Ursula von der Leyen Is Waging War on Workers

Workers, trade unions, and social protections are today being swept off the European Union’s agenda. The wind of unbridled capitalism is blowing in from Donald Trump’s White House — but …

ILO Commits to International Standards on Gig Work

The agreement by the International Labour Organization (ILO) on June 13, 2025, to develop binding global standards on decent work in the “platform economy,” or gig work, is a positive …

Effectiveness of the EU global human rights sanctions regime

Following more than twelve months’ discussion in the Council, the European Union’s Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime was adopted in December 2020 – a cause for celebration in the human …

Ontario’s Controversial Bill 5 and Labour Rights: A Dangerous Precedent

Bill 5, Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act, 2025, introduced this week, hides Schedule 9, Special Economic Zones Act, 2025. Bill 5’s potential gutting of protections and rights of workers, …

Collective bargaining laws need to be front and centre in formalisation efforts

Collective bargaining must be at the heart of the upcoming International Labour Conference (ILC), as member states confront the sluggish progress made worldwide towards formalisation of the informal economy, despite a …

Setback for casual workers as court rules forum is not a union

The Simunye Workers Forum (SWF) has lost its bid to register as an official trade union, preventing its 6,600 mainly casual worker members from access to formal representation in disputes. …

Trump takes ‘wrecking ball’ to workers’ rights amid global ‘freefall’, new report says

Workers’ rights across every continent in the world are in a “freefall”, according to the 2025 Global Rights Index released by the International Trade Union Confederation, the largest trade union federation in the …

‘State of emergency’ in Panama after strike leads to layoffs

The Panamanian government on Tuesday declared a state of emergency in one province after US banana giant Chiquita Brands laid off about 5,000 workers following a strike that had ground …

Court gives go-ahead to Trump’s plan to halt union bargaining for many federal workers

 A federal appeals court lifted an order on Friday that blocked U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration from stripping hundreds of thousands of federal employees of the ability to unionize and collectively …

Two new academic articles on platform work

Professor Maria Eugenia Rodriguez Florez recently published two important texts on platform work. The first text, written with Maria Figueroa, is the first chapter of the book “The Elgar Companion …