International Development Matters Issue number 148 December 2015
IDM - Monthly newsletter reporting international development matters and issues affecting trade unionists around the world. Including reports, statements, interviews and events.
TUC condemns Dominican Republic's continued failure to protect human rights
Unions pressing Cambodia for decent workers’ rights
COP21: ITUC Response to Paris Climate Summit Conclusions
Bretton Woods Project publishes new report on IMF policy in the MENA region
Development Banks Failing in the Fight against Climate Change
ACT NOW! Libya: Protect female activists now!
ACT NOW! South Korean government has declared war on the country's trade unions
RadioLabour World Report – 18 December 2015
Global Labour University (GLU): Online course & Masters’ Programmes - open now for application
TUC condemns Dominican Republic's continued failure to protect human rights
The TUC has written to the Dominican Republic's ambassador to the UK to protest the ongoing abuse of human rights in the country. Thousands of people, born in the republic but with Haitian ancestry, have been stripped of their citizenship, rendering them stateless.
Unions pressing Cambodia for decent workers’ rights
The TUC is joining Cambodian and global unions to press the Cambodian government to give workers the rights they are due under ILO conventions. Cambodia is a major flashpoint for concerns about global garment goods supply chains, and there have been clashes over minimum wages in the last few years.
#COP21: ITUC Response to Paris Climate Summit Conclusions
The Paris decisions acknowledge the challenges and move global action forward, but while the Summit conclusions refer to the target of a 1.5-degree limit, the capacity to leverage ambition on the scale required to stabilise the planet is still a question for the future.
On 18 December unions and the ILO celebrated International Migrants Day. This year it coincides with the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the UN International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. The year 2015 also marks the 40th anniversary of the ILO’s Migrant Workers Convention (No. 143).
A new report from the International Trade Union Confederation estimates that $15 billion profit will be made by companies working in Qatar on infrastructure for the controversial 2022 FIFA World Cup using up to 1.8 million migrant workers who are modern day slaves.
Read more here
Watch the ITUC multi-media investigation: Qatar Exposed
Bretton Woods Project publishes new report on IMF policy in the MENA region
After the 2011 Arab uprisings the IMF signalled change to its longstanding policies to focus more on inclusive growth and social inclusion. The new BWP report by Mohammed Mossallem analyses IMF policies in four MENA countries pre and post 2011, finding little substantive change. While the IMF rhetoric may have developed in response to widespread popular demands for domestic reforms, the policies it endorses appear little changed.
Development Banks Failing in the Fight against Climate Change
Bank Information Center and Sierra Club recently published a new report that assesses the climate performance of seven multilateral development banks. The new research reveals that not one of the world's main development banks is on track to help keep the world below 2 degrees warming. Instead, the banks, funded by tax-payers, continue to support fossil-fuel projects in developing countries.
ACT NOW! Libya: Protect female activists now!
Nermin Al-Sharif, leader of the Dockers and Seafarers Union of Libya is a passionate and determined internationalist who has fought for women's rights across the Arab world. She has continued this increasingly dangerous work despite the civil war in oil rich Libya. On Sunday 8 November, Nermin, was shot at as she was driving in a car near Benghazi. She is now out of hospital and recovering from her injuries.
Take action and call on the Prime Minister of the Interim Government in Libya, Abdullah al-Thinni, to protect trade unionists and human rights activists.
ACT NOW! South Korean government has declared war on the country's trade unions
Unions in South Korea were engaged in peaceful protest against a proposed reform to the country's labour laws when police blocked their march, attacked them with water cannon, and arrested 51 union activists. Four days ago, the police raided eight offices of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and its affiliates and regional branches. They confiscated computers, external hard drives, and meeting documents and issued an arrest warrant for Han Sang-gyun, the KCTU president.
Take action now and support the massive online protest campaign here
Towards Decent Work in Global Supply Chains: ILO interview with Sharan Burrow, ITUC General Secretary
Watch the ILO interview with Sharan Burrow, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) who expresses her views about the challenges and opportunities for Unions to implement Decent Work in Global Supply Chains.
RadioLabour World Report – 18 December 2015
RadioLabour’s report includes; 18 December - International Migrants Day- a day unions around the world use to fight for the human rights of migrant workers and their families; the global union federation for journalists signs an accord with Al Jazeera; unionists in Colombia continue to be imprisoned; and the LabourStart report about union events around the world.
Download to listen to the report or read the Script
Starting on 3 March 2016, The Global Labour University will be offering a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on “Workers’ Rights in a Global Economy”. The GLU also invites trade unionists and social activists to apply to its Masters’ Programmes in Germany, India and the USA.
Full details of the course and programmes are here
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