policies to achieve economic and social progress.
With a theme “Recognition, Rights and Decent Work for Domestic Workers,” the international event gathered participants from twelve countries in Asia, Europe and Africa. The conference was organized forty-two days before the submission of final government responses to the draft ILO Convention on Domestic Workers and the so-called “Brown Report” on November 18 this year.
Ramallah – On October 7th 2010 the Democracy and Workers' Rights Center and the Federation of Independent Unions Palestine with Gaza by video-conference, celebrated the decent work day through a conference on "Employment strategies and social protection in Palestine...towards an effective social dialogue"
In September 2010 a submission was made to the Department of Labour in South Africa to support the investigation into and the need for a provident fund for the over one million domestic workers in the country.
ASEM8 is an historic opportunity for governments to take the timely and decisive actions needed to address the social, economic and environmental crises that have deepened the poverty, injustice, loss of employment, and exclusion faced by millions of women and men across Asia and Europe. The gap between the rich and the poor is widening, and access to resources, livelihood opportunities and basic services remain grossly unequal.
About 5 thousand people marched this morning through downtown streets of Medellin to demand better pay and working conditions, respect union rights, guarantee right to health and other basic human rights, these claims are summarized in one sentence: DECENT WORK FOR A DECENT LIFE.
On the World Day for Decent Work, Thursday 7 October, SOLIDAR - together with the European Working Group on Social Protection & Decent Work and the Network for Transformative Social Protection - held a Round Table in the European Parliament.
On 15 September 2010, a launched of a three-year SOLIDAR project took place in the European Parliament hosted by Juan Fernando López Aguilar MEP (S&D Spain & Chair LIBE Committee) with keynote address by Anna Terrón I Cusí (Secretary of State for Immigration, Spain).
A round Table on Decent Work & Social Protection: Transforming people's lives will take place on 7 October 2010 between 13:00 and 14:30 at the European Parliament, room P1C047, with the participation of the Asia Europe People Forum.
On 21 September, about 100 participants attended the Global Network/ITUC/SOLIDAR UN MDG Summit side event on 'Decent work and the MDGs'. The Global Network report on decent work and the Millennium Development Goals was also launched at this event.
21 September 2010, the Global Network/ITUC/SOLIDAR event on ‘Decent Work & MDGs: keeping the promise’ took place in the Salvation Army Auditorium in New York (from 10-11.30).
21 September 2010, Brussels - As world leaders meet in New York to review progress on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a new report released today shows that decent work can be a catalyst to achieve these goals and calls on leaders to make a renewed commitment to the Decent Work Agenda.
Organizations from Argentina express their full commitment to the project "Minimum Budget Law for the Preservation Glaciers and periglacial Environment " passed the House of Representatives at the meeting of August 11, 2010. This text contains all the elements necessary to establish an effective system of protection of glaciers and periglacial areas and a monitoring system.
The Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU) is among the organisations most experienced in the defence of domestic workers in Asia. Its chief executive, Elizabeth Tang, looks back on the difficulties encountered in this struggle and the gains secured for both migrant and national domestic workers in Hong Kong.
21 September 2010 - 10:00 - 11:30
Salvation Army Auditorium
The event will set out the case for incorporating decent work objectives into all MDG-based policies, and for the upholding of aid commitments, with significant and adequate resources allocated to the funding of these policies.
On the UN International Youth Year (12 August), the Escuela Nacional Sindical de Colombia (ENS) launched its report on the labour market for young people in Colombia.
The Social Watch Philippines held the final installment of its three-part symposium series that evaluates the Philippine’s attempt to meet the Millennium Development Goals.
Civil society organizations (CSOs) from countries across Asia convened to discuss their involvement in the upcoming Regional Consultative Process on the Management of Overseas Employment and Contractual Labour for Countries of Origins in Asia, popularly known as the Colombo Process, which will be held in October this year in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
As a sweeping follow-through on their social protection agenda, the civil society organizations (CSOs) that make up KAMP (or Kampanya para sa Makataong Pamumuhay – Dignified Life for All Campaign) met again on June 29, 2010 at the Assembly Hall of the National College of Public Administration in U.P. Diliman.
The Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) and Focus on the Global South organized an alliance of CSOs, including the Global Network-Asia, in preparation for the ASEAN People's Forum, which is expected to take place in Ha Noi, Vietnam in October this year.
Over a hundred non-government organizations from all over the Philippines banded together in an effort to convince the now seated President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III to adopt their pro-poor social protection agenda.
The ILO has put forward a proposal for the adoption of an approach to social security provision centred on the guarantee of a "basic social security package" which would be provided to all residents
There is increasing recognition among international agencies, donors, governments and civil society organisations that social protection can play a pivotal role in preventing and reducing poverty, and promoting social and economic development.
A pilot project lead by SOLIDAR Luxembourg Member Solidarité Syndicale is implementing the ILO's Global Social Trust concept and promoting social security system solidarity.
Over 40 trade unions, social movements and political parties met here in Lahore on 25th November in a Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) workers solidarity multi party conference. They demanded an immediate withdrawal of criminal cases against PTCL workers leaders including the cases under terrorist laws.
