Joomla! site syndication http://joci.org 2010-02-09T09:11:52+01:00 http://joci.org http://joci.org/images/M_images/joomla_rss.png text/html 2010-01-27T11:53:14+01:00 http://joci.org http://joci.org/content/view/47/7/lang,en/ Fundraising to rebuild the movement We are launching this campaign in support for Haiti. Yves Rameau, a member of the international team of the IYCW, is Haitian and was in the country when the tragedy occurred. When communication was possible, he sent us the following message: “Thank God I am still alive. At the moment I am in the Dominican Republic to see what I can do. In Haiti there is no communication, the Internet doesn’t work, the banks either. We are in a very precarious situation but I have some information I can share with you. I am quite well but young people of the Haiti YCW, in particular in Port-au-Prince, are in a very, very difficult situation. The YCW office collapsed with two people inside, Pierlyne who is a national fulltimer and Patrick Hugo Noel. Pierlyne was seriously injured and is now in a hospital in Les Cayes. Patrick, the treasurer and bookkeeper, is dead. Two other activists also died, as well as a former YCW member. Most people have no house today, and are cut off from livelihood. The Haiti YCW has no more office… In Port-au-Prince, it is very difficult to find a doctor due to the number of people with injuries.” text/html 2010-01-18T16:14:00+01:00 http://joci.org http://joci.org/content/view/46/7/lang,en/ As you know, a major earthquake (of magnitude 7.3 on the Richter scale according to agencies) hit Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, on January 12 in the evening. The epicenter was located at some fifteen kilometers from that city which is the most populated of the country. The earthquake that rocked the island is the strongest in many decades. Fifty to hundred thousand people are feared dead. The IYCW would like to express its sympathy and solidarity with the Haitian people after this terrible natural tragedy. Over the past few days, the International and JOCA Secretariats have tried to get in touch with our YCW friends in Haiti but of course communications with the country are extremely difficult. Several movements expressed their solidarity and support in prayer, and some, together with other organizations, are trying to organize support campaigns. As an international movement, we would like to express our support to the Haitian people as well as our faith in them. We know the strength they have shown in their struggle, in particular the working class, to overcome natural, political and economic crises and we hope that this disaster they have to go through today will only reinforce the values of struggle which characterize them. We urge all the members of the movement to send support messages, to be unified with the Haitian people through their prayers and, if possible, to assist in the organization of support campaigns. The international team of the IYCW will continue to try getting back in touch with our Haitian friends and will let you know if we get any information. We would like to convey to the Haitian people the positive energy of all young workers around the globe, who are “worth more than all the gold in the world” and show solidarity each day of their lives. The international team text/html 2009-11-25T15:42:29+01:00 http://joci.org http://joci.org/content/view/45/7/lang,en/ International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women The 25th of November is very important day for all men and women all around the world. International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. In Nicaragua, the majority of workers in manufacturing factories (FTZ) are women. There is a high rate of turnover, health problems, and a high level of dissatisfaction among workers due to bad working conditions. One situation that women have to face is the abuse of power by supervisors, sexual harassment as well as verbal, and even physical, abuse. It is also clear that the male labor force is valued more than the female labor force. If women want to get better posts, one condition is that they don’t get pregnant. Cucu, a domestic workers in Cimahi, West Java, Indonesia, has been living under pressure since she became a victim of rape by a Government worker in her city earlier this year. The police have not given serious attention to her case which was reported by 17 organizations (including Indonesia YCW) to the police on May 29th, 2009. Domestic workers are the most vulnerable to violence and usually they will keep their mouths silent because of strong threats by the perpetrator. Cucu is working almost 24 hours a day with very limited time to sleep. She has no time for her self and her family. She receives the salary Rp. 300.000 or USD 35 a month. It is very far away from the minimum wage set up by the government in Indonesia. text/html 2009-11-20T14:25:02+01:00 http://joci.org http://joci.org/content/view/44/15/lang,en/ The Participation of Thailand YCW in the World Day for Decent Work On October 7 at 9 o’clock, lots of people arrived from everywhere at King Chulalongkorn Monument. They came to celebrate a wonderful day for all workers in the world: the “World Day for Decent Work”. That day is an opportunity to join in a united mobilization for change. Each country celebrates it in their own way. Sometimes the focus is on more decent working conditions, sometimes on demands regarding rights at the workplace. In Thailand the campaign aimed to pressure the government to sign ILO conventions 87 and 98 as soon as possible. Thailand is one of the few countries which haven't signed these conventions which are related to the protection of the right to organize and the right to collective bargaining. In Thailand we are well aware of the consequences of the government's failure to sign the conventions. The Thai labor legislation itself has some provisions that are against the principles established in the conventions, i.e. the right to organize and to collective bargaining. Workers are not able to defend their interests. For instance, state enterprise workers cannot get together with private company workers to claim their rights. Or the workers in one workplace cannot put forward demands on behalf of workers in another workplace. In practice, those workers who form a union are always dismissed on legal grounds. And in the same connection, although the law provides for welfare for all (including for subcontracted workers), the problem of low pension and poor welfare quality is a reality in those workplaces without trade unions. Employers also tend to break this law. These are consequences of not signing the conventions. It is essential that trade unions and other workers can get together and fight for the interests of all workers. For the record, only 500,000 out of 35 million workers in the country are members of a union, i.e. only 1.4 percent, which is a very low number. text/html 2009-10-15T12:10:59+01:00 http://joci.org http://joci.org/content/view/43/7/lang,en/ “Young Workers need Social Protection, now more than ever” Everyone should be able to have a job that enables them to live a good life in which their basic needs are met. World Day for Decent Work (WDDW) is a opportunity for us to bring forward our demands and campaign as young workers. The millions of women, men, young people and migrants who work or who are looking for a job need governments that take adequate measures to: ensure that social protection and workers’ rights are fully respected in labour laws and in practice. Living standards and economies need productive employment to develop. create millions of meaningful jobs for women and men. Jobs are only improved if they are linked to standards and rights. Social protection gives workers the security they need to face the future with confidence.