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Spotlight interview with G. Rajasekaran (Malaysia – MTUC)   Brussels, 11 June 2009 (ITUC OnLine): How is the economic crisis affecting the large migrant population in Malaysia? G. Rajasekaran, general secretary of the MTUC (1), talks about trade union initiatives designed to help them. He also denounces the exploitation suffered by domestic workers, a particularly…

KUALA LUMPUR — Airline executives Tuesday expressed hope of a turnaround next year after fresh estimates showed they may lose close to US$20 billion from 2008 to 2009 due to the global economic slowdown. With oil prices threatening to rise on expectations of a U.S.-led economic turnaround, delegates to the annual meeting of the International…

The consortium of Smartmatic and Total Information Management (TIM) that won the bidding for the May 10, 2010 poll automation project has committed to complete the canvassing and counting of votes not less than two days.

MANILA, Philippines – The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has “agreed in principle” to adopt the recommendation of the Philippine government for “deep, early emissions cuts” at a special sideline meeting during the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Bonn, Germany, Presidential Adviser on Climate Change Secretary Heherson Alvarez said.

The revived Buy Pinoy, Buy Local campaign is slowly gaining support, with the House of Representatives and the Nacionalista Party (NP) led by Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. among the first ones endorsing it.

MANILA, Philippines – Administration congressmen’s push for Charter change through a constituent assembly (Con-ass) would worsen the economy and hasten the country’s fall into recession, GlobalSource, a New York-based think-tank, warned in a report.

MANILA, Philippines – The Senate and the House of Representatives have resolved all major issues concerning the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) bill and agreed to extend the coverage for five more years plus an allocation of up to P150 billion.

MANILA, Philippines – Foreign direct investment (FDI) outflows amounted to $27 million in March, a 118-percent decline compared with inflows amounting to $149 million in the same month last year.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines has slashed its investment target for the mining sector this year to just over $600 million from an earlier goal of up to $1 billion with slow initial inflows, a senior government official said on Tuesday.

MANILA, Philippines – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects the country’s economic growth to decline by one percent this year before posting a modest 2.25-percent expansion in 2010.

MANILA, Philippines – Global banking giant Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. (HSBC) said it expects the Philippine currency to weaken to 53 against the dollar by the end of the year as the inflow of overseas workers’ remittances continues to slow down and the US economy remains in recession.

Over 18,000 girls and boys are engaged in mining and quarrying in the Philippines. For many generations, the search for gold in small-scale mining has been a means of survival for poor families. Girls in such work are particularly vulnerable.

More than 100 million girls are involved in child labour worldwide, according to a new ILO report for World Day against Child Labour 2009. The report warns that the global financial crisis could push an increasing number of children, particularly girls, into child labour. ILO Online reports from Moscow where migrant workers and their children…

The bicameral conference committee in a marathon meeting late Tuesday evening approved a joint resolution seeking a five-year extension of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), increased its fund allocation to P150 billion, and restored its compulsory land acquisition and distribution schemes covering all agricultural lands.

The Department of Education has mobilized its Center for Students and Co-Curricular Affairs (CSCA) to ensure transparency and accountability in the operation of Parents-Teachers Associations (PTAs) throughout the country.

Yesterday’s anti-Charter change rally in Makati, preceded by a string of daily rallies all over the metropolis and many parts of the country, hammers home a relevant point: It is not Charter change that we need, but jobs to keep our people from being drowned by the global crisis.

Following the successful Labor Day job fair that placed 10,000 workers nationwide, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) will conduct a bigger three-day Mega Job Fair as the main activity during the celebration of the 111th Philippine Independence.

The country continued to suffer from an outflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) in March, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said Wednesday.

The Philippine economy is expected to contract this year because of weak remittance inflows and export earnings despite the increase in government spending and lower interest rates, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Wednesday.

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine government is ready to welcome a “high level mission” from the International Labor Organization (ILO) that will investigate the cases of extrajudicial killings, disappearances and harassment of workers’ leaders, unionists and labor rights advocates in the country, an official said.

Canada’s CBC ran a special entilted “Canada’s Ugly Secret” on June 10 about an industrial area in India known as “The Golden Corridor,” where chrysotile asbestos, exported from Canada’s Black Mine, in Quebec, is being processed in factories.

Funds parked at the Bangko Sentral continued to rise in May despite a series of rate cuts aimed at increasing lending to businesses.

Whilst the economic crisis serves as a daily reminder of the importance of social dialogue, many employers and governments in the Asia-Pacific region remain bent on repressing trade union activity. The latest ITUC Annual Survey of Violations of Trade Union Rights denounces hundreds of cases of harassment, arrests, attacks and assassinations targeting trade unionists in…

It was once called the “magic mineral” and was touted as Canadian gold — a unique resource that was going to bring our country wealth and prosperity.

Online petition launched MANILA, Philippines — “Tens of thousands” of Australians signed a petition opposing their government’s decision to allow the importation of bananas from the Philippines, Australian media reported Tuesday.

MANILA, Philippines – The business community expressed its strong objection yesterday to the planned establishment of a Philippine Workers’ Compensation Authority (PWCA) to replace the existing Social Security System and Government Service Insurance System.

A consumer group is asking the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank to assess and evaluate the privatization of the National Power Corp.’s generation assets by the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM).

OCCIDENTAL MINDORO, Philippines – A 66-year-old broadcaster and former vice governor of this province was shot and stabbed to death by a still unidentified suspect outside his house in San Jose town yesterday morning, police said.

MANILA, Philippines – As the country braces for a rally today against the planned convening of a constituent assembly by the House of Representatives, business groups have joined the chorus of protests against the lawmakers.