Articles
April 2008
-
Multinationals and socially responsible labour practices: Better business - Looking back, looking forward
01 April 2008
A major international forum in Geneva has marked the 30th anniversary of one of the first initiatives by the international community to put the social dimension into globalization. Andrew Bibby reports on a key tool to encourage multinational businesses to adopt socially responsible labour practices.
December 2007
-
Future harvests without child labour
03 December 2007
The vast majority of the world’s working children are not toiling in factories and sweatshops or working as domestics or street vendors in urban areas. They are working on farms and plantations, often from sun-up to sundown, planting and harvesting crops, spraying pesticides and tending livestock.
-
Trade union responses to globalization
03 December 2007
Significant developments are taking place as unions search for new ways of operating in a globalized world. Andrew Bibby reports on a new study.
-
The 1919 Session of the ILO Governing Body
03 December 2007
As this issue of World of Work goes to press, the 300th Session of ILO Governing Body is in progress. What was the first meeting like, in November 1919?
-
The end of child labour: Millions of voices, one common hope
03 December 2007
The past decade has seen an unprecedented convergence of thought and action within the worldwide movement against child labour. In the 15th year of the ILO’s International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC), World of Work looks at its achievements and its vision for future action. Alec Fyfe, IPEC Senior Child Labour Specialist, contributed to this article.
August 2007
-
Green jobs: Facing up to "an inconvenient truth"
15 August 2007
Over the last year or so, it has dawned on policy makers, businesses and the public around the world that climate change looks set to become the biggest social and environmental challenge of the 21st century. Peter Poschen, ILO Senior Policy Specialist and focal point on climate change, looks at the social and labour impacts of this complex global challenge.
-
Talking weather: Trade unions and climate change
07 August 2007
It's been a way of breaking the ice – but now it's time for real discussions and bargaining to find solutions to save not only the tops of the icebergs, but the whole planet. In order not to be a drop in the ocean the ILO needs to strengthen its capacity to address the issue of climate change and assist its constituents with the transition processes in relation to changes in jobs and qualifications. Lene Olsen of the ILO Bureau for Workers' Activities reports.
-
The globe goes green
01 August 2007
While ILO Director-General Juan Somavia in his speech to the International Labour Conference in June called for sustainable development and green jobs, the outside world had a few news stories as well. Planet Work looks at some of climate change’s news, stories and events making headlines around the world today and also at how businesses are adapting to this issue.
-
Spotlight on working time
01 August 2007
Nearly a century after adopting its first international standard on working time, a new ILO study estimates that one in five workers around the world – or over 600 million persons – are still working more than 48 hours a week, often merely to make ends meet.
-
A voice for dialogue and decent work
01 August 2007
In June, the ILO awarded its first annual Decent Work Research Prize to Nobel Peace laureate and former South African President Nelson Mandela and the eminent academic and specialist in social security, Professor Carmelo Mesa-Lago...