PHILIPPINES: Public consultation on water rates just for show - BAYAN

Friday 14 June 2013Date: 13 June 2013 Type: Press Release Source: Bagong Alyansang Makabayan Keyword/s: public-private partnerships, water privatization, access to water, human right to water The umbrella group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan today assailed the public consultations on new water rates being held by private concessionaires as “just for show” and “not transparent”. The group joined the Water for the People Network in a protest at the Seamo Innotech compound in Commonwealth Avenue where the (...) Read more >>

PHILIPPINES: Bayan hits sham independence, sham economic growth

Friday 14 June 2013Date: 12 June 2013 Type: Press Release Source: Bagong Alyansang Makabayan Keyword/s: independence day, sustainable development, economic growth, public-private partnerships On the occasion of Independence Day, the umbrella group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan today assailed what it described as “sham independence, and sham economic growth” under the Aquino administration. Various groups gathered at the Bonifacio monument in Tutuban for a cultural program and protest. The year 2013 also (...) Read more >>

PCFS co-organized CSM Southeast Asia Consultation on Responsible Agricultural Investments

Friday 14 June 2013Date: 13 June 2013 Type: Press Release Source: People’s Coalition on Food Sovereignty Keyword/s: food sovereignty, responsible agricultural investments Venue: Jakarta, Indonesia The People’s Coalition on Food Sovereignty (PCFS) along with six other regional organizations in the Civil Society Mechanism (CSM) Southeast Asia Working Group (CSM SEA WG) organized the Southeast Asia CSM Consultation on the Developments of Principles for Agricultural Investment, VG on Land and other priority (...) Read more >>

INDIA: Urgent Appeal Against Eviction Process of the Residents of Singda New Bazar, Senapati District by the Governmet of Manipur, India for Singda Dam Catchment Area Expansion

Friday 14 June 2013Date: 11 June 2013 Type: Letter of Appeal Source: People’s Coalition on Food Sovereignty Keyword/s: forced eviction, human rights Forced eviction targeting marginalized communities has been increasingly in Manipur due to aggressive push for mega development, industrialization, setting up of state and private institutions. Mega dam’s construction and tourism related eviction is fast intensifying. The villagers of Chadong, Riha, Thawai etc along the Thoubal River in Mapithel Valley are (...) Read more >>

CSO RURAL SECTOR CONSULTATION ON DEVELOPMENT EFFECTIVENESS IN ASIA FINAL STATEMENT

Friday 14 June 2013Date: 27 May 2013 Type: Statement Source: People’s Coalition on Food Sovereignty Keyword/s: development effectiveness, food sovereignty Venue: Jakarta, Indonesia Representatives of organizations of small-scale farmers, women, indigenous peoples, agricultural workers, fisher folks, pastoralists, youth and advocates from Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Mongolia, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam, gathered on May 21-22, 2013 in Jakarta, Indonesia for a CSO (...) Read more >>

Toyota workers in the Philippines win legal case

Thursday 13 June 2013Date: 9 June 2013 Type: News Article Source: Australia Asia Worker Links (AAWL) Keyword/s: workers’ union, labor rights In a union busting dispute that has been going on since 2001, the Toyota Motors Philippine Corporation in late May agreed to drop all criminal charges against members of the Toyota Motors Philippine Corporation Workers Association members. These false accusations are part of the company’s long and bitter fight against its workforce to prevent them from forming an (...) Read more >>

Australian Government increases repressive measures against refugees

Thursday 13 June 2013Date: 9 June 2013 Type: News Article Source: Australia Asia Worker Links Keyword/s: World Refugee Day, refugee protection, refugee rights The Australian Government haspassed new legislation excluding asylum seekers, who arrive by boat to Australia, from ever seeking refugee protection on the Australian mainland. This legislation marks a new level of punitive sanctions against people whose only crime is to escape persecution and misery. Many asylum seekers are now languishing in (...) Read more >>

International campaign in support of workers rights in Fiji

Thursday 13 June 2013Date: 9 June 2013 Source: Australia Asia Worker Links Type: News Article Keyword/s: trade union, labor rights, decent wages Since 2006, Commodore Frank Bainimarama has headed a military dictatorship that has stripped workers of their wages and conditions, free speech has been stifled, and the country’s Constitution and Bill of Rights has been abrogated. Workers have fought back against such policies under thethreat of arrest, but have not been able to reverse them. International support (...) Read more >>

Garment workers in Bangladesh and Cambodia face renewed police repression

Thursday 13 June 2013Date: 9 June 2013 Source: Australia Asia Worker Links Type: News Article Keyword/s: garment workers, safe work conditions, decent wages Garment workers in the region continue to mobilise for safer workplaces and a living wage. In Cambodia earlier this week, thousands of workers took to the street to protest against continuing low wages and tough working conditions at a Nike sub-contractor. They were also protesting the arrest of some of their comrades following a police charge on them (...) Read more >>

TURKEY: Workers in Turkey protest against repression and increasing inequality

Thursday 13 June 2013Date: 9 June 2013 Type: News Article Source: Australia Asia Worker Links Keyword/s: trade unions, protests, workers While Turkey is touted as one of the economic successes of the region, the reality is that inequality has also grown and workers continue to face constant repression, see here, here and here. These social factors are some of the reasons that a small protest over a city park developed into a country wide protest movement. Taksim Square is also politically significant. At (...) Read more >>