How declining global labour costs and increasing robotics are conspiring against manufacturing there COMMENT | OTAVIANO CANUTO | In emerging markets, manufacturing has historically been a source of productivity, growth, and jobs. Since the 1950s, industrialisation has kept economies in Latin America, Asia, and Eastern Europe on a steady glide toward …
Read More »Rights abuses rife on Zimbabwe tobacco farms: HRW
Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Global watchdog Human Rights Watch on Thursday urged Zimbabwe to take urgent steps to stem child labour and other rights abuses on the country’s tobacco farms. In a report titled “Bitter Harvest”, the HRW revealed that children as young as 11 were working on tobacco …
Read More »UN body warns gender parity progress could grind to a halt
Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | The UN labour agency warned Wednesday that gradual progress toward parity between the sexes in the workplace was expected to soon grind to a halt and could even reverse. “On average around the world, women remain much less likely to participate in the labour market than …
Read More »Ethiopia lifts ban on domestic workers moving overseas
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | Ethiopia has lifted a ban on domestic workers moving overseas after passing a new law to guard against ill-treatment, a government official said Thursday. Africa’s second-most populous country instituted the ban five years ago following reports of abuse, and complaints that employment agencies lured Ethiopians …
Read More »El Salvador urges Qatar to employ nationals facing US deportation
Doha, Qatar | AFP | El Salvador wants some of its 200,000 nationals facing potential deportation from the United States to be recruited by Qatar, the central American country’s foreign minister said on Tuesday. Speaking on a visit to the Gulf state — one of the world’s richest countries which …
Read More »Uber loses employment rights case in Britain
London, United Kingdom | AFP | US ride-hailing company Uber on Friday lost its appeal against a landmark court ruling in Britain that would give drivers the right to paid holidays and the national minimum wage. The London employment tribunal upheld an October 2016 judgment in a case that is …
Read More »UK Labour mobilises to push Corbyn into power
Brighton, United Kingdom | AFP | In a former church, 40-odd activists are learning how to become effective frontline troops in the battle to sweep Labour opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn into power. “The next campaign is already going on,” said 19-year-old Connor Hodgson-Brunniche, a student at York University, who came down …
Read More »Japan’s ‘highway doctor’ does checkup on ageing roads
Tokyo, Japan | AFP | As Japan takes on the mammoth task of upgrading its capital’s outdated roads and infrastructure, a local “highway doctor” is betting that its 3-D technology can led a hand. Tokyo’s sprawling maze of ageing expressways, measuring 320 kilometres (or 200 miles) in length, have long been …
Read More »Uganda workers union blasts govt over dress code
Ugandan workers body blasts government over strict dress code rules Kampala, Uganda| Godfrey Ssali | The National Organization of Trade Unions (NOTU) has criticized the move by the Ministry of Public Service to issue a strict dress code for non-uniformed officers in the Public Service. According to the Chairman General …
Read More »UK Labour leader Corbyn will ‘try to force early election’
London, United Kingdom | AFP | British opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn has vowed to “try to force an early general election” after Prime Minster Theresa May lost her parliamentary majority, in an interview published Saturday. Corbyn’s Labour Party outperformed expectations in this month’s election, turning what was predicted to be …
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