the BE Hive plant based deli fired their production staff without notice after going on a hiring spree to expand the company. BE Hive workers are striking to support the unfairly terminated workers and calling for a consumer boycott. Please donate to their strike fund and support the striking and terminated workers
SUPPORT THE TERMINATED AND STRIKING WORKERS OF THE BE HIVE PR… The BE Hive Worker Bee Committee needs your support for SUPPORT THE TERMINATE
follow their instagram for more updates @/thebehiveworkerbees
Okay no one at all will care about this, but I have to throw it out there because my brain is buzzing at- checks watch- 6:00AM.
So I have been on strike for a full five weeks.
It has been mentally and physically exhausting.
I have seen the worst of people.
The best of people.
I have seen people I care about and work with absolutely break under the insurmountable pressure.
It has honestly been a living nightmare. I never want anyone to be in a position to do this.
Honestly Fuck anyone who says that this is a choice and people choose to strike. No one chooses this kind of anguish. For real, it has been an absolutely debilitating 5 weeks. It's been flight or fight the entire time with no stable footing. It has been constantly waiting for the next shoe to drop. It has been the disregard of basic human needs and dignity.
No one wants to strike.
We have to strike.
I am so damn happy that this morning at 3:30AM a tentative deal has been reached. It has been so so hard.
President Joko Widodo said his administration is keen on passing into law a bill that would finally protect the rights of some of the most exploited and abused people in Indonesia.
During a press conference at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta yesterday, Jokowi noted that the country’s Manpower Law does not regulate the employment of domestic workers, opening them up to risks of being subjected to inhumane working conditions, hours, and pay.
“In practice, domestic workers are susceptible to being robbed of their rights. So I think it’s time we have UU PPRT (Law on the Protection of Domestic Workers),” the president said.
The bill, known as RUU PPRT for short, has been dormant in parliament for 19 years, Jokowi said, and that it has been flagged as a priority bill for deliberation and ratification by the House of Parliament (DPR) this year in order to provide legal clarity for the 4.2 million domestic workers in Indonesia.
“I have instructed the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights and the Ministry of Manpower to coordinate efforts with DPR,” he said.
Based on a copy of the draft for RUU PRPT that has been circulating online, if ratified, the law will regulate domestic workers’ working hours, pay, and entitle them to leave and social security, among other things.
DPR says RUU PPRT will be discussed at a plenary session next week ahead of its expected swift passage.
Domestic work, live-in or otherwise, is considered an informal form of employment as workers are often hired without a contract. Domestic workers who find work through agencies are still susceptible to exploitation, as the only existing set of regulations for domestic work passed by the Ministry of Manpower in 2015 carries little to no legal weight for enforcement.
In addition to abuse, many Indonesian domestic workers face dehumanizing treatment by their employers on a daily basis, such as only being fed leftovers, not being allowed to eat in the presence of their employers, and being deprived of any recreational activities — all things that normalize the discriminatory idea that they are second-class citizens.
also, like… people realize the high prices of DaPu merch mean that everyone involved with the merch’s creation was probably paid a fair wage, right? like, a $120 hoodie probably means everyone, from the designers to the fabricators to the warehouse staff, were paid fairly, right?
As COVID rages through India, which has the second-highest number of reported cases worldwide, hundreds of thousands of farmers are converging on the capital New Delhi to demand the government repeal new laws that deregulate agricultural markets, saying the reforms give major corporations power to set crop prices far below current rates and devastate the livelihoods of farmers. Agriculture is the leading source of income for more than half of India’s 1.3 billion people. The farmer revolt comes as some 250 million workers across the country took part in the largest strike in history against the Modi government’s neoliberal labor reforms.
The protests in Brampton and the blocking of traffic in Toronto over the past few days were organized in support of these farmers.
This is why posts like that one abt the Japanese bus drivers getting applauded for still providing service without collecting fares from their commuters bother me so much. It’s basically just respectability politics but for striking workers. Strikes are fundamentally supposed to be disruptive. You can’t claim to support striking workers and simultaneously expect them to not inconvenience anyone when that inconvenience is a crucial and necessary part of strike action in the first place.
Malaysia intends to bring in 500,000 workers from 15 different Asian countries to solve its labour shortage issues in less-favourable sectors like plantations, agriculture, and construction.
The Covid-19 outbreak has caused over 700,000 foreign employees to return to their home countries, according to Human Resources Minister V. Sivakumar, therefore the labour crisis needs to be resolved right away in order to prevent any negative effects on the economy.
However, human rights activists have argued that the government must halt this process and instead focus on improving the working conditions of migrant workers who are already in the country, which does not seem to be getting better.
World Bank data indicates that there are around 2.9 to 3.3 million migrant workers in Malaysia, of which roughly 1.5 million have irregular employment.
The remaining millions are undocumented, without protection. But most of them are employed and continue to make a significant contribution to the economy and the nation’s future.
Many of these workers, be it documented or not, suffer injustices such as being underpaid, at risk of abuse and confined to poor living conditions despite calls for better migrant worker rights based on strong economic and humanitarian grounds. The abuses were further exacerbated during the pandemic.
In fact, the US State Department downgraded Malaysia to Tier 3, which is the worst category, in its 2020 Trafficking in Persons Report. It also imposed punitive measures on firms allegedly involved in slave labour by banning imports from glovemakers Top Glove and Supermax, as well as two major palm oil conglomerates.
Malaysia remains in Tier 3 as of last year.
The secretary-general of Socialist Party Malaysia (PSM), Sivarajan Arumugam, told Coconuts the conditions for migrant workers have not improved despite many complaints from workers and civil society.
“Their grouses have not been rectified. Thus PSM would strongly call for a halt on all migrant labour intake until all reforms are executed,” he said.
PSM often works on labour rights issues affecting both local and foreign workers. It has also helped some of these individuals win court cases against their employers.
Sivarajan also highlighted that, during former minister M. Kulasegaran’s time as the Human Resources Minister (MOHR) under Pakatan Harapan, he had instructed an independent commission to study the situation of migrant workers and submit reports to the government.
However, he said the report has been kept under wraps.
“We reiterate that the government should focus on implementing the proposed reforms proposed by the government’s own reports and other CSO’s instead of continuing to bow down to the pressures of the employers that they are crying that they need migrant labour urgently,” he added.
Sivarajan shared with Coconuts a copy of the reform proposal.
Some of these proposed reforms include only allowing the MOHR to manage and monitor all matters relating to migrant workers, speedy initiatives and policies to eradicate the involvement of private agents and companies in the recruitment and supply of workers, and the abolishment of debt bondage by removing recruitment fees charged to workers.
Glorene Daas, executive director of Tenaganita, a human rights non-profit organisation, said the ministry needs to address the lack of personnel at the labour department in order for it to carry out labour inspections more efficiently.
“During high-level government meetings between the labour department and the ministry, the issue is always that they do not have enough personnel, so what are we doing about it is the next question. If we want to address this effectively and seriously, they need to think through how to increase the labour department’s personnel,” she said.
Meanwhile, Su Shern, executive director of Project Liber8, echoed Sivarajan’s concerns.
“I think first we need to acknowledge that the exploitation of migrant workers in Malaysia is still not being addressed. The fact is that migrant workers are still facing long working hours, exploitative conditions, withholding of wages, etc. and I think these are things that we hear and see all the time,” she told Coconuts.
Project Liber8 is a non-profit organisation dedicated to empowering youth to take action against human trafficking, forced labour, exploitation and discrimination among trafficked victims, migrant workers and refugees.
“So what is the government doing currently to ensure we are minimising this and holding the people responsible accountable?” Su said.
Su said she would really love to see the government speak to relevant parties that are working on migrant issues as well as be present on the ground to understand the lived realities.
“Over the years, we’ve seen the government really making an effort in forced labour and trafficking issues but what is equally as important is the priority of ensuring these laws and policies are executed properly too,” she added.
MOHR Minister V. Sivakumar has refused to comment on the matter when contacted by Coconuts.
