Feature articles

October 2004 

• Indonesia: The art of collective bargaining
  22 October 2004 - Trade union rights have come a long way in Indonesia in the past six years. ILO online examines how a Labour Union leader in a Jakarta supermarket, with the help of an ILO programme, has set an example for dozens of other companies in Indonesia to create a productive workplace where not only workers but clients benefit.
• India: hope dawns as women beat poverty
  15 October 2004 - On the eve of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (17 October), women around the world are organizing against poverty. In India, hundreds of self-help groups provide one example how women, with the support of unions and the ILO, can mobilize to improve their lives.
• Frail older people – the long-term care challenge
  04 October 2004 - As the population in industrialized countries ages rapidly, the number of destitute and dependent people is growing. An average pension rarely covers the high costs of qualified care for the elderly. For this reason, Germany and Japan have introduced mandatory insurance systems to support care giving family members and relieve some of the burden on the state. ...
• Fair globalization gathers momentum at the United Nations: An interview with ILO Director-General Juan Somavia
  01 October 2004 -

September 2004 

• The time-money squeeze: ILO study shows the difficulties of workers with family responsibilities
  21 September 2004 -
• Combating bonded labour in rural Pakistan
  14 September 2004 - Debt-bondage and slavery-like conditions await many workers in the world who fall prey to coercive recruitment practices in rural areas, especially those in agricultural plantations or domestic work. But there are also successful efforts to combat bonded labour in countries like India, Nepal and Pakistan. ...
• Economic insecurity is a global crisis
  07 September 2004 - GENEVA - Only 8 per cent of people in the world - fewer than one in ten - live in countries providing favourable economic security, says a new study by the International Labour Office (ILO). ...

August 2004 

• The new seafarers ID: questions and answers
  26 August 2004 - On the high seas and in the world's ports 1.2 million maritime workers handle 90 per cent of the world's trade. Before the end of this year some of them could bring along with their personal luggage a new Seafarers Identity Document (SID). The SID uses a biometric verification system created in the framework of a new Convention of the International Labour Organization (ILO). ...
• A high road to management and human resources development: High Performance Teams
  06 August 2004 - ILO official Peter van Rooij worked 14 months in a factory as part of an exchange of staff between the International Labour Office (ILO) and the French company Michelin. His challenge? To help them move from a "Taylorist" management style to High Performance Team Management.

July 2004 

• AIDS in India: "Work is more than medicine to us"
  23 July 2004 - Among the issues highlighted at the recent XVth International AIDS Conference in Bangkok was the fact that the ability to continue working provides a vital lifeline for people living with HIV/AIDS. But maintaining a regular job is not always so easy. A new ILO study shows that in India, people living with HIV/AIDS and their families suffer drastic income cuts. ...