Updates

“Overworked & exposed” report highlights the perils of short-term contracts in Cambodia and Myanmar

A recent report co-authored by the Center for Alliance of Labor and Human Rights (Central), Cambodia; Action Labor Rights (ALR), Myanmar; and Future In Our Hands, Norway highlights the pervasiveness of short-term contracts and gender-based discrimination in the garment industry in Cambodia and Myanmar. Through in-depth interviews and group discussions with workers, the report presents the working conditions of female workers with consistent issues of sexual harassment, excessive overtime, personal safety and lack of access to basic labour rights.

IACHR expresses concern for ongoing repression in Nicaragua

On April 5, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) released a statement on the continuing crisis in Nicaragua, condemning the persistence of arbitrary arrests, aggression toward people deprived of their liberty, the refusal to reestablish several organizations’ legal status, and the prevention of social protest – all of which are taking place alongside the negotiations between the government and the Civil Alliance for Justice and Democracy.

2019 Update on Monthly Minimum Wages in Central America

Feb 12, 2019 —

Photo: Feasies

In January 2019, the Labour Research Team (Equipo de Investigaciónes Laborales -- EIL) published its annual report comparing inflation rates and increases in the monthly minimum wages for maquila workers in Central America’s four garment-producing countries. The three-page report provides brief analyses of the political and economic context within which the tripartite minimum wage negotiations took place in each country, highlighting actions of a variety of actors including government, industry, women’s organizations and trade unions.

Bangladesh police clash with protesting garment workers demanding higher wages

Jan 16, 2019 —

Photo: IndudstriALL

A new minimum wage of 8,000 Taka (US$94), which came into effect on December 9, was rejected by workers and their unions asserting that the increase, the first of its kind since 2013, did not cover the rise in prices over the last five years. Bangladeshi unions, including those in the IndustriALL Bangladesh Council, have been demanding a monthly minimum wage of 16,000 taka (US$191).
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