The Recommendation 202 on social protection floors (SPF), promoted by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and adopted in 2012, is intended to ensure essential health care and basic income security worldwide for children, people of working age who are unable to earn a sufficient income and the elderly. The SPF requires country members to develop a comprehensive social protection system including social security guarantees for the whole life cycle of citizens. However, social protection is very new to many grassroots organizations and proves to be complex in many levels.

While health hazards and poor working conditions inside electronics factories have been well documented, few studies extensively cover these issues in terms of gender relations. This research attempts to establish a causal relationship between exposure to certain chemicals and the implications for reproductive health and investigates the issues that affect women workers more directly.

The Asian Roundtable for Social Protection (AROSP) Network Newsletter December 2019 is out!

Get updates about Social Protection realities from Indonesia, Laos, Nepal, Philippines and Global. 

Download it for free.

The Asian Roundtable for Social Protection (AROSP) Network Newsletter June 2019 is out!

Get updates about Social Protection realities from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand. 

Download it for free.

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

Get updates about Social Protection realities from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia and Philippines. 

Download it for free.

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.

In Indonesia, 1,300 mostly women workers were unfairly dismissed from their factory PT Panarub in 2012 after they went on strike to demand payment of wage arrears and the right to organise.

To date they have not received their severance pay and wage arrears from the Panarub group, and buyers Adidas and Mizuno refuse to admit responsibility and provide support to the workers. The workers' union SBGTS-GSBI continues to demand justice for the workers, and are currently running a campaign against Adidas and Mizuno.

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.

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