Employment

About 160 Bangladeshi workers, sent back home from Saudi Arabia on Tuesday night amid a crackdown on undocumented workers, said they had been forced to return despite having valid documents. Read More »

By Thalif Deen UN, Sep 6 2019 (IPS) – With the rapid leap in digital technology – including increased access to conference calls, e-translations, skype, text messaging and emails—more and more offices in the United States are providing employees with an option to “work from home”. Read More »

Dhaka, July 15 – About 26 lakh workers are added to the job market every year, but they fail to get jobs as they are not skilled enough as required for their employment. Side by side, the country’s workforce fails to attain global recognition. Read More »

The General Federation of Bahrain Trade Unions has in a statement called upon the Government of Bahrain to ratify the new convention of ILO No 190, and thus realize a precedence in the workers’ legislation, compatible with its precedence in amending Labor Code by introducing the new article against perpetrators of violence and harassment to the law. From GFBTU on ... Read More »

Dhaka, July 5 – Dozens of African migrants are feared to have drowned after their boat capsized off the coast of Tunisia after setting off for Europe from Libya, a government source and the Tunisian Red Crescent said on Thursday, reports The New York Times. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said in a statement more ... Read More »

Dhaka, June 25 (UNB) – Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan on Tuesday said dope test is going to be made compulsory for government jobs. The decision has been approved in principal by the Cabinet, he told the media at the ministry on the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. “Action will be taken against government officials who are drug ... Read More »

Dhaka, June 20 (UNB)— Croatia has expressed its interest in recruiting quality human resources from Bangladesh in the near future. Croatia’s Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Labour and Pension System Drazen Opalic said that his country will soon forward a draft MoU to Bangladesh for this purpose. Once the MoU is signed, necessary preparations will be put in place ... Read More »

Dhaka, Jun 15 – BNP senior leader Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury on Saturday said Bangladeshi youths are opting to take risky voyage to go abroad for lack of jobs in the country. “Having failed to endure the pain of unemployment and repression, some Bangladeshi youths are now drifting of the coast of Tunisia,” he told a discussion. The BNP leader ... Read More »

by Sylvia Schmidt Despite the economic recovery of recent years, persistent social imbalances—such as those affecting women and young people—must be taken into account in the debate on Europe’s future. In the wake of the European Parliament elections, this autumn a new European Commission will start its mandate. As the political changing of the guard approaches, debates on the future ... Read More »

by Irene Mandl and Oscar Vargas Llave Tech-based flexible working conjures up the independent consultant tapping on her tablet with a latte to hand. But the picture may not be so positive. Flexible working time and flexible places of work are nothing new. But advances in information and communications technology have added a new dimension to flexibility, allowing workers to ... Read More »

Muscat: In a first for Oman, expats can now take their labour grievances to a dedicated ‘Reconciliation Committee’, which has the legal power to enforce settlements. The Ministry of Manpower of Oman has announced the pilot scheme in Muscat in an effort to speed up dispute resolution and to free up Ministry of Manpower officials from dealing with employment disputes. ... Read More »

Dhaka, May 23 (UNB) – State Minister for Labour and Employment Monnujan Sufian on Thursday urged the garment owners to pay Eid bonus of their workers by May 30 and salary of May by June 2.  She made the call at the 42nd meeting of the Crisis Management Core Committee at the secretariat. In reply, the RMG owners agreed to ... Read More »

Dhaka, May 13, – Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus on Wednesday last launched G. Japan Sunpower Auto Limited, a joint venture of Grameen Distribution Ltd and Rabbani Auto-mechanic Shop of Bangladesh and Sunpower Corp of Japan. Ashraful Hassan, Managing Director of Grameen Distribution Limited, Takuya Kawamura, President of Sunpower Corp and a team of CEOs from 17 Japanese small companies ... Read More »

Dhaka, May 12 – In the wake of the death of dozens of Bangladeshis in Friday’s boat capsize in the Mediterranean Sea in Tunisia, Gonoforum President Dr Kamal Hossain on Sunday said it is shameful for the nation that people are taking a risky voyage to go abroad for employment. In a statement, he said, “Traveling abroad by Bangladeshis in ... Read More »

Dhaka, May 9 (UNB) – Information Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud on Thursday said the instability in the media, especially in TV channels, over the insecurity of journalists’ jobs will be over soon as the government is taking various steps in this regard. “Since the Prime Minister has given me the charge of this [information] ministry, I have been working for ... Read More »

DHAKA, May 1, 2019 (BSS) – The historic May Day was observed today in the country like elsewhere across the world through various programmes with a pledge to establish the rights of workers. The theme of day this year was “Build Workers-Owners Unity, Take Oath for Development”. Different government and socio-cultural organisations, political parties, worker groups and trade unions, and ... Read More »

The president of the GUE/NGL group in the European Parliament reflects on her retirement at the forthcoming elections and on the battles to come. On May 1st we celebrate the achievements of workers throughout the world and renew our commitment to the struggle for workers’ rights and against exploitation. I will be one of the many rallying on May Day ... Read More »

Mayday, mayday: the leader of the European trade union movement warns of the threat from the populists in the coming EP elections. May Day is workers’ day—and for trade unionists that means celebrating the solidarity we manifest towards each other in all our diversity, whoever and wherever we are. But this May 1st is also significant because later in the ... Read More »

Dhaka, Apr 30 (UNB) – The historic May Day will be observed in the country as elsewhere across the globe on Wednesday with a pledge to establish the rights of workers. May Day, also known as the International Workers’ Solidarity Day, commemorates the historic uprising of working people in Chicago, USA at the height of a prolonged fight for an ... Read More »

Dhaka, Apr 23 (UNB) – Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) on Tuesday claimed that garment workers did not get their wages raised but those were actually reduced by 26 percent in the new pay structure if the annual 5 percent increment system is taken into consideration. “Apparel owners have deceived their workers in the name of wage increment. They actually reduced ... Read More »

The 5th meeting of the Joint Readmission Committee between Sri Lanka and the European Community was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Colombo on 11th March 2019, the Foreign Ministry said recently. The Meeting was co-chaired by Additional Secretary (Multilateral Affairs), Ahmed A. Jawad of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Deputy Head of Unit of Irregular Migration ... Read More »

Dhaka, February 2019 – Famed Thai Chef Thawatchai Gapaha (Deaw) has now taken the role of Executive Chef at Amari Dhaka, working under the guidance of General Manager Kelly Lewis. A tremendous excitement surrounds his joining as he promises to introduce an innovative contemporary line of dishes. Chef Deaw, a Thai native, has a tremendous experience working for a strong ... Read More »

Dhaka, Feb 26 (UNB) – The government is planning to provide jobs to survivors and family members of Chawkbazar fire victims, said Social Welfare Minister Nuruzzaman Ahmed on Tuesday. “Chawkbazar fire is a tragic incident,” he said after visiting the blaze victims at Burn Unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH). “We’ve been providing compensations to the families of the ... Read More »

Geneva (Kanaga Raja) – A majority of the 3.3 billion people employed globally in 2018 experienced a lack of material well-being, economic security, equal opportunities or scope for human development, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has found. In its latest World Employment and Social Outlook report released this week, the ILO pointed out that being in employment does not always ... Read More »

Old economic ‘truths’ are being re-evaluated by economists and international organisations. Obsolete thoughts—such as that an equal income distribution is a threat to growth—have been replaced by a growing concern about widening income gaps and their negative consequences for macroeconomic performance and political stability. It should now be clear to everyone that inequality is bad for business and becomes a ... Read More »

STOCKHOLM / ROME, Feb 18 2019 (IPS) – Roma, a 2018 Mexican film written and directed by Alfonso Cuarón, is currently on a triumphal journey through the world. It won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, the best director and best foreign language film at the Golden Globe Awards, best director and best picture at the Critics´ Choice Awards, best film, best direction and best ... Read More »

The European Union is an extremely active international actor in the area of trade, being widely involved in the negotiation and conclusion of free-trade agreements (FTAs) with partner countries.  Many of them, such as the CETA with Canada, the now aborted transatlantic TTIP or the EU-Japan FTA, made the news and spurred intense social debate. All new-generation free-trade agreements include ... Read More »

Bahrain authorities have stepped in to resolve an ongoing unpaid wages row in a company, with labour officials handing over scores of passports back to the employees in the past week. Officials from both the Labour and Social Development Ministry and the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) are reportedly stationed at the Bramco Group labour camp in Askar, making a ... Read More »

Dhaka, Feb 17 (UNB) – With a view to engaging students in bringing out solutions for several socio-economic problems facing society, a workshop was held at city’s East West University (EWU) on Sunday. ‘Socio Leadership Challenge (SLC) season 2’ arranged by Rotaract Club of East West University (RACEWU) is an intra-university idea generating competition with the purpose of engaging the ... Read More »

By Kristalina Georgieva Washington, DC – For 75 years, the World Bank has been at the forefront of development, helping countries make smart investments to prepare their citizens for the future. It has been particularly focused on the poorest and most vulnerable – their access to infrastructure, health, education, assets, jobs, and markets. In recent years, it has embraced policies ... Read More »