All ILO Newsroom content

December 2012

1. 

   Public Service Announcement

   Migrant domestic workers in Europe: Graciela's story

   18 December 2012

   Today, thousands of migrants live and work as domestic workers in European countries. They give essential services to families and societies, yet their work is often undervalued and taken for granted. Domestic workers are real workers - like you and I. Respect their work, respect their rights!

2. 

   Public Service Announcement

   Migrant domestic workers in Europe: Coring's story

   18 December 2012

   Today, thousands of migrants live and work as domestic workers in European countries. They give essential services to families and societies, yet their work is often undervalued and taken for granted. Domestic workers are real workers - like you and I. Respect their work, respect their rights!

3. 

   Europe

   Competitiveness and employment: Trying to square the circle

   05 December 2012

   Cutting costs can help a country become more competitive and boost exports as a result. But, as attractive as it may seem, EU countries, which trade heavily among themselves, cannot all gain a competitive edge at the same time.

November 2012

1. 

   Banking co-ops

   What financial cooperatives can teach the big banks

   05 November 2012

   The success of financial cooperatives during the global financial crisis shows there is a credible alternative to the investment-owned banking system.

2. 

   Measuring unemployment

   Youth jobs count – but how?

   02 November 2012

   The latest EU figures show a further increase in youth unemployment, but there has been some debate in the past over whether to express those levels in rates rather than ratios. What is the difference between the two, and which, if any, is a more precise measurement?

October 2012

1. 

   Interview with The Times

   ILO Chief warns of austerity’s ‘toxic’ impact

   03 October 2012

   In an interview with The Times newspaper, the head of ILO warned that austerity measures in southern European countries risk having “quite harmful consequences”. He was more positive about the outlook in Britain.

September 2012

1. 

   European labour migration

   From public sector worker in Portugal to cleaner in Switzerland

   20 September 2012

   As protests spread in southern Europe – especially in Greece, Spain and Portugal – against austerity measures, more and more people hit by the crisis are moving to northern countries in search of decent jobs. Public sector workers are not an exception.

2. 

   Video

   Euronews interview: Guy Ryder calls for urgent action on youth unemployment

   18 September 2012

   "We have to get growth and jobs, which are so badly missing today, back on the international policy agenda" says Guy Ryder in an interview with Euronews on the occasion of the September 2012 employment conference of the European Commission. The ILO Director General Elect calls for universal youth guarantees to tackle the youth employment crisis.

3. 

   Analysis

   Crisis in Spain highlights an increasing ‘employment divide’

   17 September 2012

   The wave of social unrest that has recently hit Spain is a reflection of the growing rural/urban and north/south divide in the country.

August 2012

1. 

   Labour standards

   Milestone ratifications of seafarers’ labour rights charter

   20 August 2012

   The ILO’s Maritime Labour Convention has now been ratified by 30 countries, meaning it will go into effect in a year’s time. The charter sets out the labour rights of the world’s 1.2 million seafarers.