NTUC Blog

Remember the good old days, way back in 2006, when the streets were paved with credit-gold as far as the eye could see and credit cards rained from the sky? Even the credit-destitute were treated like kings by the credit card companies and courted with lavish offers of unlimited credit.

One of the best e-mails I got in recent days asked: do you know how the Apostles died? The answers are verifiable historically or from church accounts:

Study says poverty threshold rose MORE than two million Filipinos fell below the country’s poverty threshold because of the increases in the prices of rice and fuel, according to a government think tank.

Brussels, 3 April 2009 (ITUC OnLine): The statement adopted at the London G20 meeting gives the chance for a new globalisation, with jobs at the centre and an end to the failed policies of the last three decades, according to the ITUC and the OECD Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC).  Key decisions taken at the…

Brussels, (ITUC OnLine): A call for a ‘Global New Deal’ was launched today in Brussels by a unique coalition of progressive politicians, trade unions and NGOs from over forty countries. ITUC affiliates from every region took part in the event.

One morning last December the headlines shocked the nation. Sixteen persons had been killed the night before in a shootout in Parañaque City.

MANILA, Philippines – Workers nationwide can look forward to better days, the Department of Labor and Employment said yesterday.

The new food pyramid, with emphasis on exercise, as shown by the man climbing the stairs (Source: US Department of Agriculture)

The publisher and editors of Hong Kong Magazine yesterday apologized for the “politically incorrect” article written by its columnist Chip Tsao which has sparked outrage among Filipinos at home and in the former British colony.

I MENTIONED LAST WEEK how various East Asian scholars, in a recent forum in Tokyo, affirmed the need for East Asia to rethink and rework the export-driven growth model that had propelled the region’s economies in recent decades.

CLARK FIELD—Over 121,000 Filipino workers have either lost their jobs or suffered pay cuts or reduced work loads because of the economic crisis, according to a Labor Department official.

12,000 overseas workers laid off–Labor official The economic crisis has cost over 121,000 Filipino workers their jobs, pay cuts or reduced work loads, a government official said on Sunday.

TOP companies raised by a fifth the cash reward for their owners last year amid an economic slowdown that has seen more firms slash jobs.

UN General Assembly, 25 to 27 March, 2009 Member States of the UN General Assembly participating in the Interactive Thematic Dialogue of 25 to 27 March 2009 viewed the dialogue as an opportunity to build worldwide consensus for global action to address the deepening crisis. The Interim Report of the Commission of Experts on reforms…

MUCH better-than-expected US industrial orders data boosted markets in the United States overnight, offering another sign that its stricken economy could finally be steadying after months of turmoil.

TONY Blair knows what he is talking about. As prime minister of the United Kingdom for 10 years (assuming the office at the young age of 43), Blair knew what it was to lead a nation. Now envoy of the Quartet (United Nations , European Union, the United States and Russia) to the Middle East,…

very adjustment in our projected economic growth rate for this year has been downwards. That is not very encouraging.

WASHINGTON (AP) — With the US sinking deeper into recession, the Federal Reserve launched a bold $1.2-trillion effort Wednesday to lower rates on mortgages and other consumer debt, spur spending and revive the economy.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said the sluggish growth in earnings of Filipino workers over the last decade is “alarming,” particularly because the figures did not expand faster than the economic growth rate.

The world economy is set to shrink by between 0.5% and 1.0% in 2009, the first global contraction in 60 years.

MANILA, Philippines – Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ralph Recto yesterday assured that the government would step up efforts to address the rising unemployment rate in the country.

MANILA, Philippines – Despite its resilience, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said the Philippine economy is still sensitive to a deeper and protracted global economic downturn requiring prompt and decisive policy action.

As jOB losses mount, the Social Security System will make available P500 million in emergency loans for its members who have been displaced by the global economic crisis.

It’s clear that the current recession is not going to be a fleeting phenomenon. Managers need to learn how to lead under extraordinary marketplace pressures and decreased morale, amid pay cuts, spending cuts on strategic projects, and staff reductions. As a leader, you can get through this mess in a positive manner if you take…

Borrowers with delinquent loans from any government financing institution (GFI) or housing agency may now apply for loan restructuring and condonation under a new program that aims to save their homes from foreclosure, Vice President Noli de Castro, chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), announced yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – The National Statistic Office (NSO) reported yesterday that there are now 2.855 million jobless Filipinos in January as the local unemployment rate increased to 7.7 percent owing to the global economic crisis.

Edited version of address at the Employment and Social Policy Committee, International Labour Organisation, 17 March 2009.

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang yesterday renewed President Arroyo’s call on government agencies to tighten their belts and use their savings to provide emergency employment to the poor to help tide them over in the coming months.

WE OFTEN HEAR IT SAID THAT we in the Philippines have no lack of good plans, programs, policies and laws, but our problem lies in enforcement and implementation. For example, we pride ourselves as being among the first in the world to have formulated a national strategy for sustainable development after the 1992 Rio Earth…

‘No dislocation of gov’t workers’ MANILA, Philippines — President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said “no one shall be dislocated” in the government workforce when a rationalization program is implemented.