Newsbreak magazine’s special edition on decent work is now off the press.

Called “Toil and Trouble,” the collection of in-depth articles examines current trends and explores various issues on labor and employment.

Made all the more timely and relevant by the current financial crisis, the special issue looks into layoffs at export processing zones, the call center phenomenon, contractualization in the retail industry, safety at work, the fading appeal of workers’ unions, the killing of labor leaders, among other issues.

Copies are available at bookstores and at the Newsbreak office. Call 920-0997 for bulk orders.

WHAT'S INSIDE

• By the Numbers
  Facts and figures on labor and employment
• OVERVIEW
  The Hidden Jobs Crisis
  The government is reporting just a small number of jobs lost as the economy slows down, but the impact on workers lives is devastating.
  
• CONTRACTUAL LABOR
  A Nation of Casuals
  Non-standard work is on the rise among wage earners, diminishing the gains from the steady shift from self-employment to higher quality jobs.
  
• OVERSEAS WORKERS
  Uncertain Future
  Overseas work has become a riskier and less rewarding proposition, but most Filipinos still prefer it to domestic alternatives.
• ECONOMIC ZONES
  Enclaves of Sorrow
  Factories in special economic zones allegedly ignore labor standards, but there are no of few alternatives for laid-off workers but to return to these employers.
• CALL CENTERS
  Hello and Goodbye
  Call centers still offer high-paying jobs amid the global slowdown, but work-related stress and ill-health are rife among workers.
• INDUSTRIAL SAFETY
  From Shipyard to Graveyard
  The growing number of fatalities at the Hanjin shipyard reveals problems both with investors and the government.
• FARMING
  Hard Labor
  Farming remains backbreaking work with few rewards.
• DEEP-SEA FISHING
  Nowhere to Fish
  Dwindling tuna catches are turning deep-sea fishing from a decent livelihood into a game of chance for the proud fishermen of Kiamba in Southern Mindanao.
• SOCIAL INSURANCE
  Protection Racket
  Social security institutions have mixed feelings about expanding or introducing new benefits for troubled members.
• LABOR UNIONS
  Losing Ground
  Labor unions fight an uphill battle to maintain relevance amid corporate controls and worker apathy.
• HUMAN RIGHTS
  Collateral Victims
  Labor leaders and organizers are turning up dead or missing in the course of the governmentís counterinsurgency drive.
• THE WORKPLACE
  Who Moved My Office?
  Technology and new business models radically transform the Philippine workplace.
• FIRST PERSON
  Nighttimer
  Why a call center agent decided to keep his job.
• IMAGES
  Looking for work
  A photo essay by Luis Liwanag

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