International Development Matters Issue 138 February 2015

IDM - Monthly newsletter reporting international development matters and issues affecting trade unionists around the world. Including reports, statements, interviews and events.

TUC News

TUC launches guide in 13 languages to tackle migrant worker exploitation

TUC Aid: Improving pay and working conditions of informal sector workers in Somalia

TUC Aid: Update on supporting worker participation in Vietnam

Other International News

Global Pressure forces withdrawal of Thai prison labour plans

Violence against unionists continues in Cambodia

Strike action sees 7,000 Kenyan workers return to work after dismissal for joining TTWU

More than 7,000 miners face possible job loss in Sierra Leone

IFI News

Employment trends across regions in 2015

European bankers not pleased at French boost for Robin Hood Tax

ILO says over 2.1 million jobs could be created with EC investment plan

Calls to Action

TUC Aid Appeal: Gaza plant nursery

ACT NOW! 98 Health Care Workers Sacked For Joining a Union

Stop the forced labour behind the high street

Focus on Trade Unionists

Silver Rose Award nomination for Huber Ballesteros

Hadi Saleh’s legacy ten years on

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TUC News

TUC launches guide in 13 languages to tackle migrant worker exploitation

Last month the TUC launched a new online guide to help combat the exploitation of migrant workers, so that everyone is treated fairly. The guide Working in the UK is available in 13 languages, including Polish, Bulgarian and Romanian. You can read more on the guide as well as the guide itself here.

TUC Aid: Improving pay and working conditions of informal sector workers in Somalia

TUC Aid is supporting the Federation of Somali Trade Unions (FESTU) in its efforts to improve pay and working conditions of informal sector workers in Somalia through a project launched in December 2014. Read more on the project here.

TUC Aid: Update on supporting worker participation in Vietnam

TUC Aid has been supporting the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) programme in Vietnam to give workers a voice at the furniture factories supplying British companies to tackle health and safety and low wages which are common. You can read an update on the progress of this project here.

Other International News

Global Pressure Forces Withdrawal of Thai prison labour plans

The TUC has joined a coalition of 43 union and human rights organisations condemning the regime in Thailand for a planned pilot project recruiting prisoners to fill labour shortages in the country’s fishing industry.  Together with the ILO, unions and human rights campaigners have forced a U-turn by the military leaders who now control Thailand’s government. The Ministry of Labour has confirmed that the plans have been scrapped. Read more here.

Violence against unionists continues in Cambodia

A year after five people were shot dead by police and 40 more were severely injured during wage protests in Phnom Penh on 3 January 2014, unionists in Cambodia are still being subjected to violence. Read more on these attacks and how unionists still manage to overcome them here.  

Strike action sees 7,000 Kenyan workers return to work after dismissal for joining TTWU

Over 7,000 workers returned to work on 15 January after an eight-day of strike action. The action was the result of the dismissal of 120 workers from Ashton Apparels after they joined the Tailors and Textiles Workers Union (TTWU). Read more here.

More than 7,000 miners face possible job loss in Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone could lose more than 7,000 mining jobs following a decision by the country’s largest employer to temporarily retrench workers. Read more here.

IFI News

Employment trends across regions in 2015

The ILO has released employment trends for each region depicting the growth in employment and GDP from 2014. You can view these figures in detail here.

European bankers not pleased at French boost for Robin Hood Tax

Last month Finance Ministers from EU member states met for the first time since French President Francois Hollande instructed his Finance minister to stop obstructing the Austro-German push for a broad-based financial transactions tax (FTT), and since Congressional Democrats in the US backed the tax. Read more on this meeting here.

ILO says over 2.1 million jobs could be created with EC investment plan

An ILO report entitled An Employment-Oriented Investment Strategy for Europe, shows that a combination of public and private sector investment worth 315 billion Euros might foster Europe’s competitiveness and help tackle the jobs crisis. Success depends, however, on how the programme is designed. Read more here.

Calls to Action

TUC Aid Appeal: Gaza plant nursery

TUC Aid is appealing for donations to rebuild the Beit Lahia Plant Nursery in Gaza, which was badly damaged during the Israeli offensive earlier this year.  Read more on this appeal and how you can donate here.

ACT NOW! 98 Health Care Workers Sacked For Joining a Union

The Hospital of Maltepe University in Istanbul dismissed 98 workers, for being members of the Progressive Union of Health Workers on 6 December 2014. Show you support for these works and aid the Labourstart campaign by sending a letter. 

Stop the forced labour behind the high street

3 in 1000 people worldwide, 21 million people, are in forced labour. The Modern Slavery Bill passing through parliament could help end this, but it’s currently too weak and too vague. Email David Cameron today and ask him to make the bill stronger so the goods on our high street aren’t made from forced labour and exploitation. Read more from War on Want and act now here.

Focus on Trade Unionists

Silver Rose Award nomination for Huber Ballesteros

The TUC-backed Justice for Colombia has nominated jailed Colombian trade unionist Huber Ballesteros, for the Silver Rose Award, given every year to outstanding human rights advocates and defenders by the progressive European-based development NGO Solidar. Read more here.

Hadi Saleh’s legacy ten years on

Jan 10 marked the tenth anniversary of martyrdom of Hadi Saleh, international officer of the Iraqi trade union movement. The union centre he represented, now known as the GFITU, held a memorial event in central Baghdad to remember Hadi as trade union leader, as a peace and democracy campaigner and as a resolute advocate of women’s rights. You can read more on his legacy here.