I remember one particularly bad factory in China. It produced outdoor tables, parasols, and gazebos, and the place was a mess. Work floors were so crowded with production materials that I could barely make my way from one end to the other. In one area, where metals were being chemically treated, workers squatted at the edge of steaming pools as if contemplating a sudden, final swim. The dormitories were filthy: the hallways were strewn with garbage—orange peels, tea leaves—and the only way for anyone to bathe was to fill a bucket with cold water. In a country where workers normally suppress their complaints for fear of getting fired, employees at this factory couldn’t resist telling us the truth. “We work so hard for so little pay,” said one middle-aged woman with undisguised anger. We could only guess how hard—the place kept no time cards. Painted in large characters on the factory walls was a slogan: “If you don’t work hard today, look hard for work tomorrow.” Inspirational, in a way.
Year-on-year, the number of migrant fishers crewing United Kingdom-flagged fishing vessels is seemingly increasing. Primarily from European states, the Philippines, and Ghana with fewer numbers of fishers from Indonesia, India, and Sri Lanka, there ...Read More
Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation has been addressing human trafficking since 2005. While the term "human trafficking" covers a wide range of crimes, our work is in two specific areas: the trafficking of children into exploitative labour and the t...Read More
“Here, the salary is not about what you bring to the table. I will never get the same salary as an Arab colleague. There is a lot of discrimination against people from Africa. We are only hired in some types of jobs - security, housekeeping, the k...Read More
Labour rights are deteriorating in Bangladesh, despite government promises to commit to an International Labour Organization (ILO) road map for reform. While the last two years of the COVID-19 pandemic have been a period of crisis for workers, the p...Read More
2025 © Copyright, RESPECT International. All Rights Reserved. Website Disclaimer | Privacy Policy
