The sector drives the Bangladeshi economy with 85% of total exports and a related industry worth 47 billion dollars. However, many workers are demanding payment of numerous months of arrears and bonuses linked to the festival celebrating the end of Ramadan. The empty promises of company management, with the police repressing the demonstrations.

In the country devastated by more than 10 years of war, there are very young children, even 13-year-olds, driving taxis or public transport. The hope of earning even small amounts of money to support impoverished families. UN: the crisis triggered by the conflict ‘has disproportionately and devastatingly affected women and girls’.

The island of Java is the most affected, where there has been a significant impact on the production sector. Among the companies in crisis is the clothing giant PT Sritex, with about 11 thousand layoffs in various departments and the non-payment of compensation since last August. The government is promising action but the 5% growth target for the first quarter of 2025 could be missed.

Since the beginning of the conflict, at least 16,000 workers have come from India to replace the blockades in the West Bank and the Strip. Influx destined to increase thanks to targeted campaigns. In the north, farmers from Thailand are returning, among the migrants who have paid the most in terms of victims and kidnappings. From 165,000 to only 15,000 Palestinians working in Israel.

From education to the oil industry, discontent is growing among workers, who are demanding better wages and working conditions. Declining energy and a poor economy are sinking prospects for recovery, in a country already affected by Western sanctions. The cost of essential goods and services has increased by up to 40 per cent in recent months. Pressure is growing on the Pezeshkian administration.

The China Labour Bulletin posted some videos from Chinese social media showing workers fainting from the gruelling shifts at the Foxconn plant in conjunction with the release of its new smartphone models. Overtime can reach up to four times the limit established by Chinese law.

For the first time in Japan, a local government issued an ordinance against harassment of workers. The action was prompted by cases of suicide and mental illness among victims of this kind of abuse.

The city-state that awaits the arrival of Pope Francis has for the first time launched a retraining plan for low and middle-level professional workers, who are most exposed today to the hardships created by the economic upheavals linked to international crises. From April 2025, subsidies of 6,000 Singapore dollars for six months, accompanied by training activities.

To date there are 2.59 million people without employment in the country, with a particular incidence in the younger segments of the population. The figure of those who expatriate to complete their studies or better professional opportunities continues to grow. The local church's commitment to education, starting with technical institutes.

The number of women seeking work abroad continues to rise: from 40 percent in the pre-pandemic period to 46 percent in 2023. The main destination remains the Middle East, where they find employment mainly as domestic workers. The government is trying to reverse this trend, but still more than a thousand choose to expatriate every month. 

Despite Myanmar’s conflict, many Sri Lankans still travel to the former Burma in search of work but end up victims in trafficking networks. At least 40 have been freed recently, but dozens more are still captive. The authorities urge Sri Lankans, often vainly, to look for work at agencies registered with the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE).

Protesting are workers who belong to the main union, which associates a quarter of the 125,000 employees. They are demanding wage increases, but also improvements on holidays and leave. No response so far from the company, which plays down the impact. Meanwhile, there is also a clash in Seoul over the minimum wage, which employers would like to see remain firm despite inflation.

The regulation approved by the Diet overcomes the current employment system that ended up favouring abuses. A new attempt to counter the labour shortage. Increased flexibility is provided by reduced timeframes and favoured access to qualified positions: it will be possible to leave unprofitable and discriminating positions. 

A journey of 10,000 kilometres extolled by Beijing as an opportunity for development (and revenge on Italy's exit from the Belt and Road Initiative). But cotton and tomatoes from Xinjang are at the heart of the ‘policy of poverty alleviation through the transfer of labour’, which according to numerous reports is a form of forced labour.

With its 200,000 workers it is an important component of the local industry, but it can no longer compete on international markets. The collapse of the rouble is weighing on it, but also the higher labour costs compared to Bangladesh or Vietnam, which requires a qualitative leap in the promotion of its products.

More than five million seek employment over the age of 60 to survive. Those in the less developed regions in the north, east and south are in the greatest difficulty. In Bangkok 'only' 25% have to work. Public pensions are inadequate, difficult to access a private or company pension fund.

A course dedicated to their protection was held at the Caritas Village and attended by 200 women. Significant contribution made by migrant labour to the national economy through remittances recognised.

On a day when even among local politicians rhetoric about labour abounds, in Pakistan and Sri Lanka the most defenceless groups have tried to make their voices heard. Fr Bonnie Mendes: "Even the Church should value the feast of St Joseph the Worker more to defend their dignity".

May 1 in many Asian countries coincides with temperatures of over 40 degrees Celsius. Increasingly frequent conditions that - as a study by the Global Labor Institute on textile companies in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Pakistan and Vietnam explains - risk compromising workers' health and productivity without adequate mitigation measures.

Not even pro-Beijing trade unions are marching for workers' rights fearing “unrest”. All the attention is on mainland tourists, for whom the city (weather permitting) will launch a new cycle of fireworks displays at the port with an unprecedented budget.