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ASEAN leaders push for greater regional labour mobility

An integrated community will accelerate the pace of structural change, and is expected to generate some 14 million additional jobs by 2025. By Saifulbahri Ismail POSTED: 12 Apr 2015 20:51 UPDATED: 13 Apr 2015 12:52 KUALA LUMPUR: More engineers and architects in Southeast Asia have registered with professional bodies in the region to...

Thailand, Indonesia, Myanmar probing labour abuses, slavery in seafood industry reported by AP

Officials from three countries are travelling to remote islands in eastern Indonesia to investigate how thousands of foreign fishermen were abused and forced into catching seafood that could end up in the United States, Europe and elsewhere. By: Robin McDowell And Margie Mason, The Associated Press Posted: 04/2/2015 6:17 PM |...

Killing in the rice fields: how are companies protecting their workers?

Asia Pulp and Paper is facing tough questions after an Indonesian employee and known workers’ rights activist was found dead in Sumatra Alison Moodie | Wednesday 1 April 2015 17.25 BST In late February, a young Indonesian farmer named Indra Pelani showed up at a checkpoint manned by security guards for...

Senior WHO staffer in Thailand accused of slavery

The Lawyers Council of Thailand has come to the aid of an Ethiopian maid who claims she was a slave for a fellow countryman working as a high-level World Health Organisation official in Thailand. Published: 1/04/2015 at 06:44 PM The Lawyers Council of Thailand has come to the aid of an...

Value our labor and rights as domestic workers

Domestic work itself is often de-humanizing and exploitative because it is not regarded as work. We domestic workers take the place of what is considered a woman’s “natural obligation” to provide care in the home — not highly valued and not regarded as skilled. Eni Lestari, Hong Kong | Opinion...

Workers in ASEAN: A race to the bottom again?

Without sufficient protection, freer flow of higher skilled workers will not only force higher qualified jobs in the region to be dominated by workers from higher-income ASEAN countries, but would further push unskilled and low skilled workers to face competition from medium skilled workers that are forced to downgrade...

Your seafood might come from slaves

Here, in the Indonesian island village of Benjina and the surrounding waters, hundreds of trapped men represent one of the most desperate links criss-crossing between companies and countries in the seafood industry. This intricate web of connections separates the fish we eat from the men who catch it, and...

Here be monsters

Overfishing is partly to blame. Average catches in Thai waters have fallen by 86% since the industry’s large expansion in the 1960s. Such meagre pickings have driven local workers out of the industry and encouraged captains to seek ultra-cheap alternatives. Boats now fish farther afield and stay at sea...

Electronics industry challenged to clean up their act

200 civil society groups are challenging the industry to be accountable to workers and nearby communities by improving chemical safety. FMT Reporters | March 17, 2015 GEORGE TOWN: Workers in the electronics sector in Asia and Latin America are suffering from exposure to harmful chemicals, according to civil society organisations. The Consumers...

Government Approves Pact to Send Maids to Malaysia

Cambodia has signed off on a draft agreement that would lift a moratorium on sending maids to Malaysia, imposed four years ago amid widespread reports of abuse, and is waiting for the Malaysian government’s approval, a Labor Ministry official said Tuesday. By Simon Henderson | March 18, 2015 Cambodia has signed...