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Asian Roundtable for Social Protection (AROSP) Network Newsletter June 2017

2018-01-09

The Asian Roundtable for Social Protection (AROSP) Network Newsletter June 2017 is out!

Get updates about Social Protection realities from China, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Download it for free.

  • Read more about Asian Roundtable for Social Protection (AROSP) Network Newsletter June 2017

3 Years after Rana Plaza: Justice Remains Elusive

2016-04-25

April 24th, 2016 marked the 3rd anniversary of the Rana Plaza tragedy that killed 1,129 garment workers and injured thousands more.

The Bangladesh Occupational Safety, Health and Environment Foundation (OSHE), as part of its ongoing advocacy to ensure social protection for the workplace accident victims and affected families, organized a human chain and laid wreaths at the site of the Rana Plaza disaster in Savar.

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South Asia Strategy Meeting on Banning Asbestos

2016-04-24

An Asbestos Free South Asia

If not now, then when?

Press Release: Dhaka, 23 April 2016

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Asian Peasant Coalition (APC) Statement - Stop oil palm plantations! Fight for land, fight for life!

2016-03-30

Day of the Landless

Stop oil palm plantations! Fight for land, fight for life!

Statement

March 30, 2016

As we mark the Day of the Landless on March 29, the Asian Peasant Coalition (APC) is launching the “Stop Oil Palm Plantations!” campaign. This, amidst the massive and aggressive expansion of the palm oil industry that further threatens the life and livelihood of countless farmers, farm workers, indigenous peoples, and other oppressed and exploited rural sectors in the region.

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[Bangladesh] Decent Work and Labour Rights for Working Women in Bangladesh

2016-03-24

Research Report by Labour at Infomal Economy, Bangladesh

This action research was conducted between 2014 and 2015 to examine the working and living conditions of a broad spectrum of women workers in Bangladesh, and to make recommendations as to how their conditions can be improved through capacity building, organising and advocacy, while taking into consideration their specific concerns. In addition to garment workers, informal workers such as waste pickers, street vendors, domestic workers and tea plantation workers were included. 

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AROSP Newsletter, Issue No. 1, Feb 2016

2016-03-08

The Asian Roundtable on Social Protection (AROSP) Network's periodic newsletter on social protection issues in Asia.

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Women at Work: Stories from the Philippines, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka

2016-03-01

Part 2 of our stories of Women at Work in Asia

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Workers’ Struggle amid Capital Mobility (A Short Training Module for Workers)

2015-12-22

This education module on capital mobility explains the capitalist crisis, and assesses the impact of capital mobility on workers and trade unions. The module also provides stories of workers in the global supply chains and their struggles.

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Understanding Capital Mobility and Global Production Networks (A Meeting Report)

2015-08-17

This meeting report discussed the prospect of labour organising in Asia.

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Labour Scholars and Activists Exchange

Pay up Our Fair Compensation

2015-04-24
2nd Year of Rana Plaza Tragedy
Status of Rana Plaza Victims: Compensation and Rehabilitation
 
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‘The Bottom Up’ International Labour Solidarity: Victims’ Organizing in the Asian Network for the Rights of Occupational and Environmental Victims

2015-03-22

Issue No : 86 March 2015

By Sanjiv Pandita

  • Read more about ‘The Bottom Up’ International Labour Solidarity: Victims’ Organizing in the Asian Network for the Rights of Occupational and Environmental Victims

Working Asia

Labour Resistance in Asia: A Proceeding Report

2015-02-06

The two-day meeting focused on understanding and mapping the landscape of labour resistance in Asia in the past decade or so, with a special focus on identifying, in each country, (1) emerging forms of labour resistance, (2) emerging actors and players in new labour movements, and (3) trends in emerging alliance building and collaborative initiatives.

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Asian Labour Leadership Conference: A Proceeding Report

2015-02-06
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Emerging Trends in Factory Asia: International Capital Mobility, Global Value Chains, and the Labour Movement

2015-01-01

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Social Protection South Asia Partners Meeting 2014 Proceeding

2014-12-19

Proceeding on social protection South Asia parnter conference in Dec, 2014

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Towards a Regional Social Protection for South Asia - A framework for discussion 2014

2014-12-19

ILO’s Social Protection initiative articulates the need for a social protection as follows:

 “The rapidly growing interconnectedness of global financial, product and labour markets poses new challenges for the maintenance or enhancement of social justice. In a world in which financial and economic crises in any region are highly contagious and their effects on labour markets and social welfare spread rapidly, the capacity of individuals to cope alone with economic risks is less effective than before. The global social risks associated with pandemics and the expected effects of climate change have a similar impact on the levels of individual social protection. National social protection systems need to be stronger than ever to neutralize additional systemic global risks. The risks and opportunities inherent in globalization require effective social protection.”[1]

However, the ILO social protection does not propose any measures to reduce these risks; rather it focuses only on contingencies and proposes to offers a minimum kind of safety covers to help people survive. This clearly indicates that ILO tries to convince us that there is no alternative to this anti-people politico-economic regime and the socio-economic and environmental disasters that it brings, the only thing that can be done is to extend some help to the people during contingencies so that they survive and remain in the labour market. This is also in the line with broader perspective on informal sector workers, where in the focus is not on helping them to make their livelihoods sustainable, but only on extending them some safety cover to help them survive as the reserve army of labour. This is fully in line with new strategies of profit maximization in the new international division of labour shaped in the global value chains.

The real concerns of the social protection initiatives of UN and the ILO are more visible in the following statements:

“National Social Protection Floors are a social and political necessity, a minimum of income protection is the material basis for the functioning of families and households which, in turn, provide the basis for social cohesion that is pivotal for the functioning of societies and states. Without a minimum of social protection and material protection, the commitment of a major part of society to a democratic state will be at risk and with it the protection of all. This was also acknowledged by, among others, the World Bank which, in its 2005 World Development Report, made the case that poverty is a risk to protection and lack of protection can sully the investment climate.”[2]

The above statement makes it clear that the real concern behind the social protection initiatives are not the wellbeing of the people, but the wellbeing of the capital and the state. The globalization and liberalization are worsening the conditions to the extent that it is crossing all the limits, and if something is not done, it may very soon force the emergence of anti-capital volcanic movements and revolts. This is the real danger for the transnational capitalist class and it is the real concern behind the social protection initiatives. This is why, social protection initiatives are more focused to show and convince the people that the state and the capital are concerned for them. Therefore, as in case of CSR, the emphasis of social protection initiatives is also more on ‘appear to be doing’ rather than ‘actually doing’. Because ‘actually doing’ is very costly; and effectively ‘appear to be doing’ reduces the costs and at the same time effectively manipulates the consent of the people and minimizes the discontent. This may be seen in ILO and UN praising the efforts of some developing countries like India towards achieving universal coverage of social protection. Take the example of well praised achievements in case of old age pensions in India. Firstly, the old age pension is only for the below poverty line old age people and not for all. It is also very well established that the determination and listing of poverty line people is done in such a way that large number of poor actually living below poverty line are not taken in to account. And what is actually offered under old age pension is not even sufficient for one meal every day. Is it not shameful that ILO and UN praise such pension scheme? Another example is the Unorganized Workers Social Protection Act. Apparently it looks promising, but actually it is also the strategy of ‘appear to be doing’ rather than ‘actually doing’. There are serious problems in the act itself, and on the other hand, practically this act is only on the paper, without any budget and without any implementation machinery.

  • Read more about Towards a Regional Social Protection for South Asia - A framework for discussion 2014

Status of coal miners in Bangladesh

2014-11-25
  • Read more about Status of coal miners in Bangladesh

Asbestos Time Bomb in Bangladesh

2014-11-25

This report is a field assessment study on asbestos and the the extent of its use in the country bringing to attention to the gravity of the situation in countries like Asia and the building time bomb in the region with regards to asbestos use.


  • Read more about Asbestos Time Bomb in Bangladesh

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