Not only is paying a living wage part of the ETI Base Code of labour standards, it is also part of the responsibilities on business set out in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

How trade unions can help improve the fabric of communities as well as workers' lives.

“Remember the dead and fight for the living” is the slogan for International Workers’ Memorial Day – commemorated every year on 28th April.  

Worldwide, workers are facing a tougher and more violent environment as they seek to defend their rights. The ITUC’s Global Rights Index, the launch of which I attended this week at the ILO, shows a serious increase in the abuse of fundamental rights and violence towards those trying to defend them.