All ILO Newsroom content

December 2010

1. 

   Video News Release

   Germany: Keeping Their Wages Through Kurzarbeit

   15 December 2010

   The global economic crisis has cut wage growth worldwide in half. That’s one conclusion of the ILO’s Global Wage Report. When people have less to spend, businesses suffer, and they in turn have to look at ways to cut costs, wages, and even jobs. But in Germany’s tightly run manufacturing sector, employees and employers worked together with the government to protect jobs and maintain wage levels during the darkest days of the crisis.

June 2008

1. 

   Video

   ILC coverage: Urgent counter measures needed to ward off "sub-prime work" says ILO Director General

   09 June 2008

   Urgent counter measures are needed to ward off "sub-prime work", says the ILO Director General, Juan Somavia. The balance can be found in the Decent Work Agenda and a fair globalization.

2. 

   Video

   ILC coverage: Flexicurity and Danish Tripartism

   09 June 2008

   The search for a better combination of flexibility and security regarding employment, income and social protection is a major challenge within the European Union. Denmark has been a pioneer in implementing a system of flexicurity in its labour market. A panel discussion at the 97th International Labour Conference addressed the issue of "Flexicurity for Decent Work: a labour market policy approach" with the participation of ILO experts and tripartite delegates from Denmark, including Claus Hjort Frederiksen, Danish Minister for Employment, Marie-Louise Knuppert of the Danish Confederation of Trade Unions, Jorn Neergaard Larsen of the Confederation of Danish Employers and José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, Executive Director, Employment Sector, ILO.

3. Video

   ILC coverage: The social dimension of public procurement

   04 June 2008

   The Labour Clauses (Public Contracts) Convention, 1949 (No. 94) and Recommendation (No. 84) have been largely misunderstood, almost from the moment of their adoption. Mr. Hugh Williamson of the Financial Times moderates a discussion of these two instruments in light of modern public procurement policies posing the question, among many others, of how to avoid a race to the bottom and how to achieve "best value" vs a " lowest price culture." Speakers at the discussion included Mr. Jan Andersson, President, Employment and Social Committee, European Parliament, Ms. Sonia Regenbogen Luciw, Heenan Blaikie LLP and Ms. Fiona Murie, Building and Wood Workers International (BWI).

4. 

   Video

   Japanese journalist wins first ITC-ILO Journalistic Prize

   04 June 2008

   Misako Hida, a journalist based in New York, accepted a prize today for her news article: "The Land of Karoshi". The prize was awarded by the International Training Center and the International Labour Organization to recognize the best story on labour rights. "Karoshi" is a Japanese term meaning "death from overwork". In Japan an estimated 5,000 suicides per year are the result of depression caused by overwork. Zohreh Tabatabai, Director of Communication at the ILO, and François Eyraud, Executive Director of the International Training Centre, presented Misako Hido with the prize.

June 2007

1. 

   Video

   Informal economy work sees more working hours for men, less for women

   08 June 2007

   A new report from the ILO says that one in five workers worldwide work excessively long hours, up to 48 a week, often to merely make ends meet. The study also says women work shorter hours than men, most likely because they bear the brunt of responsibility for the unpaid work of taking care of the family and household.

2. 

   Article

   Role Reversal: When it comes to who works the longest hours, many Philippine women are the global exception

   08 June 2007

   A new ILO study says men average longer working hours in paid work than women in almost every country around the world for which data are available. The sole exception to this pattern is the Philippines where employed women were two to three times more likely than men to work exceptionally long hours of over 64 hours per week. Minette Rimando of the ILO’s Subregional Office in Manila reports from the Philippines.