In the News

Labor Enforcement Will Get Tougher on Trade Agreements

Business Week
07/16/2009

The United States will preemptively investigate possible labor law violations in 14 countries with which it has signed bilateral trade agreements in the last eight years, said United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk said in a July 16 speech to Pittsburgh steelworkers. The Obama administration is changing prior practice, in which the U.S. has examined labor practices in the countries only when complaints have been made, he said.

Niger Senses a Threat to Its Scrap of Democracy

New York Times
07/14/2009

Stubbornness crops up in harsh environments like that of this desert’s-edge capital, in the stoicism of grilled meat vendors in 110-degree heat or the patience of camels bearing heavy reed mats through the dusty streets.

So, too, in the dogged refusal, for more than two months now, of the impoverished citizens to part with a commodity as seemingly fragile as the tenuous greenery here: democracy.

Connecting with Chinese Workers

The Breadwinner
06/30/2009

Excerpt from article:

"First, I went on my own to the boss and asked for a reduction in work hours. Then, I came with a few of my workmates and said that I’d bring the whole shop floor into his office next time if things didn’t change. We now work shorter hours."

---Worker in Guangdong, 2006

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