In Asia, the Solidarity Center helps workers build strong unions to defend their basic rights at home and abroad, escape abuse and forced labor, and hold governments accountable for their economic security.
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Domestic workers in Indonesia march for their rights. |
Although Asia’s countries are tremendously diverse, they are linked by a number of important economic issues: the still evolving impact of the 2005 phase-out of the Multifiber Arrangement on export industries, the effect on individual countries of international financial institution policies and programs, and the increased exploitation of migrant workers. Asian workers also are reeling from the global economic crisis, which has shuttered factories and sent migrant workers back to poverty and joblessness while providing a pretext for employers to continue the race to the bottom of the wage barrel.
As companies chase the lowest costs and highest profits around the globe, Southeast Asia has become a haven for export processing zones. Millions of workers desperate for decent wages and benefits become trapped in these "factory cities," lured into a life of 12-hour workdays, forced unpaid overtime, and sub-poverty wages. Once inside the EPZs, the workers have no rights on the job. Any attempt to form a union is squelched. Union activists are fired and blacklisted, unable to find another job.
Some Asian countries encourage migration as an unwritten development policy. Money earned by workers who go abroad counts for a significant portion of these countries’ economies. Millions of workers from South and Southeast Asia are employed in the Arabian Gulf in construction, manual labor, and domestic service. All of these countries belong to the International Labor Organization and thus are bound to observe and protect core labor standards, including the right to form and join unions. In reality, however, only three of the six Gulf States — Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman — have labor laws that offer a framework for independent unions. Few migrant workers have rights on the job or in their communities. Men, women, and children are vulnerable to abuse and exploitation at all stages of the migration experience.
No Action in Attack on Nepali Union Leader. A national union leader in Nepal who was attacked several months ago is still waiting for a resolution and police action.
Thai Unions Establish Help Centers for Laid-Off Workers. A longtime Solidarity Center partner is one of 34 labor organizations in Thailand that have joined forces to help unemployed workers obtain legal assistance, verify whether layoffs were justified, and coordinate their findings with the government.
Pakistani Unions Show Respect for Women, Youth. While fundamentalist groups urge women to stay home and give up their jobs (under threat of death), the Pakistan Workers Federation strives to raise women’s income-generating capabilities by offering them vocational training and education and by calling for opportunities for women to participate in decision-making bodies at all levels, says the latest issue of the federation’s newsletter, One Voice of Workers.
Democratic Trade Unions in Nepal Face Tough Fight with New Regime. In Nepal, unions are still struggling to promote democracy and the rights of workers, reports the Solidarity Center’s Tim Ryan from Kathmandu.
Migrant Worker Associations Provide Safety Net for Sri Lankans. Over ten years ago, in 1998, Solidarity Center union partners in Sri Lanka began a process to organize migrant workers and integrate them into a comprehensive economic and social safety net before, during, and after migration.
Legal Clinic for Burmese Migrant Workers. Hundreds of thousands of Burmese migrant workers in Thai factories along the Thailand-Burma border are underpaid, overworked, attacked, and murdered. The Solidarity Center and the Thai bar association have opened a legal clinic to help protect these workers’ rights.
Opening the Door to EPZ Unions in Bangladesh. The Solidarity Center helped pass and implement a new law that gives workers the right to organize trade unions in Export Processing Zones.
Asian Labor Network on International Financial Institutions. In Southeast Asia, the Solidarity Center formed a network to raise workers' voice in the global economy.
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