April 2006

1. Publication

   A personal stake: Why employee-owned businesses return more than a profit

   01 April 2006

   Employee-owned businesses remain an oft-overlooked option for companies as a means toward ramping up productivity, profit and morale. But a new study shows that the overwhelming success of companies like UK-based John Lewis is due to innovative mechanisms to encourage employee participation and cultivate a culture of ownership. Andrew Bibby explores how this company model of a fully or majority employee-owned business is not only self-sustaining and successful, but is in fact widely applicable.

2. Publication

   Real-time response The ILO's role in helping Pakistan rebuild and get back to work

   01 April 2006

   The ILO continues to play an important role in the earthquake recovery efforts in Pakistan. From establishing emergency employment centres and cash-for-work programmes to easing trauma through decent work, the ILO's multi-pronged approach capitalized on an existing infrastructure for technical cooperation to distribute resources quickly and efficiently.

3. Publication

   Full steam ahead! ILO adopts "super Convention" for the maritime sector

   01 April 2006

   Over 1.2 million seafarers represent the world's most global and globalized workforce, and it is they and the shipowners for whom they work who move the bulk of world trade as well as serving on passenger ships. The importance of this sector - and the need to update and revitalize ILO standards, some of which were nearly as old as the Organization - came together at the recent International Labour Conference on maritime matters. As a result, the Conference adopted what has been called a "super Convention" for the world's maritime sector, providing a comprehensive charter for seafarers and shipowners alike. Here - in question and answer format - World of Work discusses the new Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 and why it's so important.

4. Publication

   The Decent Work Deficit: A new ILO report outlines the latest global employment trends

   01 April 2006

   The ILO's 2006 Global Employment Trends Brief paints a sombre picture not only of growing unemployment and poverty but of a significant lack of decent job opportunities, especially for young people. Despite the robust world economic growth of 2005, the global economy failed to deliver enough new jobs. But the ILO's stance is a strong one, involving a global strategy of communication, education, sound policy enforcement and the promotion of entrepreneurship to encourage the creation of more and better jobs.

5. Publication

   Disabled people in Ethiopia: Making public services work for poor people

   01 April 2006

   Most of Addis Ababa's estimated 3 million population lives in slums and informal settlements. In June 2005 the President of Ethiopia officially opened the first of 30 modern public shower and toilet facilities run by a cooperative of disabled persons in Addis Ababa with the support of the ILO. This innovative proposal by the Ethiopian Federation of Persons with Disabilities (EFPD) to renovate existing sanitary facilities and unlock the economic potential of unemployed people with disabilities won a World Bank Development Marketplace Competition prize in 2003.

March 2006

1. Video

   France: Food at Work

   23 March 2006

   Rising levels of obesity in France and other Western countries, means a less healthy, less productive workforce. But at the Peugeot-Citroen factory in Rennes, France, downsizing the workforce has taken on a very different and healthier meaning. ILO TV explains.

2. Video

   French Woman Boxer

   05 March 2006

   World light welterweight champion Myriam Lamare is passionate that women have a place in boxing and has several championship belts to prove it. As a professional boxer, she has overcome the gender barriers and earned the titles, but in a profession still dominated by men, she is far from a million-dollar baby. ILO TV explains.

February 2006

1. Video

   Indonesian Furniture Industry

   07 February 2006

   For years, environmentalists have worried about the deforestation of jungles in Indonesia that supply precious woods for garden furniture in the West. But along with these natural resources, a centuries-old livelihood is also under threat as ILO TV explains.

2. 

   Article

   Maritime Session of the International Labour Conference (7-23 February 2006): A new standard for the global shipping industry

   02 February 2006

   Nearly 1.2 million seafarers work for the world's shipping industry. The ILO now heads for a new Maritime Labour Convention reflecting the needs of a globalized shipping industry. If adopted, the standard will consolidate and update more than 65 international labour standards adopted over the last 80 years. ILO Online spoke with Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry, Director of the ILO's International Labour Standards Department, about the new Convention.

3. Publication

   How biometrics helps the seafarer and world trade

   01 February 2006

   This article first appeared in the February 2006 issue of ISO Focus - the Magazine of the International Organization for Standardization, Vol. 3, No. 2, 2006 and is reproduced here with the permission of the ISO Central Secretariat.