Podcasts about International Trade Union Confederation

What does a fair, green economy really look like? And what happens to the millions of people who work in extractive industries? Hosts Carl Schlyter and Yewande Omotoso are joined by Rhoda Boateng, Program Coordinator at the International Trade Union Confederation, to explore how the climate crisis is transforming jobs and workplaces worldwide.Unemployment is a global concern—but the solution isn't in exploitative industries. From retraining fossil fuel workers to empowering local communities, Rhoda shares how we can shift from harmful, unsustainable models to creating decent, green jobs that prioritise both people and the planet.In a world where the climate crisis and the economy seem to be pulling in opposite directions, this episode asks: How could climate change reshape jobs and workplaces?What can you do?These are some of the things we can do to influence a Just Transition:Share this podcast! The video version on YouTube is subtitled in multiple languages.Read the report “Beyond Extractivism: Toward a Feminist and Just Economic Transition in Morocco and Egypt”, by MENA Fem and Greenpeace MENA (to be released on February 20th)Join a unionParticipate in public consultations when available Advocate for renewable and nature-based solutions Speak up for transparent and inclusive processes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First on today's show, Ralph welcomes back Dr. Bandy Lee to discuss her recent conference, "The More Dangerous State of the World and the Need for Fit Leadership—The Much More Dangerous Case of Donald Trump". Then, Ralph is joined by Professor Ted Postol to talk about the missiles and rockets (and other weapons) being used in the expanding war(s) in the Middle East. [Nadia Milleron] went down to Springfield, the state capitol, and met with every assembly member, saying—for future wrongful death, you should give people in Illinois the opportunity to file for punitive damages against these corporate defendants, or other similarly-positioned defendants. And she got it through—it was considered impossible to beat Boeing, and she got it through and the governor signed it. That's the determination of a parent who loses a child to corporate crimeRalph NaderDr. Bandy Lee is a medical doctor, a forensic psychiatrist, and a world expert on violence who taught at Yale School of Medicine and Yale Law School for 17 years before joining the Harvard Program in Psychiatry and the Law. She is currently president of the World Mental Health Coalition, an educational organization that assembles mental health experts to collaborate with other disciplines for the betterment of public mental health and public safety. She is the editor of The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 37 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President and Profile of a Nation: Trump's Mind, America's Soul.Let me clarify that there's a distinction among the evaluations that mental health experts do—one is diagnostic, the other is functional. And the diagnostic exam is the one that mental health professionals have no business doing on a public figure because that's what you do in private therapy sessions, and you diagnose someone in order to outline their course of treatment. But a functional assessment is something you do for the public—and that includes unfitness or dangerousness—and these kinds of comments are not only permitted, they are part of our societal responsibility because we are responsible not just for private individual patients, but for the public, for society.Dr. Bandy LeeDonald Trump is not an isolated phenomenon. He is a product of the system that has come before him and he is an accelerator of the dangers that succeed him. I do not believe that a Biden presidency would have been this dangerous without a Trump presidency preceding him. Dr. Bandy LeeTed Postol is Professor of Science, Technology and National Security Policy Emeritus in the Program in Science, Technology, and Society at MIT. His expertise is in nuclear weapon systems, including submarine warfare, applications of nuclear weapons, ballistic missile defense, and ballistic missiles more generally. He previously worked as an analyst at the Office of Technology Assessment and as a science and policy adviser to the chief of naval operations. In 2016, he received the Garwin Prize from the Federation of American Scientists for his work in assessing and critiquing the government's claims about missile defenses.I do not want to appear like I don't think it matters, but at the same time, it's been provoked to the point that it's amazing that the Iranians have restrained themselves to this point. But the Iranians know that they're going to suffer heavy damage from Israel. They have not wanted to go to war. They have shown great wisdom and restraint in spite of the situation.Ted PostolWhat the Israelis want—this guy Netanyahu in particular, who I think is delusional besides being psychopath—what Netanyahu wants, he wants a decisive victory. Again, let me underscore that—a decisive victory against Iran and also Hezbollah and Gaza, these poor victims of his genocide in Gaza. He can't do that. He's going to kill God knows how many more people in his effort—which is already a crime against humanity that's beginning to look like the Holocaust—but he's not going to defeat Hezbollah in a decisive way. Ted PostolIn Case You Haven't Heard with Francesco DeSantisNews 10/2/241. ProPublica reports “The U.S. government's two foremost authorities on humanitarian assistance [USAID and the State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration] concluded this spring that Israel had deliberately blocked deliveries of food and medicine into Gaza.” Yet just days later, instead of acting upon this information, Secretary of State Antony Blinken misled Congress telling lawmakers “We do not currently assess that the Israeli government is prohibiting or otherwise restricting the transport or delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance [to Gaza].” In USAID's report, the agency laid out specific examples of Israeli interference, including “killing aid workers, razing agricultural structures, bombing ambulances and hospitals, sitting on supply depots and routinely turning away trucks full of food and medicine.” The State Department Refugee bureau separately concluded that “the Foreign Assistance Act should be triggered to freeze almost $830 million in taxpayer dollars earmarked for weapons and bombs to Israel, according to emails obtained by ProPublica.” Yet because Blinken refused to accept these facts and instead opted to lie to Congress, the weapons pipeline to Israel continues to flow unimpeded. Some, including Nihad Awad, national executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, have called on Blinken to resign, per the Middle East Monitor.2. On September 27th, Israel assassinated Hezbollah Secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah. According to NBC, the Israelis made this decision “after concluding [Nasrallah] would not accept any diplomatic solution to end the fighting on the Israel-Lebanon border that was not tied to an end to the war in Gaza.” Through this assassination, and the assassination of Hamas Political Bureau chairman Ismail Haniyeh earlier this year, Israel has made clear that they would rather resort to extrajudicial killings than negotiate an end to the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Israel now plans to invade Southern Lebanon, further escalating this conflict into a regional war, with the full backing of the United States.3. Following the pager and walkie-talkie attacks in Lebanon, the office of Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib issued a statement decrying that “The Biden-Harris administration continues to allow Netanyahu and the Israeli government to operate with impunity as they carry out war crimes. After facing no red line in Gaza…Netanyahu is now expanding his genocidal campaign to Lebanon…Deploying more U.S. troops and sending more U.S. bombs will only lead to more suffering and carnage. The...administration is capable of stopping the bloodshed. President Biden must implement an immediate arms embargo to end the slaughter and de-escalate the risk of a wider regional war.” Yet, far from de-escalating, the Biden administration has stood by while Netanyahu has escalated further, with increasing signs that the situation will tip over into a full-scale regional war between Israel and Iran. Dark days indeed could be ahead.4. This week, Hurricane Helene cleaved a “500-mile path of destruction” stretching from Florida to the Southern Appalachians, per CNN. So far, the casualties include at least 128 dead and whole communities wiped off the map. Yet, this devastation is not limited merely to peoples' homes and communities. In a darkly ironic twist, “Hurricane Helene's severe flooding [in Asheville, North Carolina] knocked offline the top tracker of U.S. and global climate data, including of extreme weather…The National Centers for Environmental Information,” or NCEI. According to the NCEI, “Even those who are physically safe are generally without power, water or connectivity,” per Axios. And just outside Atlanta, Vox reports “Amid the devastation and mass flooding…A chemical fire [at BioLab] released a massive plume of potentially toxic gasses into the air.” Officials issued a shelter-in-place order Sunday evening covering Rockdale County, home to around 90,000 people. EPA testing detected signs of chlorine gas in the air. Fulton County, which includes parts of Atlanta, has reported “a haze and strong chemical smell.”5. Last week, the International Trade Union Confederation published a report accusing “Some of the world's largest companies of undermining democracy across the world by financially backing far-right political movements, funding and exacerbating the climate crisis, and violating trade union rights and human rights.” This report specifically names Amazon, Tesla, Meta, ExxonMobil, Blackstone, Vanguard and Glencore. This report cites a litany of damning acts by these corporations – ranging from union busting and environmental degradation to funding of far-right and anti-indigenous movements around the globe – but makes the fundamental point that “This is about power, who has it, and who sets the agenda. …They're playing the long game, and it's a game about shifting power away from democracy at every level into one where they're not concerned about the effects on workers – they're concerned about maximizing their influence and their extractive power and their profit…Now is the time for international and multi-sectoral strategies, because these are, in many cases, multinational corporations that are more powerful than states, and they have no democratic accountability whatsoever, except for workers organized.” Per the Guardian, “the ITUC includes labor group affiliates from 169 nations…representing 191 million workers…the federation is pushing for an international binding treaty…to hold transnational corporations accountable under international human rights laws.”6. Yet, although these corporations are being called out for their role in undermining democracy, the Biden administration is granting many of them large sums of money via the newly announced “Partnership for Global Inclusivity on AI.” According to the State Department, this partnership will bring together the Department of State, Amazon, Anthropic, Google, IBM, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, and OpenAI to “promote inclusivity, respect for human rights, digital solidarity, and equitable access to the benefits of AI globally.” As the American Prospect's Luke Goldstein notes, every single one of the companies listed are currently facing lawsuits or are under investigation by either the Department of Justice or the Federal Trade Commission, and two of these corporations were clients of Secretary of State Antony Blinken's during his time as a consultant at WestExec Advisors. And in California, Variety reports Governor Gavin Newsom has vetoed SB 1047, a bill that “sought to ward off catastrophic risks of highly advanced [AI] models…[that] could be used to develop chemical or nuclear weapons.” This bill was strongly supported by SAG-AFTRA.7. A new article in the Atlantic makes the case that “Legalizing Sports Gambling Was a Huge Mistake.” On a previous program we discussed how the “widespread legalization of sports gambling over the past five years has [led to a] roughly 28% increase in bankruptcies and an 8% increase in debt transferred to debt collectors,” along with substantial increases in auto loan delinquencies and use of debt consolidation loans. Beyond the financial damages however, this piece cites a new University of Oregon study that found in places where sports gambling is legalized, a loss by the home NFL team increases intimate partner violence by approximately 10%. As Deseret News put the question, “If, after six years, a law was discovered to be encouraging domestic violence while causing people, especially the poor, to lose what little money they could put toward savings, what would be the correct next step?”8. On September 24th, the Federal Trade Commission took action against Invitation Homes, the country's largest landlord of single-family homes, for “an array of unlawful actions against consumers, including deceiving renters about lease costs, charging undisclosed junk fees, failing to inspect homes before residents moved in, and unfairly withholding tenants' security deposits when they moved out.” The FTC complaint cites a 2019 email from Invitation Homes' CEO “calling on the senior vice president responsible for overseeing the company's fee program to ‘juice this hog'” by making additional fees mandatory for renters. This action comes as “Democrats Are Torn Between Donors and Their Base,” over the high-profile FTC Chair Lina Khan, Wired reports. While many billionaire Democratic donors have publicly called for Khan's ouster, polling shows around “80 percent of Democrats feel that the government should be doing more to take on corporate monopolies, compared to only 3 percent who say it should be doing less...[and] Nearly 90 percent of Democrats…feel that lobbyists and corporate executives hold too much power over the government.” To his credit, powerful House Democrat Jim Clyburn recently defended Khan when asked whether she should be fired, saying “… fired for what? For doing [her] job?…I suspect that people who represent Invitation Homes may want her to be replaced by somebody who would not do their [job],” per the Huffington Post.9. POLITICO Europe has published a shocking exposé documenting “the atrocities carried out during the summer of 2021 by a [Mozambican] commando unit led by an officer who said his mission was to protect ‘the project of Total.'” The “Total” in question being TotalEnergies, the French energy titan operating an enormous liquid natural gas plant in the Southeast African country. According to this report, “villagers had been caught in the crossfire between the Mozambican army and ISIS-affiliated militants. Having fled their homes, they had gone to seek the protection of government soldiers. Instead…[t]he soldiers accused the villagers of being members of the insurgency. They separated the men — a group of between 180 and 250 — from the women and children. Then they crammed their prisoners into… shipping containers…hitting, kicking and striking them with rifle butts. The soldiers held the men in the containers for three months. They beat, suffocated, starved, tortured and finally killed their detainees. Ultimately, only 26 prisoners survived.” Beyond this horrific massacre, this piece investigates the complex relationship between the Mozambican government, the Islamist insurgency, and French energy interests operating in Mozambique.10. Finally, on the eve of the inauguration of Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico's incoming president and the first ever Jewish head of state in North America, tensions are mounting between the country and its northern neighbor, the United States. On his way out, popular left-wing president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, or AMLO, has declared a Yucatán port owned by Alabama-based Vulcan Materials a nature reserve in a move that the company is calling “expropriation.” According to Reuters, the company has quarried limestone in Mexico for over three decades and AMLO has long criticized their activities as environmentally damaging. AMLO also offered offered up to 7 billion pesos or $362 million for the land, but Vulcan rejected the offer. In response to AMLO's move, Republican Senators Katie Britt of Alabama and John Cornyn of Texas sent a letter “threatening Mexico with ‘crushing consequences' if the incoming Administration of Claudia Sheinbaum,” doesn't reverse this decision, per José Díaz Briseño of Reforma. This vague saber rattling raises the question, voiced by decorated journalist Ryan Grim, “Are Senate Republicans threatening some kind of coup”?This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven't Heard. Get full access to Ralph Nader Radio Hour at www.ralphnaderradiohour.com/subscribe

What happens to a nation when its leaders get in bed with the IMF? In this episode, Steve and his guest Daniel Kostzer look at the case of Argentina under President Javier Milei. Daniel is the Chief Economist of the International Trade Union Confederation. They discuss the recent legislative wins by Milei's government, which have sparked mass protests and civil unrest in the country. The reform bill passed by the Argentine Senate includes sweeping austerity measures, privatization, and labor rights cuts. The conversation delves into the factors contributing to the high inflation rate in Argentina, including the country's debt with the IMF, the impact of the pandemic, and external conditions such as the Ukraine-Russian war and drought. Daniel explains that Milei's approach to the economy is characterized by a belief in dollarization. They also discuss the role of the IMF in Argentina and its pro-market, pro-capitalist ideology. They talk about the historical pattern of accumulation in the country, with a constant pendulum swing between the export-oriented neoliberal model and the industrial autonomous development model. Without a clear resolution of this conflict, Argentina will continue to struggle. However, they also highlight the resilience and fighting spirit of the Argentine society, with a strong union density and a comprehensive system of social protection. Daniel Kostzer is the Chief Economist of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC-CSI) based in Brussels. He was the senior regional wage specialist for Asia and the Pacific at the INWORK Branch (Inclusive Labour Markets, Labour Relations and Working Conditions), International Labour Organization. Daniel does research in Labour Economics, especially wages and income distribution, poverty alleviation, and the linkages with the broad economic issues. @dkostzer on Twitter

At the COP28 Summit, for the first time since nations began meeting some three decades ago, nearly 200 countries convened by the United Nations approved a milestone plan to ramp up renewable energy and transition away from coal, oil and gas. With all eyes on the new deal - that is not legally binding and can't, on its own, force any country to act - “transition finance” is shaping up to be one of this year's most important topics in the climate space but how just is this transition?  On this episode of Climate Connections, Sharan Burrow, Former General Secretary, International Trade Union Confederation and Global Board of Director, World Resources Institute shares her insights on why a just transition is so important and why people must be at the center of this green transition. Sharan recently spoke at the 2024 Ecosperity Week spearheaded by Temasek. Feature produced and edited by: Yeo Kai Ting (ykaiting@sph.com.sg) Voiced by: Emaad Akhtar Photo credits: The Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action Music credits: pixabay & its talented community of contributorsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The international labour movement has started a global campaign to protect democracy. This RadioLabour report features comments by Luc Triangle, the general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation which represents the Canadian Labour Congress at the world level. It also includes a presentation about democracy in the US by the president of the AFL-CIO, Liz Shuler. RadioLabour is the international labour movement's radio service. It reports on labour union events around the world with a focus on unions in the developing world. It partners with rabble to provide coverage of news of interest to Canadian workers.

February 20 is the International Day for Social Justice. This year the International Labour Organization used the day to inaugurate a Global Coalition for Social Justice. Canada has joined the coalition as has the International Trade Union Confederation. One of the ITUC's affiliates is the Canadian Labour Congress. RadioLabour is the international labour movement's radio service. It reports on labour union events around the world with a focus on unions in the developing world. It partners with rabble to provide coverage of news of interest to Canadian workers.

”The UDHR is the heart and soul of the United Nations”The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is clear that "all organs of society" need to respect human rights, and Eleanor Roosevelt spoke about making these rights a reality "on the farm, in the factory and in the office".  As we mark 75 years of the UDHR, how has this foundation of human rights guided and improved the fulfilment of worker rights?In this episode of Voices, IHRB's CEO John Morrison sits down with Sharan Burrow, former General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation, to get a trade unionist perspective on the UDHR's legacy to improve conditions for workers, in particular for women and marginalised groups, and how collective bargaining and freedom of association are still critical.

Featuring Dr. Salama Abu Zaiter, the president of the General Trade Union of Health Workers in Gaza and Avital Shapira, the director of International Relations for Israel's Histadrut. Included is a report from Euan Gibb, the regional assistant and multinationals organiser for Public Services International in Brazil and comments by the general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation, Luc Triangle. RadioLabour is the international labour movement's radio service. It reports on labour union events around the world with a focus on unions in the developing world. It partners with rabble to provide coverage of news of interest to Canadian workers.

The International Trade Union Confederation has called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. It reiterates its long-standing call for peace in the world with a new social contract that guarantees respect for workers rights. The ITUC's affiliate in Canada is the Canadian Labour Congress. RadioLabour is the international labour movement's radio service. It reports on labour union events around the world with a focus on unions in the developing world. It partners with rabble to provide coverage of news of interest to Canadian workers.

For the first time in history a song produced by a singer with no chart-success history debuted as Billboard's #1. The song was sung by the American folksinger, Oliver Anthony. But the British singer Billie Bragg sang back saying that complaining was not enough and that Anthony should join a union. In other news a new General Secretary for the International Trade Union Confederation will be acclaimed. RadioLabour will be starting English as an Additional Language lessons for unionists. RadioLabour is the international labour movement's radio service. It reports on labour union events around the world with a focus on unions in the developing world. It partners with rabble to provide coverage of news of interest to Canadian workers.

Patricia & Christian talk to Daniel Kostzer, chief economist at the International Trade Union Confederation and contributor to “Modern Monetary Theory: Key Insights, Leading thinkers” about his chapter, which revisits Argentina's 2002 Jefes de Hogar employment guarantee programme, and details considerations to be weighed in the implementation of any future Job Guarantee programme.   Please help sustain this podcast! Patrons get early access to all episodes and patron-only episodes: https://www.patreon.com/MMTpodcast   Order the Gower Initiative's “Modern Monetary Theory - Key Insights, Leading Thinkers” (2023): https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/modern-monetary-theory-9781802208085.html   LIVE EVENT! Christian will be interviewing Cory Doctorow in Nottingham (UK!) on Tuesday 30th May 2023, tickets here: https://www.waterstones.com/events/an-evening-with-cory-doctorow/nottingham     GIMMS Book Launch Presentations: Daniel Kostzer on Argentina's “Jefes de Hogar” Public Employment Programme: https://www.patreon.com/posts/gimms-book-on-de-82501900 Phil Armstrong On Useful Economists: https://www.patreon.com/posts/gimms-book-phil-82502071 Neil Wilson On How The Government Spends: https://www.patreon.com/posts/gimms-book-neil-82502270     For an intro to MMT: Our first three episodes: https://www.patreon.com/posts/41742417 Episode 126 - Dirk Ehnts: How Banks Create Money: https://www.patreon.com/posts/62603318       All our episodes in chronological order: https://www.patreon.com/posts/43111643     Relevant to this episode: Daniel Kostzer on Twitter: https://twitter.com/dkostzer To understand why the Job Guarantee is core to MMT, rather than peripheral or optional, listen to our Job Guarantee episodes (listed below), particularly this one: Episode 148 - Pavlina Tcherneva: Why The Job Guarantee Is Core To Modern Monetary Theory: https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-148-why-73211346 Quick read: Pavlina Tcherneva's Job Guarantee FAQ page: https://pavlina-tcherneva.net/job-guarantee-faq/ We also talked with Argentinian economist Agustin Mario about the Jefes Program in episode 119 - MMT In Latin America & Argentina's Jefes Y Jefas Program: https://www.patreon.com/posts/57888740 “Zimbabwe for hyperventilators 101” by Bill Mitchell: https://billmitchell.org/blog/?p=3773 We touch on inflation in this episode, and for more on inflation, see  our episodes on inflation (listed below).         Quick MMT reads: Warren's Mosler's MMT white paper: http://moslereconomics.com/mmt-white-paper/ Steven Hail's quick MMT explainer: https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-modern-monetary-theory-72095 Quick explanation of government debt and deficit: “Some Numbers Are Big. Let Me Help You Get Over It”: https://christreilly.com/2020/02/17/some-numbers-are-big-let-me-help-you-get-over-it/     For a short, non-technical, free ebook explaining MMT, download Warren Mosler's “7 Deadly Innocent Frauds Of Economic Policy” here: http://moslereconomics.com/wp-content/powerpoints/7DIF.pdf       Episodes on monetary operations: Episode 20 - Warren Mosler: The MMT Money Story (part 1): https://www.patreon.com/posts/28004824 Episode 126 - Dirk Ehnts: How Banks Create Money: https://www.patreon.com/posts/62603318 Episode 13 - Steven Hail: Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Banking, But Were Afraid To Ask: https://www.patreon.com/posts/41790887 Episode 43 - Sam Levey: Understanding Endogenous Money: https://www.patreon.com/posts/35073683   Episodes on inflation: Episode 7: Steven Hail: Inflation, Price Shocks and Other Misunderstandings: https://www.patreon.com/posts/41780508 Episode 65 - Phil Armstrong: Understanding Inflation: https://www.patreon.com/posts/40672678 Episode 104 - John T Harvey: Inflation, Stagflation & Healing The Nation: https://www.patreon.com/posts/52207835 Episode 123 - Warren Mosler: Understanding The Price Level And Inflation: https://www.patreon.com/posts/59856379 Episode 128 - L. Randall Wray & Yeva Nersisyan: What's Causing Accelerating Inflation? Pandemic Or Policy Response?: https://www.patreon.com/posts/63776558   Our Job Guarantee episodes: Episode 4 - Fadhel Kaboub: What is the Job Guarantee?: https://www.patreon.com/posts/41742701 Episode 47 - Pavlina Tcherneva: Building Resilience - The Case For A Job Guarantee: https://www.patreon.com/posts/36034543 Episode 148 - Pavlina Tcherneva: Why The Job Guarantee Is Core To Modern Monetary Theory: https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-148-why-73211346 Quick read: Pavlina Tcherneva's Job Guarantee FAQ page: https://pavlina-tcherneva.net/job-guarantee-faq/     More on government bonds (and “vigilantes”): Episode 30 - Steven Hail: Understanding Government Bonds (Part 1):https://www.patreon.com/posts/29621245 Episode 31 - Steven Hail: Understanding Government Bonds (Part 2): https://www.patreon.com/posts/29829500 Episode 143 - Paul Sheard: What Is Quantitative Easing?: https://www.patreon.com/posts/71589989?pr=true Episode 147 - Dirk Ehnts: Do Markets Control Our Politics?: https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-147-dirk-72906421 Episode 144 - Warren Mosler: The Natural Rate Of Interest Is Zero: https://www.patreon.com/posts/71966513 Episode 145 - John T Harvey: What Determines Currency Prices?: https://www.patreon.com/posts/72283811?pr=true   More on Silicon Valley Bank and bank runs: Episode 162 - Warren Mosler: Anatomy Of A Bank Run: https://www.patreon.com/posts/80157783?pr=true Episode 163 - L. Randall Wray: Breaking Banks - The Fed's Magical Monetarist Thinking Strikes Again: https://www.patreon.com/posts/80479169?pr=true Episode 165 - Robert Hockett: Sparking An Industrial Renewal By Building Banks Better: https://www.patreon.com/posts/81084983?pr=true MMT founder Warren Mosler's Proposals for the Treasury, the Federal Reserve, the FDIC, and the Banking System: https://neweconomicperspectives.org/2010/02/warren-moslers-proposals-for-treasury.html     MMT Events And Courses In 2023: More information about Professor Bill Mitchell's MMTed project (free public online courses in MMT) here: http://www.mmted.org/ Apply for Dr Dirk Ehnts' Modern Monetary Theory and European Macroeconomics course at Maastricht University (July 31st - August 4th) here: https://maastricht.dreamapply.com/courses/course/183-modern-monetary-theory-and-european-macroeconomics Details of Modern Money Lab's online graduate and postgraduate courses in MMT are here: https://modernmoneylab.org.au/ Details of the next MMT Summer school in Poznań, Poland (September 5th-7th) will be available on this page when confirmed: https://fundacjalipinskiego.pl/wydarzenia/ Website of the 3rd International European MMT Conference (September 9th-10th: https://www.mmtconference.eu/   MMT Academic Resources compiled by The Gower Initiative for Modern Money Studies: https://www.zotero.org/groups/2251544/mmt_academic_resources_-_compiled_by_the_gower_initiative_for_modern_money_studies   MMT scholarship compiled by New Economic Perspectives: http://neweconomicperspectives.org/mmt-scholarship     A list of MMT-informed campaigns and organisations worldwide: https://www.patreon.com/posts/47900757     We are working towards full transcripts, but in the meantime, closed captions for all episodes are available on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEp_nGVTuMfBun2wiG-c0Ew/videos     Show notes: https://www.patreon.com/posts/82743393?pr=true

The International Trade Union Confederation has produced a report describing how automation, algorithms and artificial intelligence systems are effecting workplaces. It suggests what unions and government can do to help workers. The Canadian Labour Congress is an affiliate of the ITUC. RadioLabour is the international labour movement's radio service. It reports on labour union events around the world with a focus on unions in the developing world. It partners with rabble to provide coverage of news of interest to Canadian workers.

Brian interviews Erin Weir, a consulting economist and former Member of Parliament. Erin Weir grew up in Saskatchewan and completed university degrees at Regina, Calgary and Queen's. Erin went on to work as a trade union economist with the Canadian Labour Congress, the United Steelworkers and the International Trade Union Confederation in Brussels, Belgium. He campaigned to win election as the MP for Regina–Lewvan. Since completing his term in office, he work for the Government of Nunavut and the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists. We discuss the Bank of Canada's recent spree of interest rate hikes and the latest job numbers.

Labour unions in the global south are calling for a just transition to more sustainable economies through education. A report from the International Trade Union Confederation in the Asia-Pacific region. RadioLabour is the international labour movement's radio service. It reports on labour union events around the world with a focus on unions in the developing world. It partners with rabble to provide coverage of news of interest to Canadian workers.

The International Trade Union Confederation - the ITUC - is calling for a new social contract and wealth distribution at its 5th World Congress in Melbourne, Australia, Nov. 17-22, 2022. Many Canadian unionists are participating in the Congress activities. RadioLabour is the international labour movement's radio service. It reports on labour union events around the world with a focus on unions in the developing world. It partners with rabble to provide coverage of news of interest to Canadian workers.

The headlines continue to scream but whether you like it or not Qatar is here...the FIFA Men's World Cup is about to begin. Guests include head of International Trade Union Confederation, head of Football Australia, Socceroo Thomas Deng and more.

The headlines continue to scream but whether you like it or not Qatar is here...the FIFA Men's World Cup is about to begin. Guests include head of International Trade Union Confederation, head of Football Australia, Socceroo Thomas Deng and more.

Stephen Sackur interviews the General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation, Sharan Burrow. There are signs of deepening worker discontent around the world; inflation is outstripping wages, and global corporations stand accused of putting profits before people, while many governments see organised labour as a threat. Have workers lost their faith in collective action?

Marc Bélanger reports: The International Trade Union Confederation finished its 4th World Women's Conference with a call for equal pay for work of equal value now. The new chief of the International Labour Organization wants decent work for informal workers. Plus the LabourStart Report about union events. And singing" 'The Equal Pay Song.' RadioLabour is the international labour movement's radio service. It reports on labour union events around the world with a focus on unions in the developing world. It partners with rabble to provide coverage of news of interest to Canadian workers.

On this week's show, longtime labor activist, author and commentator Bill Fletcher, Jr. talks about January 6 and the ongoing threat to democracy by right-wing terrorism on the Black Work Talk podcast…Sharon Burrow, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation, takes a global view on the challenges ahead for unions on RadioLabour… Bill Samuel, director of government affairs at the AFL-CIO, on the racist roots of the Senate filibuster on the Your Rights At Work radio show…AFL-CIO Secretary Treasurer Fred Redmond has been out walking picket lines across the country and he reported on those strikes on the America's WorkForce Radio podcast…on the Educating from the Heart podcast, Representative Geraldine Thompson discussed her new legislation that will enforce laws requiring Florida schools to include Black history in their curriculum instead of just once a year on Martin Luther King Jr. Day… A former child worker and labor activist from Bangladesh, Kalpona Akter is the founder and Executive Director of the Bangladesh Center for Workers Solidarity. You'll hear more from her on The Labor Link podcast…on the latest episode of The Gig Podcast, we learn what domestic and care work is, and its roots in exploitation and slavery…Judy Ancel is the host of the Heartland Labor Forum, one of the longest-running labor radio shows in the country. She talked with Empathy Media Labs about her origins as a rank-and-file union member, organizer, and troublemaker and her work as a labor educator and radio producer Highlights from labor radio and podcast shows around the country, part of the national Labor Radio Podcast Network of shows focusing on working people's issues and concerns. #LaborRadioPod @AFLCIO @BlackWorkTalk @radiolabour @DCLabor @AWFUnionPodcast @FloridaEA @empathymedialab @Heartland_Labor @podcastgig Edited by Patrick Dixon, Mel Smith and Chris Garlock; produced by Chris Garlock; social media guru Mr. Harold Phillips.

Industries around the world including the garment sector have to change if we're going to survive the climate and ecological crisis. How can we make sure that worker and community rights are at the centre of this change? In this episode: Efforts in the Philippines to develop a Just Transition campaign for workers and communities (Rochelle Porras, EILER) What a Just Transition must involve, from a global union perspective (Alison Tate, ITUC) Campaigns to pressure garment manufacturers to stop polluting the environment that also highlight worker rights (Urska Trunk, Changing Markets) How environment movements and worker movements share the same goals in a Just Transition (Karin Nansen, Friends of the Earth) Steps the Clean Clothes Campaign can take to push for a Just Transition for garment workers (Tibbe Smith-Larsen, CCC)  Please tell us what inspired you about this show, and share your feedback, comments and questions, by emailing: podcast@cleanclothes.org  Speakers: Rochelle Porras, EILER, Philippines Alison Tate, ITUC Urska Trunk, Changing Markets Karin Nansen, Friends of the Earth Uruguay & Friends of the Earth International Tibbe Smith-Larsen, Europe Coalition Coordinator Host: Febriana Firdaus (febrianafirdaus.com)Field Reporters: Petra Ivsic and Aca VragolovicSound Engineering Support: Steve Adam (www.spectrosonics.com.au) Producer: Matthew Abud Clean Clothes Podcast Team: Anne Dekker, Johnson Ching-Yin Yeung, Liz Parker, Tanne de Goei Full Transcript HOST:Welcome to the Clean Clothes Podcast.  In today's show we're talking about a Just Transition.  It's a big conversation.  KARIN:We believe that the systemic crisis are interconnected, be it the climate crisis, biodiversity crisis, water crisis, food crisis, and now the pandemic. So if we all want to overcome this crisis, this systemic crisis we face, we really need the people's movements, people's organisations, to come together.  HOST:It's about how we need to build a better world, if we want to survive in the future. And about what that means for the rights of all workers.   URSKA:I mean in general we're talking about one of the most polluting industries on the planet, synonymous with over-consumption, pollution, increasing waste crisis, but also exploitation of workers in the global supply chains HOST:And what the Clean Clothes Campaign Network needs to do.  TIBBE:To have a consciousness about the environmental issues, climate issues, it's still quite a new thing. And I think it really is a challenge for us as a Network now to understand what are these implications for workers, and what are the responses that we propose and what is it that we imagine a Just Transition looks like HOST:You just heard from several of our guests – we'll meet them all again, later in the show.  I'm Febriana Firdaus.  The challenges of climate and ecological crisis are profound. But in many ways, we're still working out what it involves for workers.  How do we transition from the current business model to one that is good for workers and the environment?  In mainstream debates a lot of the talk is about a just transition in the energy sector.  Often Just transition is seen as something for the energy sector to carry out.  We need to change the energy sector – but we also need much more than that This episode is about starting some of that discussion.  With people in the Clean Clothes Network, and with others outside it.  Right now, a Just Transition can have different meanings for different movements.  But the campaigns will be stronger, if these meanings are connected. If the understanding is shared.  How do we make that happen in our own countries, and our own places of work? Rochelle Porras is Executive Director of EILER, Ecumenical Institute For Labor Education and Research in the Philippines. ROCHELLEIt's true, we have to really transition into a low-carbon economy otherwise we won't have a planet to live in, the production system is absolutely not sustainable as of the moment. But I guess the problem lies in the implementation of the programs that the country-level policies when we talk about Just Transition. First and foremost Just Transition in developing countries like the Philippines receive less attention because the energy industry is still is facing the very basic of problems such as you know, many of our areas still don't have electricity. So it's mind-blowing for us to talk about these technological advancement when the very basic, you know we need electricity to run things, something as basic as that, we don't have it yet. Likewise the Philippine energy industry's also guided by privatisation, liberalisation, and so no public ownership. And renewable energy industries are primarily being provided and enjoyed by the biggest industry players as well.  As a third-world country it's a lot different. So a lot of production are happening in South East Asian countries including the Philippines. But a lot of the design, the research, the planning, these are happening in the countries where multinational corporations are hosted or based. So what we get here in producing countries are the model of production that these multi-national corporations want us to take on in order to produce the products that they needed. So essentially there is no technological transfer and once a new technology is introduced in a setup of a neo-colonial country and with the rise of neo-liberalisation as well, most of the workers experience displacement.  Decent work will not exist if workers' rights and welfare are not protected, and if the current economic systems that you know, we have in this present COVID-19 pandemic is promoting neo-liberal policies and extreme attacks on workers' wages, labour standards and welfare, if this persists you know, green jobs will not really mean decent work or decent job quality for all. We felt like it is high time to start a worker-led Just Transition, hence we started a round table discussion in 2018 and from there we gathered more facts and then brought it out and presented it to NGOs, CSOs that we work with, such as environmental groups that are working on transition to renewable energy and so on. By 2019 we have pledges from unions in the service sector, in the manufacturing sector, and likewise included are the agricultural workers. We have all agreed and pledged that this will be a campaign platform and a research platform to conduct more evidence-based research on the possibility and understanding the impact of implementing just transition in the particular industries.  You know the organised forces of labour and along with the environmental groups and the youth are all involved in understanding that without a collective voice and collective action, we will not arrive at a common goal of what we want to be the model of Just Transition that works in the Philippines.  What makes it very difficult to do so is the repressive situation that we have in the Philippines. It's sad to say but the Philippines is the number one country in terms of the killings of environmental and land rights defenders. We're also included in the top ten lists of the worst countries for workers, because of extreme violation of trade union rights, and to date there are fifty one trade unionists that have been victims of extra-judicial killings in the Philippines. And there's also the war on drugs that targeted the poor. I invite also you and the listeners to take a look, take a closer look at the Philippines situation and express your solidarity, echo the call for justice especially the land rights defenders.  HOST:That's Rochelle Porras from EILER.  The Round Tables are a starting-point for a social dialogue – which brings together different communities and sectors in society.  In The Philippines, these didn't only talk about changes in the energy sector.  They also highlighted growing automation at work, as a major transition that workers face.  The challenges are global, and workers in all sectors must respond globally.  Alison Tate is Director of Social and Economic Policy at the International Trade Union Confederation, ITUC.  That work includes the ITUC's Just Transition Centre.  The Centre was set up after the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change That was the first time governments promised to commit to a Just Transition, in an international agreement.  ALISON:So we set up the Just Transition Centre as a way to support the capacity and the engagement of trade unions around those challenges, and to really develop the relationships with business and government at local level, that means municipal level, at state level, at a national level and indeed above that, across countries, to really shift what's possible in terms of ensuring a Just Transition.  So we have to acknowledge at a societal level we all need to make changes and transition. But transitions in the past haven't gone so well where they haven't been planned. So you know we can see examples where people, local economies have been devastated. We've been left with inter-generational unemployment because there hasn't been the forward thinking about what's needed in those communities.  So what should be involved is workers, and in their workplaces, being able to really engage with their management as to what steps the companies are taking to reduce carbon emissions. Whether that's workers on a production line or in a manufacturing process, or in an agricultural process, they are the people who really know the local conditions best. And when that knowledge is really taken into the process to think more creatively about what we need, then we can see that a genuinely economic and social, as well as environmental sustainability plan can be put in place.  What we would see as a good Just Transition plan is that governments, employers, unions and community are all involved in anticipating the changes and responding to that in a way that you know, the United Nations has this language in the Sustainable Development Goals of not leaving anyone behind. That's what' it's all about, it's having an employment plan, a skills training plan, what are the investments needed for that local economy to thrive, what are the jobs that are going to be needed in that local economy, and how are those workers who are currently part of that community, with the skills level that they currently have, what's going to be needed to transition, to actually re-deploy workers where workers are going to be phased out of that work because the industry's going to be phased out or that type of production's going to be phased out, and that's really different in different countries, in different societies, in different cultures, and in different local economies.  I would give one of the really great examples of being the coal phase-out plans in Spain. You know Spain's one of the few countries that's taken on actually having a Just Transition plan at the national level. They set up a whole process that engaged trade unions in the companies and the regions that are most impacted. They have a plan around what kind of investment is needed, what kind of hours of work is needed as a transition. There's a plan for the future, rather than just you know crossing fingers and hoping it will all work out, they've actually pulled together the real stakeholders in these processes. And it hasn't been an easy process, it's taken time, but there's a real engagement around understanding that it's not only about what that particular industry delivers to the economy, but how that fits within the bigger picture of the economic future of the country, and the economic plans for social policy, you know what it means in terms of pension ages, what it means in terms of younger workers having access to apprenticeships and training, and really having a forward-looking view.  I would say that in some cases, because of the way we organise society you know there are different movements. There's the labour movement, the environment movement, there are others who see their identity around working for ensuring human rights are respected. And somehow we've got those separated, like siloed in some way. But I would say that the importance of dealing with climate change, and addressing it from the perspective of both equality and ensuring transition is a process that engages the stakeholders, then that is about alliance-building. And sometimes people see themselves on different sides of the fence. But actually a Just Transition process can really bring together in a really profound way those different actors into an understanding that we're not actually going to achieve it if we don't all work on the same side of the fence.   HOST:That's Alison Tate, from the ITUC.  The clearest examples of Just Transition initiatives in action, are mostly in the energy sector.  That's how the Paris Agreement talks about Just Transition as well.  But the challenge is much bigger than even that. In 2015, ILO published its Just Transition guidelines. That talks about sustainable development across all sectors.  It needs social dialogue, social protection, rights at work, and jobs.  Across the garment industry, it's hard to find serious plans for any of this.  Consultancies and industry produce reports on the environment and fashion, but they never talk about workers. URSKAWe're talking about one of the most polluting industries on the planet become synonymous with over-consumption, pollution,  HOST:That's Urska Trunk, Campaign Manager from Changing Markets.  URSKA:Our mission is to expose irresponsible corporate practices and drive change towards a more sustainable economy.  HOST:This involves changing the way products are manufactured, how they're used – and what happens after that.  It's about making manufacturing more sustainable for the environment. That's just one small part of what a Just Transition needs. URSKA:And we are actually running two campaigns currently in the fashion industry, for example our recent campaign, called Fossil Fashion exposes that today's fast fashion model is enabled by cheap synthetic fibres. Already more than half of all the textiles we use today is made from polyester and if the industry continues down this road in ten years almost three quarters of our textiles will be made from plastic-based fibres. Another one of our campaigns called Dirty Fashion that we have been running for four years now, looks at viscose and this is increasingly popular with the fashion brands. The campaign highlights that viscose is today largely manufactured through a dirty process that has a devastating impact on people and environment around the production sites, namely in Asia in countries such as India, China and Indonesia. And we want to hold corporations into account and push them to actually adopt more sustainable models of manufacturing.  Actually it might come as a surprise to many that less than one per cent of all clothes are recycled back to clothes, and this is what is currently needed, we need some sort of eco-design measures to make sure that the clothes that come to our market are not only produced in a responsible way, meaning that they limit the input of harmful chemicals but are also produced in a way that can be re-used and recycled at the end of life, and this is what we talk about, about circular economy. We still have a long way to go to actually achieve that.  The corporations themselves have you know, failed to change their dirty ways, and where we see the solution is in legislation, it's time for policy-makers to step up and regulate the sector, and actually there's a really great opportunity coming up. The European Commission is currently preparing an EU Textile Strategy which could really be a game-changer for a circular economy. And exactly what they're discussing is eco-design measures to have criteria for what kind of materials come to the market, whether they have the potential to be re-used and recycled at the end of life. And what will also be discussed is to make sure that companies are responsible for the over-production they create and for the items they put out on the market.  While our own expertise lies in environmental protection and supply chain investigation, we understand that environmental and social issues are kind of two sides of the same coin and are intrinsically linked. So this is why we have a long-standing partnership with the Clean Clothes Campaign. This partnership allowed us to have a holistic approach and take into account not only social justice but also environmental justice HOST:Everyone in this episode talked about the need to build alliances between worker rights and other movements – you heard Alison and Rochelle say this earlier.  Karin Nansen is with Friends of the Earth in Uruguay, and is the chair for Friends of the Earth International.  For her, this alliance building is critical for a Just Transition.  KARINFor us in Friends of the Earth, justice is at the core of everything we do. We believe that the systemic crisis are interconnected, be it the climate crisis, biodiversity crisis, water crisis, food crisis, and now the pandemic. They have common roots, with a system that puts priority on profit, puts priority on capital accumulation, instead of taking care of the planet and taking care of people's rights and people's needs. So if we all want to overcome this crisis, this systemic crisis we face, we really need the people's movements, people's organisations, to come together. So our struggles go hand in hand with the struggles of the working class, of the trade unions. The first thing for us is to really have a common analysis which might have different perspectives, or there may be issues which we don't have a common ground or we don't have an agreement, but it is important to be aware of those common agreements, and where there are disagreements as well.  Then we think that it's very important to recognise the struggles of the different movements and the different dimensions of justice. And when we identify whether we have this shared vision of justice at the core of everything we do, then we can understand better what it means environmental justice, what it means social justice, what gender justice means.  So what we say is that the Just Transition cannot be paid by the workers, cannot be that those who didn't generate the problem, are the ones who are going to pay this transition.  We have quite common history with trade unions, I'm talking for example about the history of campaigning against energy privatisation and commodification in the nineties for example, or our joint campaigning with unions against water privatisation which was a very strong campaign in my country for example, in which we came together with the trade unions to fight against the privatisation of water.  So there is a real commitment, strong commitment to build alliances with trade unions. If around specific projects we might have differences from time to time, but I think it's also a matter of how much interaction we have and we cultivate. We have you know seen how the unions, the workers' movement, is really also committed to the same kind of principles we are committed to.  Currently our work is mainly about Just Transition in terms of climate justice and energy. And this is going to allow us not just to think about technology. Technologies are very important because we need to really you know leave behind an energy system that is totally dependent on fossil fuels, we need to leave behind that system. But it is also about who controls it, who has the power to decide, how decision-making is taken. Because that's a risk, we might win the battle around renewable energy, but we could have a future in which transnational corporations are controlling the energy system in a way that doesn't allow the democratisation of energy, doesn't allow for the right to energy.  So we do agree that the transformation needed goes well beyond the energy sector, and that applies also to the food system, applies to the way we manage biodiversity, the forests and so on. But maybe we are not yet calling that Just Transition. It's framed in a different way. And I think it's a lot of how the movements want to frame the proposals for transformation of society. How broad we want the concept or the principle of Just Transition It's something we need reclaim as movements, that we need to make sure that we are the ones setting the framework and setting the principles and really you know also having a control in terms of how the transition is taking place.  HOST:So what's needed for a Just Transition in the garment sector?  And what does this mean for the Clean Clothes Campaign?  Tibbe Smith Larsen is the Network's European Coordinator. TIBBEClean Clothes has a fairly long history with working with workers' rights specifically in the garment sector, and I think that to have a consciousness about the environmental issues, climate issues, and how it actually links to garment workers, it's still quite a new thing for the consciousness of the Network. And it's only now being also written into the Global Strategic Framework, our strategy for the next five years, under the headline ‘A Just Transition to a New Business Model'. So understanding the broad inter-linkages, we don't have the analysis behind us in our history of work, to really provide us with a coherent understanding of it.  It's both taking into consideration at the core unsustainability of the business model, which is based on exploitation of both workers and resources, environment.  And also taking into consideration the move to new types of businesses, e-retailers, direct sales, etcetera. So there are some changes in the market, it's not just the big brands and fast fashion retailers any more, there are multiple players that are using slightly different business models. And all of these things together with a general increased focus on environmental issues linked to the garment sector, it does have an impact on workers.  Any transition shouldn't come at the expense of workers, it needs to include workers, it needs to have worker rights and human rights at the core of it. We also know that the ways of production ,where it hurts climate it hurts the environment, it also hurts workers in various ways. So it's really about not separating the two.  There are different imperatives from the fashion industry for these changing business models. At the core of it it's still about being able to earn as much money as possible, and then managing or overcoming whatever risks there may be, for instance in terms of climate crisis, changing consumer behaviour in consumer markets. And I think it really is a challenge for us as a Network now to understand what are these implications for workers, and what are the responses that we propose and what is it that we imagine a Just Transition looks like, and it involves understanding very well the impacts of different changes, the different implications that these changing business models have on workers.  I think this is also about the bottom-up approach in the Network, it's also at the core of what we want, the social dialogue and the inclusiveness of the workers who are directly impacted. It's urgent but I think that this is really the first step and I hope that within the next coming years we have a more broader involvement and engagement and a strong conversation within the Network about this so that it's not just coming from a few entities, but it's really, it's greatly mobilising the Network behind what this means. And because of this strong internal focus on it, being able to make the strong links with alliances as well because we have the core contribution from our side as well about what it means.  So this is my hope for the coming years.  HOST:That's Tibbe Smith Larsen, ending our show.  Like always – please send us your feedback! You can find us at podcast@cleanclothes.org. Matthew Abud produced this episode, with Anne Dekker, and the Clean Clothes Podcast team. Liz Parker, Tanne de Goei, and Johnson Chin-Yin Yeung. Sound engineering support is by Steve Adam  I'm Febriana Firdaus.  

Condemning China's actions in Hong Kong On Human Rights Day, December 10, unions focused on Hong Kong and Palestine. An interview with the General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation, Sharan Burrow. And more labour news. Also in RadioLabour's Report for the week December 6-10 , 2021: * The Labour Start Report about union events * And singing  'You Gotta Stand Up for Your Rights' Music: UnioNation. Used by permission.

In his address to the IIEA, Guy Ryder, Director-General of the International Labour Organization, argues that the pandemic is continuing to have tremendous impacts on employment and at a global level labour market recovery is flat-lining, with enduring damage to many groups and sectors. He argues that comprehensive global responses are needed to address the challenges we face. In his address, Mr Ryder shares his perspective on the future of work and discusses how the world can develop an approach that puts workers at the heart of our economic policy in the years ahead. About the Speaker: Guy Ryder was first elected Director-General of the International Labour Organization in 2012 and started a second term in 2017. His vision is for an ILO that anticipates and responds effectively to 21st century realities, reaching the most vulnerable and remaining true to its social justice mandate. From 2006-10 he was General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation, having led the unification of the democratic international trade union movement. He is a graduate of Cambridge University.

#universalbasicincome #ubi #bien #soas #sewa #COVID has created a frenzied crisis management response from nations, from currency printing to stimulus package rolled out only to the banking industry & big companies. The common man has been forever ignored & this will have long term economical repercussions as the economic engine is run by low/middle class and the small, micro, medium-sized enterprises. What is universal basic income & has the time come for the world to take heed & implement this powerful policy which could not just reverse the impact of COVID but also sow the seeds for an equitable future? Guy Standing is an economist, who has been involved in the basic income experiments in India- Madhya Pradesh fronted by SEWA [Self Employed Women's Associations]. He is a Professorial Research Associate and former Professor of Development Studies at SOAS University of London, founder member and honorary co-president of the Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN), an international non-governmental organization that promotes basic income as a right, with networks in over 50 countries. Guy Standing has worked as a consultant with many international bodies, including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (now the International Trade Union Confederation), the European Commission, the UN Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). In 2006-07 he was a consultant economic adviser to the Economic Security division of the International Committee of the Red Cross, and was the main writer for the UN's Report on the World Social Situation published in late 2007. Professor Standing was an economic adviser in the Prime Minister's Department in Malaysia and has written various books on the subject of Rentier Capitalism & Universal Basic Income. https://www.guystanding.com https://www.linkedin.com/today/author/guy-standing-54b70514a https://twitter.com/guystanding https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-1YI-neupU&feature=youtu.be [ Massive Attack-Video] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Standing_(economist) https://basicincome.org/topic/guy-standing/ https://www.soas.ac.uk/staff/staff82877.php https://www.amazon.in/Books-Guy-Standing/s?rh=n%3A976389031%2Cp_27%3AGuy+Standing

This edition of the #fepstalks features Samantha Smith, director of the Just Transition Centre that has been established by the International Trade Union Confederation, in conversation with Andreas Dimmelmeier, FEPS policy analyst on climate and environment. Samantha talks about the importance of coming up with and implementing just transition plans that feature contributions from social partners and outlines positive examples including in South Africa, Spain and Germany. The podcast also touches on the need for government and energy companies to protect workers and less affluent households from price increases as well as on the necessity for tax and investment reforms to fund the just transition.

Health workers who don't get paid if they contract Covid-19. Over 6,000 migrant workers dead after helping with World Cup construction in the Middle East. As the head of the world's largest union confederation, it's Sharan Burrow's priority to protect workers against abuses like these and hold offending governments accountable. But as she tells host Ryan Heath, she's walking a tightrope between convincing governments to change and keeping her seat at the table. Sharan Burrow is the General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation.  Ryan Heath is the host of the "Global Insider" podcast and newsletter.  Olivia Reingold produces “Global Insider.”  Irene Noguchi edits “Global Insider” and is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

In this ParlAmericas Podcast episode recorded in English and Spanish during the 5th Gathering of the ParlAmericas Parliamentary Climate Change Network (PNCC): Addressing Inequalities to Enable Climate Ambition: A Just Transition to Achieve the Paris Agreement, celebrated June 4, 2021, Senator the Honourable Rosa Galvez (Canada), Vice-President of the PNCC for North America, moderates a lively panel discussion with Dr. Enrico Botta, Coordinator for the Green Growth and Global Relations division, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development; Claudia de Windt, Founding Partner & CEO, Inter-American Institute on Justice and Sustainability; Samantha Smith, Director, Just Transition Centre, International Trade Union Confederation; and Eduardo Uribe-Botero, Director, Energy Group of Bogota. These specialists discussed strategies to support inclusive climate action, such as the application of a gender-responsive approach to climate policy; the importance of promoting public participation in decision making to prevent environmental conflicts and ensure climate action is conducted in a manner that respects human rights; and identifying good practices to develop and implement strategies to create decent and clean work for all, in order to achieve a just transition.To watch the full inter-parliamentary dialogue or listen to the translated discussion in English, Spanish, and French consult the ParlAmericas' playlist. --En este episodio, grabado en inglés y español durante la sesión plenaria del 5º Encuentro de la Red Parlamentaria de cambio climático (RPCC) de ParlAmericas: Abordando las desigualdades para fomentar la ambición climática: Una transición justa para alcanzar el Acuerdo de París, celebrado el 4 de junio de 2021, la honorable senadora Rosa Gálvez (Canadá), vicepresidente de la RPCC para América del Norte, modera un animado panel de discusión con el Dr. Enrico Botta, coordinador de la división de Crecimiento Verde y Relaciones Globales de la Organización para la Cooperación y el Desarrollo Económico; Claudia de Windt, socia fundadora y directora ejecutiva del Instituto Interamericano de Justicia y Sostenibilidad; Samantha Smith, directora del Centro de Transición Justa de la Confederación Sindical Internacional; y Eduardo Uribe-Botero, director del Grupo de Energía de Bogotá.Estos especialistas dialogaron sobre estrategias para apoyar la acción climática inclusiva, como por ejemplo, la aplicación de un enfoque sensible al género en la política climática; la importancia de promover la participación pública en la toma de decisiones para prevenir conflictos ambientales y asegurar que la acción climática se lleve a cabo en observancia de los derechos humanos; y la necesidad de identificar buenas prácticas para desarrollar e implementar estrategias para crear trabajo decente y limpio para todos y todas con el fin de lograr una transición justa.Para ver el diálogo interparlamentario completo o escuchar la discusión traducida en inglés, español y francés, visite la lista de reproducción de ParlAmericas.

BioSharan Burrow has been the General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation since 2010. In her role she represents 200 million workers in 163 countries and territories with 331 national affiliates and is the first woman to have this position. Sharan Burrow has been the person behind some of the biggest union negotiations regarding labour rights and economic reforms both in Australia and internationally.Before becoming the General Secretary of the ITUC, Sharan held other leadership positions in the organisation. She also led the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) from 2000 to 2010. Her role as President saw the introduction of Paid Paternal Leave in Australia, a huge win for women’s rights. As an advocate for the environment, labour rights, and women’s rights, Sharan’s career has taken her to important positions including a Board Member of the UN Global Compact, Panel Member of UN Secretary General’s High-Level Panel on Women’s Economic Empowerment, Vice Chair of the B Team, Commissioner for the New Climate Economy, Ambassador for the Food and Land Use Coalition, the Wellbeing Alliance, the World Benchmarking Alliance, Chair of the Just Transition Centre and Member of the WEF Global Future Council on the Future of Production. Moreover, she was also the co-chair of the inaugural WEF Global Technology Governance Summit in 2021. Sharan Burrow was born in New South Wales to a family very active in the labour movement. She graduated from the University of New South Wales in teaching.Further reading: Official Bio https://www.ituc-csi.org/sharan-burrow-6329?lang=en How to fix a broken labour market (March 2021) https://www.top1000funds.com/2021/03/how-to-fix-a-broken-labour-market/ As the World Economic Forum convenes this week will people and their environment be centre stage? (January 2021) https://sharanburrow.medium.com/as-the-world-economic-forum-convenes-this-week-will-people-and-their-environment-be-centre-stage-80ee39612d96 Summary of the debate between Max Roser and Jason Hickel (December 2019) https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/2/12/18215534/bill-gates-global-poverty-chart The ILO Centenary Declaration https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@ed_norm/@relconf/documents/meetingdocument/wcms_711674.pdf

Subscribe to the show today! Support Working Life @ https://www.patreon.com/WorkingLifePo...​ or @ actblue.com/donate/working-life-1 I’ve spent a lot of time on the crisis facing workers around the world who before the pandemic even hit us faced some pretty dire economic realities. Tomorrow, a high-level group will convene, virtually naturally, to talk about creating an international social fund to assist lower income countries to come out of the year-long pandemic economic shutdown. Cathy Feingold, director of the AFL-CIO’s international affairs department and deputy president of the International Trade Union Confederation, which represents 200 million unionized workers worldwide, gives us the scoop. Rick Larsen has been a useless member of Congress. You can’t find a single initiative that he championed in the 20 years he’s represented the 2nd Congressional District in Washington. His best claim to fame might be that there isn’t a corporate dollar he hasn’t been willing to pocket, from defense contractors to health care companies to big tech companies like Amazon and Google to planet polluters like big oil companies. Jason Call, a longtime progressive activist, is taking on Larsen in the Democratic primary for the seat in 2022. He joins me to talk about the campaign to, as he says, “rein in the undue influence of giant corporations and directly challenge their power.” -- Jonathan Tasini Follow me on Twitter @jonathantasini Subscribe to the YouTube show, Working Life at: https://www.youtube.com/WorkingLifewithJonathanTasini Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jonathan.tasini.3

Plus freedom from violence and an end to discrimination, says Sharan Burrow, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation. Today's quote: Franklin D. Roosevelt. Today's labor history: Congress begins 100 days of enacting New Deal legislation.   @wpfwdc #1u #unions #LaborRadioPod @AFLCIO @SharanBurrow @ituc Supported by our friends at Union Plus; founding member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network.  

Plus freedom from violence and an end to discrimination, says Sharan Burrow, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation. Today’s quote: Franklin D. Roosevelt. Today’s labor history: Congress begins 100 days of enacting New Deal legislation.   @wpfwdc #1u #unions #LaborRadioPod @AFLCIO @SharanBurrow @ituc Supported by our friends at Union Plus; founding member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network.  

In the 14th episode of Planet A, Dan Jørgensen talks with Sharan Burrow about how we can make the green transition fair for workers.Burrow is General Secretary of “ITUC” (the International Trade Union Confederation), a Brussels-based union organization that works to promote and defend workers’ rights and interests around the world. During Burrow’s tenure as General Secretary, ITUC has become an increasingly important voice on climate action but remains deeply committed to a “just transition” and calls for measures to protect workers, their families and communities.She argues that unions and employers should strengthen their dialogue and create a “floor”, a strong basis of worker’s rights, as it is the case in the Nordic countries. It is not only a question of providing job training for skills needed in the renewable energy sector, but also about shielding workers from the economic turmoil that the transition creates.Thus, we should learn from the mistakes made during the financial crisis and shun austerity measures, and increase taxation on the wealthiest and international tech-companies.Burrow also points to the importance of national transition agreements such as the one the Spanish government concluded with its coal miners. However, to attain a truly just transition, we must focus on all sectors as exemplified by Scotland’s “Just Transition Commission”.

Episode 209: Support the Working Life Network here: www.patreon.com/WorkingLifePodcast ActBlue: secure.actblue.com/donate/working-life-1 Soccer, football, whatever you call it—it’s not my thing at all. Give me baseball every day, 365 days a week. But, what is my thing is making sure workers in every sport aren’t exploited—and that has been a reality for years when it came to the rights of workers who worked on the staging of soccer’s quadrennial World Cup, including the upcoming one in 2022 in Qatar. A worldwide outcry put a brake on some of the worst abuses in Qatar and set the stage for even more workers’ protections for the 2026 World Cup, which will be staged in North America and Mexico. Cathy Feingold, the international affairs director of the AFL-CIO and the deputy president of the International Trade Union Confederation, joins me to outline the campaign already underway to keep the heat on the host countries and the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). Support the Working Life Network here: www.patreon.com/WorkingLifePodcast ActBlue: secure.actblue.com/donate/working-life-1 High on the list of really bad outcomes in the recent election was the passage of California’s Proposition 22, which tore away rights from millions of so-called “gig” or “digital platform” workers, exempting companies like Uber And Lyft from a whole range of worker protections. This signals a new corporate assault on workers’ rights all across the nation. Progressives in Europe took notice of what happened in California . And are moving as quickly as possible to make sure the Americanization of poverty of “gig” and digital platform workers is stopped at the shores of the continent. Leïla Chaibi, a French politician who was elected as a Member of the European Parliament in 2019, chats with me about her proposal to the European Parliament to pass legislation to inscribe in law, for every country in the European Union, employment and working conditions for “gig” and “digital platform” workers equal to that of more traditional workers. Support the Working Life Network here: www.patreon.com/WorkingLifePodcast ActBlue: secure.actblue.com/donate/working-life-1 -- Jonathan Tasini Follow me on Twitter @jonathantasini Subscribe to the YouTube show, Working Life at: https://www.youtube.com/WorkingLifewithJonathanTasini Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jonathan.tasini.3

International news from RadioLabour: Sharan Burrow, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation, on the need for a new social protection plan for workers. Today’s labor history: 10,000 New Orleans workers, black and white, unite in solidarity parade. Today’s labor quote: Sharan Burrow@wpfwdc #1u #unions #LaborRadioPod @ituc @radiolabourProud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network

How is the pandemic reshaping labour markets and labour rights? Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with Sharan Burrow, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation, how trade unions are preparing for a pandemic-induced reallocation shock; what unions are doing to respond to systemic issues through climate action and the Just Transition; and why the erosion in the ITUC Global Rights Index warrants a new social contract. For more information visit www.man.com/maninstitute/responsible-investment This podcast was recorded on 1 July 2020. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How is the pandemic reshaping labour markets and labour rights? Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with Sharan Burrow, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation, how trade unions are preparing for a pandemic-induced reallocation shock; what unions are doing to respond to systemic issues through climate action and the Just Transition; and why the erosion in the ITUC Global Rights Index warrants a new social contract. For more information visit www.man.com/maninstitute/responsible-investment This podcast was recorded on 1 July 2020. Important information: This podcast should not be copied, distributed, published or reproduced, in whole or in part. Opinions expressed are those of the author and may not be shared by all personnel of Man Group plc ('Man'). These opinions are subject to change without notice, are for information purposes only and do not constitute an offer or invitation to make an investment in any financial instrument or in any product to which any member of Man's group of companies provides investment advisory or any other services. Any forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the statements. Unless stated otherwise this information is communicated by Man Solutions Limited which is authorised and regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority. In the United States this material is presented by Man Investments Inc. ('Man Investments'). Man Investments is registered as a broker-dealer with the US Securities and Exchange Commission ('SEC') and is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ('FINRA'). Man Investments is also a member of Securities Investor Protection Corporation ('SIPC'). Man Investments is a wholly owned subsidiary of Man Group plc. ('Man Group'). The registrations and memberships in no way imply that the SEC, FINRA or SIPC have endorsed Man Investments. In the US, Man Investments can be contacted at 452 Fifth Avenue, 27th floor, New York, NY 10018, Telephone (212) 649-6600. Copyright Man 2020

Episode 189: Let’s go really big! I outline a $6.5 trillion stimulus—more than double what the Democrats in the House passed—because that’s what the people need over the next year: $1.3 trillion in wage guarantees; $715 billion for state and local governments; $600 billion for a “Pandemic Medicare For All”; $1.5 trillion to cancel all student debt; $200 billion for a rent and mortgage freeze…and a lot more. Fight me on the specifics—but let’s expand the debate and the way people think about what is possible, what is needed and what should be done. Support the Working Life Network here: www.patreon.com/WorkingLifePodcast and at ActBlue: secure.actblue.com/donate/working-life-1 Just a few days ago, China imposed a new National Security Law which is aimed at shutting down the mass protests that have consumed Hong Kong for more than a year. In the crosshairs especially are union activists who have been signing up people to dozens of new unions which doesn’t thrill China’s leaders who manage the linchpin for the global corporate supply chain. Cathy Feingold, the director of international affairs for the AFL-CIO and deputy president of the International Trade Union Confederation, joins me with a look at the pressures facing unions in Hong Kong. Support the Working Life Network here: www.patreon.com/WorkingLifePodcast and at ActBlue: secure.actblue.com/donate/working-life-1 -- Jonathan Tasini Follow me on Twitter @jonathantasini Sign up for The Working Life Podcast at: www.workinglife.org Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jonathan.tasini.3

Facebook showcases a new messaging platform for its employees, which administrators can curate to suppress terms like ‘unionize’ from becoming trending topics. Also, President Trump takes a leaf from his predecessors as the November election looms, enlisting Republican strategist Karl Rove for help. Plus, a federal judge overturns a rule from the Trump administration which would have required drug companies to disclose prices in TV ads. A labor report by the International Trade Union Confederation reveals American companies rank dead-last among developed economies when it comes to offering employees protections on the job. With Biden’s poll numbers surging ahead of Trump’s, how much of this swell in support is driven by fear?

Workers Beat interviews a young protester: “I'm very optimistic in the way that people are moving forward.” On RadioLabour, the International Trade Union Confederation releases the 2020 GLobal Rights Index: “I hate to tell you, but things are going from bad to worse.” UCOMM Live talks with an up-and-coming politician in Staten Island: “I know what it's like to be in a union household; it put food on my table, a roof over my head, gave me my first car to go to my first job. And on the Heartland Labor Forum, Angie Williams talks about two huge decisions that came down from the Supreme Court this week that affect working people around the country. We wrap up with the story of high school librarian Christine Smith, from the latest episode of En Masse: “I worked at a couple of women's clothing stores. I worked at a pizza joint and then I got really sick of that. Plus a promo for We Do The Work. Produced by Chris Garlock; chris@laborradionetwork.org

US unemployment hit its highest level since the 1930s as coronavirus struck the economy. Cary Leahey of Decision Economics discusses the likely long-term impact of the loss of more than 20 million jobs in the space of one month. Also in the programme, we examine the rapid uptake of home working, and consider its implications. We hear the experiences of three people around the world who have recently been working from home, and talk to Janet Pogue McLaurin, an expert in workplace design at architects Gensler in Washington, about how the office of the future might change. And we examine possible changes to make offices safer with Sharan Burrow, general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation in Brussels. Plus, with considerable uncertainty surrounding the future of entertainment venues around the world, we get the perspective of Oliver Reese, artistic director of the Berliner Ensemble in Germany.

The rapid invasion of the coronavirus is exposing the weaknesses and inequalities in our social and economic structures. Will its dramatic impact be a fleeting moment, or will it force a fundamental rethink of our systems? Guests: Michael Steele- Former Republican National Committee Chairman and Former Lieutenant Governor of Maryland Mark Blyth- Professor of International Economics at Brown University Sharan Burrow- General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation

An interview with Sharan Burrow, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation, on some of the challenges facing workers during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic

Episode 156: Anyone remember that TV advertisement that Merrill Lynch used to have, with the big bull trotting along a beach? I'm reincarnating that bull today for a pretty simple discussion: what is economic progress and how do we have economic growth without destroying the planet? Evelyn Astor, an economic and social policy advisor at the International Trade Union Confederation, joins me to talk about better ideas to measure what a healthy economy looks like for regular people, not just investors and billionaires. Then, Brianna Wu stops by with an update on her primary campaign to unseat a corporate Democrat in the 8th Congressional District in Massachusetts. -- Jonathan Tasini Follow me on Twitter @jonathantasini Sign up for The Working Life Podcast at: www.workinglife.org Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jonathan.tasini.3

Episode 156:Anyone remember that TV advertisement that Merrill Lynch used to have, with the big bull trotting along a beach? I'm reincarnating that bull today for a pretty simple discussion: what is economic progress and how do we have economic growth without destroying the planet? Evelyn Astor, an economic and social policy advisor at the International Trade Union Confederation, joins me to talk about better ideas to measure what a healthy economy looks like for regular people, not just investors and billionaires. Then, Brianna Wu stops by with an update on her primary campaign to unseat a corporate Democrat in the 8th Congressional District in Massachusetts.-- Jonathan TasiniFollow me on Twitter @jonathantasiniSign up for The Working Life Podcast at: www.workinglife.orgFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/jonathan.tasini.3

Episode 156: Anyone remember that TV advertisement that Merrill Lynch used to have, with the big bull trotting along a beach? I’m reincarnating that bull today for a pretty simple discussion: what is economic progress and how do we have economic growth without destroying the planet? Evelyn Astor, an economic and social policy advisor at the International Trade Union Confederation, joins me to talk about better ideas to measure what a healthy economy looks like for regular people, not just investors and billionaires. Support the podcast here: www.patreon.com/WorkingLifePodcast Then, Brianna Wu stops by with an update on her primary campaign to unseat a corporate Democrat in the 8th Congressional District in Massachusetts. Support the podcast here: www.patreon.com/WorkingLifePodcast -- Jonathan Tasini Follow me on Twitter @jonathantasini Sign up for The Working Life Podcast at: www.workinglife.org Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jonathan.tasini.3

with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen

with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen

Education International is the global federation of teacher unions, representing some 32 million teachers worldwide. Every four years EI, as it is commonly known, holds a World Congress to determine its policies, principles, programs, and budget for the future. It is also where the President, Vice Presidents and General Secretary are elected to new terms. The World Congress this year was composed of some 1,400 delegates nominated by and representing member organizations. I had the privilege of attending EI’s World Congress where I met and interviewed people from around the world. Over the next 2 months, FreshEd will air some of my conversations. My hope is that these interviews will show unions in their complexity. Profoundly democratic, unions struggle to figure out how best to address the biggest issues facing the world today in ways that have material consequences for the lives of teachers and students. But unions are often misunderstood. Right-wing politicians and capitalist elites have systematically tried to destroy the labor movement for decades. These attacks on unions have decreased union membership, lowered public opinion, and even found union leaders and members harassed, imprisoned, and – in the most extreme cases -- killed. I actually met some teacher union members at the World Congress who recently got out of prison. Fearing for their safety, these members could not join me for an interview, but their stories stick with me. So to kick off our mini-series focused on the big issues facing education unions today and into the future, I begin with a two part show. The first part is a short interview with Susan Hopgood, president of Education International and Federal Secretary of the Australian Education Union (AEU). She explains what the world Congress is and some of the big issues being discussed. In the second part, I interview Sharan Burrow, the General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation, which represents some 207 million workers in 163 countries and territories. This episode was put together in collaboration with Education International. www.freshedpodcast.com/susanhopgood-sharanburrow/ Twitter: @FreshEdpodcast Facebook: FreshEd Email: info@freshedpodcast.com

Sharan Burrow of the International Trade Union Confederation discusses the importance of community involvement in policymaking, the need for a just transition away from a reliance on fossil fuels, the role of corporate and federal transparency in encouraging the confidence of workers and unions, and the feasibility of the Green New Deal.

Episode 132: Murder, violence and robbery—it sounds like a list for a plot of The Wire. But, no, it’s just another standard operating procedure for the free market system—in which people are murdered in Colombia thanks to so-called “free trade”, workers are beat up and sometimes killed at McDonald’s because the company doesn’t care about its workers beyond the bottom line so leaves workers exposed to threats to their lives and, lastly, public sector employees have the money they have saved for retirement, sometimes over many decades, taken from them mainly because some greedy Wall Street lowlifes crashed the economy to make a pile of money no matter the cost to millions of people. The Violence: Debbie Berkowitz, the Worker Health and Safety Program Director for the National Employment Law Project, chats with me about NELP’s new report looking at the violence faced by McDonald’s workers. The Robbery: Tom Chamberlain, president of the Oregon AFL-CIO, explains how the Democratic-led Legislature is pushing—disgracefully—to cut public workers’ pensions. The Murders: Cathy Feingold, the director of the AFL-CIO’s international department who was recently elected as Deputy President of the International Trade Union Confederation, the organization representing 200 million unionized workers worldwide, breaks down the widespread killing of union leaders and other activists in Colombia, despite promises made—promises yours truly never bought—that the so-called “free trade” deal between the U.S. and Colombia would bring about labor rights reforms and protections. -- Jonathan Tasini Follow me on Twitter @jonathantasini Sign up for The Working Life Podcast at: www.workinglife.org Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jonathan.tasini.3

Technology is quickly changing the nature of work. Full-time employment with health care and a pension is being replaced with short-term contracts with no benefits, leaving workers exposed. Sharan Burrow has been General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation since 2010, and a champion of workers rights in the age of technology. Burrow joined a panel on social protection and the future of work during the 2018 IMF-World Bank Annual meetings. The IMF’s David Pedroza sat down with Sharan Burrow in Bali, Indonesia, where the meetings took place.

Hailed as a major victory for conservatives seeking to reduce collective-bargaining rights, the recent Supreme Court ruling in the case of Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Council 31 has further emphasized the precarious position occupied by American unions. Formerly ranked in the top tier of nations for collective-bargaining rights by the International Trade Union Confederation, the United States is currently in the fourth of five tiers, alongside Argentina and Peru. As mainstream political support for labor causes has dried up and hard-won protections gotten rolled back, traditional methods of labor activism have been constrained, leaving workers all the more vulnerable to exploitation. In his September cover story “Labor's Last Stand,” Garret Keizer explores how the labor movement, from union representatives, to grassroots activists, is fighting to secure “a place at the table” for American workers. In this episode, author and Harper's contributing editor Keizer joined Web Editor Violet Lucca to discuss the challenges and opportunities faced by today's workforce (unionized or not), and the future of the American labor movement.

On this episode of Deeply Talks, Managing Editor Megan Clement speaks with Deepta Chopra, Research Fellow at the Institute for Development Studies, and Chidi King, Equality Director at the International Trade Union Confederation, about the burden of unpaid care for women, and the consequences of outsourcing that care. For more information on issues affecting women & girls in the developing world, visit www.newsdeeply.com/womensadvancement and subscribe to our weekly emails.

On this episode of Deeply Talks, Managing Editor Megan Clement speaks with Deepta Chopra, Research Fellow at the Institute for Development Studies, and Chidi King, Equality Director at the International Trade Union Confederation, about the burden of unpaid care for women, and the consequences of outsourcing that care. For more information on issues affecting women & girls in the developing world, visit www.newsdeeply.com/womensadvancement and subscribe to our weekly emails.

In Episode 9 of Series 2 of The Rights Track, Evelyn Astor, Policy Officer at the International Trade Union Confederation in Brussels, talks about upholding the rights of workers around the world. 0.00-6.50 Evelyn starts by explaining what worker's rights are. She mentions those rights laid out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations, the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and in International Labour Organisation conventions and recommendations and she goes on to outline examples. How can these rights be measured in practice as well as in principle? The ITUC has developed a Global Rights Index to measure the degree to which worker rights are being respected. Evelyn talks about some of the work she's been doing in South Asia around minimum wages Discussion around Global Rights Index, and what a basic minimum wage or a living wage looks like in practice and what the ITUC thinks the approach should be and how they campaign for change and raise international awareness. Todd mentions and explains the Vernon Product Cycle and how that plays out and impacts on wages around the world. 06.50-11.00 Evelyn explains how multinational companies continue to seek out parts of the world where they can source cheap labour and effectively bypass worker rights. She mentions a report produced by the ITUC about the labour rights violations in the supply chains of the 50 largest multi-national companies. Todd asks Evelyn about a recent report from Philip Alston, the UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights who is making a case for a universal basic income Evelyn goes on to explain the concept of a Basic Income and some of the ITUC's reservations about it and its potential. Todd mentions Uber as an example of a company that has been criticised for some of its employment practices Evelyn agrees that the growing trend of what she describes as “bogus self employment” is part of the problem, but explains that there are many other practices around the hiring and firing of people that are of great concern to the ITUC including Governments which loosen labour market regulations and collective bargaining to try to attract businesses to their country. Evelyn makes the point that the evidence shows that these approaches don't necessarily help economic growth either 11.00-end Evelyn talks about where ITUC works Discussion of a recent trial in Finland in which a number of people have been given a basic income Evelyn explains why the ITUC at this time is neither endorsing nor objecting to the idea of a Universal Basic Income - and why she would like to see further testing and evidence about its positive value and how it could be implemented effectively How workers' rights can help address increasing inequality

Global trade union leaders gathered at the IMF in February to discuss how workers are being impacted by the changing global economy. In this podcast, Hilma Mote, of the African Region’s International Trade Union Confederation talks about the challenges African youth, especially women are facing with the continent’s rapidly growing labor force.   Contributors: Hilma Mote, Executive Director of the Africa Labor research and education Institute, ITUC-Africa.

Every two years, the IMF and World-Bank invites global labor union leaders to discuss the global economy and the implications for the labor force. In this podcast, Sharan Burrow, head of the world’s largest trade union federation, says collective action is needed to help better distribute the benefits of growth, if institutions are to regain trust from working people. Contributors: Sharan Burrow, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation.

On 1 August 2013 Sharan Burrow, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation, presented the findings of the ITUC Global Poll 2013 to the Lowy Institute. Burrow also spoke about the effectiveness of the G20 and other multilateral institutions.