Asia-Pacific

Representatives from major trade unions in both the public and private sectors have raised serious concerns on the possible impacts of the Regional Economic Comprehensive Partnership Agreement (RCEP) which is currently being negotiated in Manila.

The 18th round of RCEP negotiations began yesterday in Manila as civil society organisations express deep concern about the mega trade agreement being negotiated secretly by 16 nations, including the 10 ASEAN members plus Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Australia, China and India, spanning 50% of the world population and 29% of the world’s GDP.

PSI is attending the 50th Asian Development Bank (ADB) Annual Meeting taking place from 4-7 May in Pacifico Convention Center in Yokohama, Japan. PSI delegation, headed by Asia Pacific Regional Executive Committee Co-chairs Annie Enriquez Geron and Atsushi Kawamoto, met ADB's President Takehiko Nakao during the dialogue session with Civil Society Organisations.

The Government of India has passed a landmark bill increasing mandatory paid leave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks for women employees working in companies with more than 10 staff. This brings India at third position globally in terms of the number of weeks of maternity leave after Canada (50 weeks) and Norway (44 weeks).

An estimated 50,000 workers from a range of confederations and independent unions took to the streets in Jakarta to celebrate International Workers Day in the Indonesian capital.

Over the years, PSI has created a body of work on the series of reforms in the electricity sector in India and the role of International Financial Institutions, such as the Asian Development Bank.

PSI's General Secretary was elected to serve as the Chairperson of the Workers’ group. Here is the speech she delivered on April 24.

The Peoples’ Forum on BRICS, a network of peoples' movements, trade unions, national networks and civil society organisations, gathered in Delhi, India on 30 March to raise deep concerns over the fact that the New development Bank promoted by BRICS is no different from other IFI's such as the World Bank or Asian Development Bank.

Following two years of negotiations, the Government announced on 18 April the details of an historic pay deal that will lead to significant pay increases for workers in aged residential care, home support, and disability services. This will help to address the pay inequity in the predominantly female aged care sector in New Zealand.