During the week of January 12, 2009 the World Bank Group (WBG) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) hosted a week-long series of meetings with global unions to discuss the global financial crisis, governance reform, and gender equality.   Some 80 leaders from the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and 10 Global Union Confederations were present representing…

WASHINGTON – Employers are laying off workers at a faster pace despite a few hopeful signs recently that the recession — now the longest since World War II — could be easing.

The Canadian government of Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper, with the acquiescence of the opposition Liberals, has played a major, if not the pivotal, role in keeping chrysotile asbestos off a United Nations list of dangerous substances—the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade

As a report reveals deadly asbestos is still being used in many  Japanese household items, the fibres of legal insulation look to be unravelling.

Australia – Working collaboratively with Deakin University, Alcoa’s Anglesea power station in Australia has developed a technique that increases the protection and comfort of people working to remove asbestos in the facility while also reducing costs and accelerating the rate of removal by almost 90%.

“Our collective strength will be more effective in pushing legislators and government agencies to take action,” opened Brother Gerard Seno, National Vice President of the Associated Labor Unions (ALU).

HONG KONG — Job openings for executives in Asia have decreased, particularly in Japan, and are at their lowest level in Ho ng Kong since the Asian financial crisis as employers see little prospect of a quick rebound in business, a survey showed on Thursday.

SEOUL – THREE South Korean manufacturers said on Thursday they are recalling baby powder products after health authorities announced that they contain cancer-causing asbestos.

MANILA, Philippines – The militant transport group Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Opereytor Nationwide (Piston) condemned yesterday the latest increase in the prices of diesel and unleaded gasoline, branding it as a cruel “April Fools Day joke” played by oil firms on motorists and consumers.

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Education (DepEd) and Microsoft Philippines recently bolstered a partnership to enhance the Philippine educational system through ICT-enabled teaching and learning.

At the midpoint of the UN Millennium Development Goal 2000-2015, the Department of Education (DepEd) joined the DSWD (Department of Social Welfare & Development) to inject quality Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in preschool, especially to avert dropouts in primary school.

MANILA, Philippines – President Arroyo has approved a recommendation to lift the ban on the deployment of Filipino workers to Jordan and Lebanon but left it up to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to decide when to put it into effect, officials said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – Filipino teachers are needed for high-paying jobs in public elementary and primary schools in the United States.

MANILA, Philippines – The Hong Kong columnist who has been the target of Filipino rage since he called the country “a nation of servants” issued a public apology Tuesday evening, admitting that he crossed the line and was sorry.

SAN ESTEBAN, Ilocos Sur , Philippines  – The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) in the Ilocos region is finally building up a case on the killing of an activist here four years ago.

ITOGON, Benguet , Philippines  – Another small-scale miner died when he ran out of his oxygen supply and suffocated in a tunnel in Barangay Tuding here on Monday morning.

KORONADAL CITY , Philippines  – The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) in Central Mindanao has started its investigation into the killing of a militant leader and environmental activist here last March 9.

TOKYO — Japan began offering money Wednesday for unemployed foreigners of Japanese ancestry to go home, mostly to Brazil and Peru, to stave off what officials said posed a serious unemployment problem.

WASHINGTON (AFP): The World Bank on Tuesday forecast “unprecedented” declines in global economic output and trade volumes this year, warning that growth  would also slow sharply in the vulnerable developing world.

At least 20 beneficiaries of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program under Task Force Mapalad in Negros Occidental have sold their sugar farms, after fighting tooth and nail to gain ownership of the land. They said the program did not extend support services to them and failed to improve their living.

PRESIDENT Arroyo has ordered the Commission on Higher Education to draft a flexible, “socially sensitive” tuition payment plan for all state colleges and universities.

THE rental rates for outsourcing offices may fall by 10 to 15 percent this year because of the higher supply of office space coming into the market and the global recession, Ayala Land said in a briefing yesterday.

A sustainable technology for water purification, industrial wastewater recycling and reuse.

MANILA, Philippines – Pre-menopausal women face various health risks that can be best addressed by choosing the food items that would help them combat such diseases as osteoporosis and anemia.

MANILA, Philippines – More than 200,000 jobs will be created from April to June as construction for resorts, hotels and restaurants in the PAGCOR (Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.) City will be in full swing during the second quarter.

MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) expects an increase in remittances sent through formal channels to boost the country’s gross international reserves (GIR).

Rep. Casiño stresses need for a wider investigation of extrajudicial killings in the country

Leaders of the world’s largest economies have reached an agreement to tackle the global financial crisis with measures worth $1.1 trillion (£681bn).

Palace allows OFWs into Lebanon, Jordan   Despite the global crisis, more than 100,000 jobs in Qatar are available for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), the Labor department announced Wednesday after attending a meeting with Qatari labor officials last week.

THE Philippines’ biggest real-estate developer announced Wednesday that cancellations increased last year amid the global financial crunch.