International Labor Updates

The water supply in Hong Kong has been run by the government since the British occupation. Recently a book authored by Lam Pun Lee raised many criticisms about the publicly run water supply. In it he argues that water supply suffers from low productivity if compared to other public enterprises, low profitability etc. As a public servant in the waterworks department, how would you respond to these complaints? More importantly, do you think Hong Kong’s water supply should remain in the public’s hands?

This is a survey conducted by the China Labor Study Group and published by Globalization Monitor. In three consecutive year from 2008-2010, the China Labor Study Group trained dozens of rural migrant workers, who were returning home for the Chinese new year holiday, so that they could conduct interviews with their fellow villagers. The themes of each year’s survey were as follows:

Actions organised by GP Cadmium Poisoning Coalition—Protest against GP poisoning their workers, both in HK and mainland China and called for fair compensation for workers, in front of big local retailers in busy shopping center in Causeway Bay in the HK island which sell GP batteries. The Coalition DID NOT intend to call for boycotting the GP product, but to inform consumers to be aware that the product they buy may not be produced in humane situation. The GP cadmium poisoning case is a good example to show that without labor groups’ and unions’ monitoring and freedom of association; violations of labor rights can be rampant.

Trade union representatives use the comic to blame the Nagacorp (3918.HK) for laying off union leaders. Chen Lip Keong is a Malaysian business tycoon with a keen interest in investing…