Oxfam criticises World Bank for backing deregulated labour markets

World Development Report dismisses concern about growing income inequality, say critics

Aid charities and trade unions have denounced a World Bank report that advises some of the poorest countries in the world to accept the demands of multinational corporations to hire and fire workers and remove laws protecting workers' rights.

Oxfam said the report's main message was that governments should abandon labour market regulation and rely instead on low levels of welfare to prevent workers falling into extreme poverty.