News

Kazakhstan: Workers in Search of Stability

In a region that relies on oil and gas extraction, job instability in this sector means dooming yourself, your family, and your closest ones to poverty. The government failed to diversify the region’s economy, and instead chose to reconfigure legislation against strikes and trade unions.

An Economist vs. Uzbekistan’s Silk Industry: Whose Facts Matter?

In late August, a civil court judge in Tashkent ordered independent economist Yuliy Yusupov to publish a retraction and apologize in the media to Uzbekipaksanoat, the Uzbek Silk Association, for an article he published in March this year, which revealed corruption and the use of coercion in the production of silkworm cocoons. Yusupov, director of the Tashkent-based Center for Economic Development, stands by his assessment of the silk sector and has filed an appeal. The appeal court’s decision will be a key test of whether independent researchers in Uzbekistan are free to publish fact-based analyses, particularly when they are unpalatable to the state or the businesses it protects.

Teachers and Doctors in Turkmenistan Exempt from Cotton Picking – Could This Be Permanent?

Teachers and doctors in three regions of Turkmenistan have been freed from the obligation to go and pick cotton or pay money to hire workers in their stead. This may be connected with the upcoming visits to Turkmenistan of a monitoring mission of the International Labor Organization (ILO) and representatives of the U.S. Department of Labor. It is to be hoped that the exemption of this category of public sector workers from cotton picking is not a temporary measure because of the important visitors, but the first step on the road towards eradicating forced labor in Turkmenistan.

COMPLAINT FILED AGAINST EBRD: LABOR RIGHTS VIOLATIONS, LAND GRABS AND EXPLOITATION AT COTTON PRODUCER INDORAMA AGRO IN UZBEKISTAN

Uzbek Forum has interviewed dozens of workers and farmers who have reported the loss of livelihoods caused by illegal land confiscations, lack of access to land, mass redundancies and abuse of labor contracts, as well as attempts to dismantle the trade union. Furthermore, farmers contracted to deliver cotton to Indorama Agro complain of delayed payments for the cotton they have delivered and exploitative contracts that include no minimum price for their cotton. Workers and stakeholders who speak out, risk retaliation and intimidation. Following interviews with Uzbek Forum monitors, farmers and workers have been interrogated by security service officials and warned against speaking to “international organizations”.

Ten years of workers’ rights under attack: 2023 ITUC Global Rights Index

The 10th edition of the authoritative Global Rights Index shows that the global cost-of-living crisis has been met with a crackdown on the rights of working people in every region of the world.

HLPF 2023: Access to water and sanitation is a human right

“Our vision as sanitation workers is based on the consideration of access to clean water and sanitation as an essential human right.” J.L. Lingeri SGBASTOS / CGT RA Argentina

HLPF 2023: We need a global shift towards renewable energy

"The shift toward renewable energy must take place through a clear and inclusive just transition." Zingiswa Losi, COSATU South Africa.

HLPF 2023: Sustainable cities need workers to take care of them

"Social dialogue enables workers to participate in just transition plans of their cities that are good for people and the environment." Peggy Hessen Følsvik, LO Norway

HLPF 2023: The clock is ticking for a new social contract based on SDG 8 and social dialogue

"Workers are the backbone of global efforts to save the planet." Akiko Gono, ITUC.

New Independent Reporting Reveals Ongoing Systematic Forced Labor and Corruption in Turkmenistan Cotton Harvest

ILO to Review Turkmenistan for Compliance with International Law Prohibiting Forced Labor