Labour / Labour Conditions

This collection of essays is the first of three volumes devoted to Migration and the Arab World. The 19 authors whose essays appear in this first volume address several salient questions: What are the sizes and characteristics of the non-national workforces of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries? Which “push” and “pull” factors have driven and continue to drive this phenomenon? What effects has labor migration had on the sending and receiving countries, and on the migrants themselves?

International figures at the UN stressed on 18 February that both developing countries and the international community must continue efforts to protect employment in the wake of the global economic crisis. At an event to mark the second annual World Day for Social Justice (which occurs on 20 February), a panel of experts on labor and economics claimed that the effects of the crisis have not dissipated and could grow stronger without national commitments to combat unemployment.

Last week, the National Employment Law Project released Working Without Laws, a landmark study exposing systematic and routine violations of employment and labor laws in core sectors of the economy in New York City. In industries ranging from construction, food manufacturing and industrial laundries to restaurants, janitorial services and home health care, workers are enduring minimum wage, overtime and off-the-clock violations at alarming rates, and face retaliation for speaking up or trying to organize.

Malaysia and Indonesia are close to signing a comprehensive agreement on migrant workers that will better protect Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia from abuse by employers.

Both governments have settled all differences except for the issue of minimum salary for the more than 2 million Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia, Indonesian Ambassador to Malaysia Da’i Bachtiar said.

It is quite clear that for all the steps taken or reassurances voiced regarding the safety of Bangladesh's workers abroad, they still remain prey to the whims of their employers as well as their recruiting agencies. The latest that we have on this front is the disconcerting news from Libya that 46 Bangladeshi workers there have been going without wages for the past six months. And how life can turn into a nightmare for men with no wages abroad can only be imagined.

Three hundred people gathered in front of the high-rise apartment building at 2575 Kipling to mourn the death four migrant construction workers who fell to their death when the platform they were standing on collapsed, on the night of Thursday January 7th. They emphasized that the migrant workers place in a position where they can’t stand up for their right without risking deportation, and that workers would still be alive if they had proper training and equipment.