Conducts research and collects data on the global history of labour, workers, and labour relations

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Hostile Handloom Weavers
Antagonism between the various religious communities in 19th century Damascus was exacerbated by the growing gap between the rich and the poor and competition between Christian and Muslim handloom... [Item of the Day]
"The Slave Next Door"
Construction is a labour field that is ripe for trafficking. In 2006, the Trans Bay Steel Company in California was involved in a case of debt slavery. Nearly fifty skilled Thai welders were brought... [Item of the Day]
Mississippi River Workers
'The average Mississippi River roustabout is a strong black fellow, who has probably been a slave, and leaves the plantation for that supposed freedom and rollicking life which this class take... [Item of the Day]
Labour under Fascism
On 10 November 1937, Brazils reigning president Getúlio Vargas seized emergency powers and promulgated a new constitution. The 'new state', Estado Novo, professed its dedication to corporatist... [Item of the Day]
First Eight-hour Day in 1856
Sydney and Melbourne building workers were the first in the world to gain an eight-hour day. The Australian gold rushes in the 1850s ushered in an economic boom with large-scale immigration from... [Item of the Day]
A Cup of Assam Tea
The first auction of Assam tea on January 10, 1839, in London created a lot of excitement.  Connoisseurs described it as 'good, middling, strong, high burnt, rather smoky,….” The great Assam tea... [Item of the Day]
Indigo Workers
'Nildarpan' or the 'Indigo Planting Mirror', a play on the Bengal indigo plantation written by Dinabandhu Mitra, was first performed on 7 December 1872 in Jorasanko, West Bengal. The play evoked the... [Item of the Day]
Of Tub and Toil
The second edition of the Chicago World Fair opened on 26 May 1934. The impressive building of the Kohler Sanitation Company was designed by Ely Jacques Kahn and had a long gallery that displayed... [Item of the Day]
Serfdom Abolished
In an 'Emancipation Manifesto' dated 3 March 1861, Czar Alexander II of Russia officially abolished serfdom in the Russian Empire. Free labour in the "West" has always been contrasted with serf... [Item of the Day]
Universal Workplace
On 5 December 1585, La Piazza Universale di tutte le Professione del Mondo (the Universal Workplace of all the Professions in the World) by Tomaso Garzoni was published. In this classification of 540... [Item of the Day]

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