Media Highlights
[Southeast Asia Globe] As Road Accidents Rise, Garment Workers Face a Dangerous Commute (Cambodia)
One worker "also worries about her ability to work overtime, which has often been a prerequisite by demanding factory managers for workers keeping their jobs, as the labor rights organization Solidarity Center noted in its 2019 “Alternative Report on Labor Rights and...
[The Diplomat] Fighting Back: Trade Unions in Thailand and Myanmar (podcast)
"Dave Welsh, country director for Thailand and Myanmar of the Solidarity Center, spoke with The Diplomat’s Luke Hunt about growing support for independent trade unions as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to punish regional economies, forcing businesses to...
[Democratic Voice of Burma] Burma’s Garment Sector Watchdog Is Leaving. What Does This Mean for Brands and Their Workers?
"Dave Welsh of labor rights group Solidarity Center says, 'If [brands] need the public relations benefit of claiming to hire a third-party monitor, waiting for their evaluation, that strikes me as being primarily for public relations purposes, not to actually making a...
[New York Times] Conditions at a General Motors Plant in Mexico Spur a Labor Challenge
"'If you’ve got a race to the bottom, you’ve got to raise the bottom, and then maybe the race will slow down a little bit,' said Jeff Hermanson, an official at the Solidarity Center."
[Sourcing Journal] Myanmar’s ‘Deteriorating’ Labor-Rights Crisis Grows More Dire
David Welsh, Southeast Asia country director of the Solidarity Center, a labor nonprofit, told Sourcing Journal. “Trade unions are a crucial component of civil society in Myanmar and are facing systematic assault across the board. Garment sector brands in Myanmar...
[The Eagle] Unions back Uber, Bolt Drivers Against Unfair Labor Practices
Sonny Ogbuehi, Solidarity Center West Africa country program director, said that the digital app companies were only out to make profit with little or no concern for the welfare of their workers. He cited the example of the death of about 10 drivers in Lagos State,...
[Reuters] Is the Thai government punishing anti-human trafficking advocates?
Dave Welsh, Thailand director for the Solidarity Center, noted: “Sawit has been out front and extremely impactful in his work to welcome and integrate migrant workers into the Thai labor movement. Given the political sensitivities within the government and the...
[Reuters] Thai airport workers seek compensation for lost lunch breaks
"It's hard to imagine a more essential worker than airport security officers in a country that relies predominantly on tourism, and yet what the current exercise of rights has exposed is the systematic undermining of basic rights," said [the Solidarity Center's]...
[Vice News] What Governments Don’t Want You To Know About Modern Slavery: Video
“But really, to make the change, there has to be institutional change … not just easy fixes,” said Neha Misra, Solidarity Center global lead for migration and human trafficking. “The systems and institutions that are used to manage migration around the world inherently make migrants vulnerable to trafficking. And yet governments don’t want to do anything about immigration systems.”
[The Guardian] Top Thai union leader ‘targeted’ with jail for rail safety campaign
“They are targeting the most senior figure in the trade union movement," said David Welsh for the Solidarity Center, an international workers’ rights group that is advocating for Sawit and other union leaders.
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Media Mentions is a daily digest of major media coverage of issues that affect workers, workers’ rights, and workers’ organizations overseas, discusses the impact of globalization, or mentions the work of the Solidarity Center.