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Research

The work of the ants: Labour and community reinventing public water in Colombia

15 Oct 2014

Water services in Colombia’s rural and peri-urban areas have traditionally been delivered by a rich variety of autonomous community-owned aqueducts. This action-research project documents the struggles of one such community to preserve and reinforce its aqueduct as an alternative to both private and ‘state’ modes of service delivery.

Wages, social affairs and the environment under attack

13 Oct 2014

What lurks behind the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)?

PSI Special Report: The Really Good Friends of Transnational Corporations Agreement

30 Sep 2014

This new report on trade, written by Ellen Gould, was launched by PSI and Our World is not For Sale (OWINFS) at a Global Trade Summit in Washington, D.C., on 15-17 September 2014.

How investor-to-state dispute settlement threatens public welfare and undermines democracy

12 Sep 2014

Many international trade and investment agreements give individuals and corporations who invest in other countries access to a special legal procedure that can challenge domestic policy decisions in private tribunals. Investors—meaning anyone who buys property in a foreign country, from a hectare of land to stocks and bonds—can use “investor-to-state dispute settlement” (ISDS) to sue governments over laws, regulations and even domestic court decisions that affect current or future profits. You can think of ISDS as establishing special “corporate courts” that have their own rules and that a country’s own citizens cannot use.

India - Sewage treatment plant, Kavoor, Mangalore, India. Photo: ADB

India: Core labour standards not implemented in ADB funded projects

2 Sep 2013

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) Handbook on Core Labour Standards 2005, committed to comply with the internationally recognized core labour standards (CLS) and related labour laws in the design, formulation and operation of its loans to the developing countries. However the workers in the projects have identified union busting, harassment or physical violence against unions and discrimination and dismissals and other work-related anti-union/worker actions etc. in the projects and the compliance according to the CLS handbook is not strictly observed.

Alliances for public services in South Africa

9 Jul 2014

The Municipal Services Project (MSP) is a research project that explores alternatives to the privatization and commercialization of service provision in electricity, health, water and sanitation in Africa, Asia and Latin America. It is composed of academics, labour unions, non-governmental organizations, social movements and activists from around the globe who are committed to analyzing successful alternative service delivery models to under- stand the conditions required for their sustainability and reproducibility.

The right to strike and the ILO: the legal foundations

7 Jul 2014

A new 122-page ITUC legal report, confirming that the right to strike is protected under international law, as employers try to overturn decades of jurisprudence at the International Labour Organisation.

FES publication

(The Right to) Strike and the International Labour Organization

1 May 2014

Is the System for Monitoring Labour and Social Standards in Trouble?
CLAUDIA HOFMANN

Mai 2014

Unmasking Austerity: Opposition and Alternatives in Europe and North America

17 Jun 2014

The latest title from Dexter Whitfield, "Unmasking Austerity: Opposition and Alternatives in Europe and North America" exposes how austerity policies have fuelled the fire of recession rather than stimulated growth. It identifies key lessons from organising and action against such policies, and urges a rethink of trade union, community and social movement strategies to overcome austerity.

Briefing

Briefing on tax justice issues - Africa

4 Nov 2013

This briefing paper on tax justice issues in Africa was written in preparation for meetings of the African Union Economic, Social and Cultural Council and the African Tax Administrators Forum (ATAF) that took place in November 2013.