All ILO Newsroom content

December 2012

1. 

   Global Wage Report 2012/13

   Minimum wages key to cutting working poverty, says ILO

   07 December 2012

   Minimum wages reduce working poverty and protect vulnerable workers. Their levels reflect both the needs of workers and the prevailing economic conditions and level of national income.

August 2012

1. 

   News

   Wage cuts may hurt growth

   10 August 2012

   Cutting wages tends to increase competitiveness but can also hurt economic growth as it decreases domestic consumption, the International Labour Organization has warned.

July 2012

1. 

   Video News Release

   Uruguay takes the lead to protect domestic workers

   24 July 2012

   Providing protection for the world's millions of domestic workers has taken a major step forward. In April 2012, Uruguay became the first country to ratify ILO Convention 189, the landmark treaty guaranteeing domestic workers get the same core labour protections as other workers. Uruguay has long been a leader in protecting the rights of domestic workers, but ratifying the convention demanded a unique approach; a group of Uruguayan housewives were called on to represent the employers of domestic workers at the bargaining table.

March 2011

1. 

   Video interview

   Interview with H.E. Dr Ahmed El-Borai, Minister of Manpower and Migration of Egypt

   22 March 2011

   ILO TV interviewed H.E. Dr Ahmed El-Borai, Minister of Manpower and Migration of Egypt about the recent declaration guaranteeing the rights of all Egyptian trade unions to be registered and freely pursue their legitimate activities. He expressed his interest in looking at how social protection measures, skills training and the development of a minimum wage could help tackle unemployment and fight poverty in Egypt. (in French)

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.

2. 

   Video interview

   Global Wage Report 2010/2011: An Interview with the ILO's Manuela Tomei

   15 December 2010

   With the launch of the ILO's Global Wage Report 2010/2011, ILO TV interviews Manuela Tomei, Director of the ILO Conditions of Work and Employment Programme (TRAVAIL). Based on an analysis of wages in 115 countries, the report says the financial and economic crisis cut global wage growth by half in 2008 and 2009. The increasing discrepancy between low-wage and high-wage earners has had a deleterious effect on consumption worldwide. The interview highlights how several national recovery schemes and measures have worked to buffer wage stagnation and avoid lay offs, thus hastening a sustainable economic recovery.

November 2009

1. 

   Video

   Wage Growth Continues to Decline: An Interview with Patrick Belser

   05 November 2009

   Global growth in real wages slowed dramatically in 2008 as a result of the economic crisis and is expected to drop even further this year despite signs of a possible economic recovery. ILO TV interviews Patrick Belser, co-author of the 2009 update to the Global Wages Report.

November 2008

1. 

   Video

   ILO forecasts further decline in wage growth and cuts in real wages for 2009

   25 November 2008

   The global economic crisis is expected to lead to painful cuts in the wages of millions of workers worldwide in the coming year, according to a new report published today by the International Labour Office (ILO). ILO TV interviews Manuela Tomei, Chief of the ILO Conditions of Work and Employment Programme, to discuss the report's findings.

October 2008

1. 

   Minimum wage

   Revisiting the Minimum wage in the Enlarged EU: Addressing changes and challenges in the labour markets

   29 October 2008

   The minimum wage has returned to the core of the EU policy agenda. EU enlargement and increased migration flows for employment and better pay are one factor, but others include the significant rise in non-standard forms of employment, normally associated with lower wages, high proportions of low-paying jobs, rising insecurity and growing numbers of working poor. This week, an ILO–EC Conference in Brussels revisits the question of minimum wages in Europe and their influence on earnings and well-being of low paid workers and their families. ILO Online spoke with Daniel Vaughan-Whitehead from the ILO’s Conditions of Work and Employment Programme.

August 2008

1. Article

   Executive summary:Globalization, Flexibilization and Working Conditions in Asia and the Pacific

   10 August 2008