The World Economic Outlook – a bi-annual publication of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) -- released in October 2020 has anticipated that the economic progress made by the countries since the 1990s to reduce poverty would be turned upside down by the COVID-19 pandemic. On top of that, economic disparity would rise too in the post-COVID world because the crisis has disproportionately impacted women, informal sector workers and people with...
More »SEARCH RESULT
Get food to worksites, says Aajeevika in Ahmedabad
-Civil Society News When the lockdown began to ease in June, migrant workers who had left Ahmedabad for their villages started returning to the city in the hope of finding some employment. It hasn’t been easy. Industrial areas haven’t opened up fully and employers are going slow on taking on workers. Sunk in debt with insecure work, hunger now stalks migrant workers. Entire families have been living out in the open on worksites....
More »Corinne Vargha, director of the ILO’s International Labour Standards Department, interviewed by Nileena MS (CaravanMagazine.in)
-CaravanMagazine.in In May 2020, 10 central trade unions jointly wrote twice to Guy Ryder, the director general of the International Labour Organisation, drawing attention to the plight of migrant workers during the COVID-19 crisis as well as the government’s dilution and suspension of labour laws. In May, several states—including Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat—introduced sweeping changes in labour laws such as increasing the working hours from eight to 12. The...
More »Refining trade union strategies to strike a chord -KR Shyam Sundar
-The Hindu With labour law reforms set to change industrial relations, trade union responses must include social dialogue too Ten central trade unions (CTUs) have called for a nation-wide strike on November 26, 2020 to condemn what they consider to be the anti-people, and anti-labour economic policies of the government. This follows strikes in the coal and defence sectors protesting privatisation and the corporatisation policies of the government. It is essential to...
More »Festive season opens up gig economy jobs, brings respite to the jobless -Arnab Mitra
-The Indian Express As per a report by Betterplace, around 14 lakh jobs will be created in 2020 for blue-collar workers, adding that 80 per cent of the overall demand comes from the gig economy New Delhi: After facing a lay-off in May, Bengaluru-based software engineer Ridhhi Sharma was unemployed for six months. He tried searching for a new position but could not find a suitable one. However, the festive season turned...
More »