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Water and sanitation

Clean water and sanitation – recently recognised by the United Nations as basic human rights – are critical to good health. They help prevent disease. Yet billions of people have no ready access to safe water. It is an essential service that governments must provide to protect their citizens and serve their common good. Read more here

The work of the ants: Labour and community reinventing public water in Colombia

15 October 2014

Water services in Colombia’s rural and peri-urban areas have traditionally been delivered by a rich variety of autonomous community-owned aqueducts. This action-research project documents the struggles of one such community to preserve and reinforce its aqueduct as an alternative to both private and ‘state’ modes of service delivery.

Uruguay celebrates ten years of constitutional reform in defence of water

10 October 2014
Por el agua

On 9 October, the people of Uruguay celebrated the tenth anniversary of the victorious referendum in defence of water that forced a change to the constitution. Amendments to the constitution recognised water as a basic human right and made it impossible to privatise water resources and services.

Putting water back into public hands

18 September 2014
Remunicipalisation

A new major trend has emerged as more and more communities insist on returning water and wastewater services to public management through remunicipalisation. The Water Remunicipalisation Tracker website continues to expand with four new cases of remunicipalisation.

Answering the challenge of water supply in Jakarta

08 September 2014
Water symposium Jakarta

The national symposium entitled “Answering the challenge of water supply in Jakarta” was held on 4 September 2014 in Al Azhar University in Jakarta, Indonesia. The event was organised by the student executive body of the Law Faculty of Al Azhar University and was attended by 147 participants including students from six universities in Jakarta.

India: Core labour standards not implemented in ADB funded projects

02 September 2014
India - Sewage treatment plant, Kavoor, Mangalore, India. Photo: ADB

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) Handbook on Core Labour Standards 2005, committed to comply with the internationally recognized core labour standards (CLS) and related labour laws in the design, formulation and operation of its loans to the developing countries. However the workers in the projects have identified union busting, harassment or physical violence against unions and discrimination and dismissals and other work-related anti-union/worker actions etc. in the projects and the compliance according to the CLS handbook is not strictly observed.

Two-month UWUA strike defeats subcontracting attack

20 August 2014

Local 537 of the Utility Workers Union of America, AFL-CIO (UWUA) marked an important win after ratifying a new labour agreement with Pennsylvania-American Water. The new agreement brings nearly 150 workers back off strike and turns back management demands to eliminate long-standing protections against subcontracting.

Strong Union Contract Ends Eight Week Work Stoppage

18 August 2014
Photo UWUA

Utility workers in Pittsburgh, USA, have ratified a new union contract that includes solid job protections for working families and ends an eight-week work stoppage by nearly 150 union workers at four Pennsylvania-American Water worksites throughout the Pittsburgh area.