Workers

The construction boom in Turkey: anti-people and eco-destructive

Real Estate, Turkey, Workers

When I started writing about the culture of construction in Turkey, my attention was caught by an article about gentrification plans in London. People expressed their opposition to the luxury brought by “development” plans in Camden which according to them was not only a threat to the local culture, but also posed a problem in terms of affordability of the neighbourhood.

The Chinese worker-poet who died for your phone: Xu Lizhi

China, Poetry, Workers

He dreamed about it, wrote about it. He rolled it around in the palm of his hand. Working through the “dark night of overtime” in January 2014, the 23-year-old Xu Lizhi imagined himself like a misplaced screw, “plunging vertically, lightly clinking,” lost to the factory floor. “It won’t attract anyone’s attention,” he wrote. “Just like the last time/ On a night like this/ When someone plunged to the ground.”

‘Make in India’: the Foxconn way?

Exclusive, India, Workers

So, will ‘Make In India’ be successful? It could very well be if the central and state machineries combine to pass laws which takes away farmers’ land, leaving them landless and thus forcing them to become labourers; it could be successful if they weaken labour laws to the point that the Indian labour becomes sitting ducks for any company aided by FDI to walk in and exploit them to the hilt. Yes, it could be ‘successful’. But is that a win for us?

Myanmar workers facing exploitation in Thai sweatshops

Human Rights, Workers

Migrant workers from Myanmar are subject to ‘wage theft’ in Thailand say campaigners for ethics in the garment making industry. But the organisation cannot name and shame the apparel brands benefitting from the exploitation – because the workers have no idea whose brands they are making clothes for.