Workers
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Lessons From Mexico On Combating Poverty
Given all its present woes, Mexico would not strike most as a model to follow. But as I have mentioned before, for all its political and socioeconomic challenges, namely with respect to crime and corruption, one of the world’s largest economies has a lot going for it. As a “newly industrialized nation” with a broadening middle… Continue reading
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Reflections On International Workers’ Day
International Workers’ Day, also known as May Day and Labor Day, is a holiday that honors the working classes and the labor movement, and also commemorates the Haymarket affair of 1886, in which workers went on strike for rights like an eight-hour workday and better working conditions (it soon became violent due to police brutality and a fatal bombing… Continue reading
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Big Business is One Thing — Corporate Influence is Quite Another!
That is basically the sum of Americans’ attitudes towards large corporations, according to a survey conducted by CNBC and public relations firm Burson-Marsteller. It gathered the responses of about 25,000 participants from 25 countries, including both rich and developing economies, regarding big business, its relationship with government, and similar issues (note that results for developing countries are… Continue reading
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Working Hours in Developed Countries: 1990 and 2012
Nowadays, most people feel that they’re working harder and longer than ever — and with a lot less to show for it. There’s certainly a degree of truth to this, as real wages and incomes have remained stagnant despite rising productivity. But according to research by the OECD, an association comprising most of the world’s… Continue reading
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Bangladeshi Factory Workers Still Without Justice
Several months after a horrific factory collapse killed over 1,000 Bangladeshi laborers — exposing the callous and pervasive disregard for workers in that country’s biggest industry — there has still been little change in businesses practices in one of the world’s poorest nations. A recent investigation by Richard Bilton of the BBC uncovered yet another disturbing practice:… Continue reading
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The Cruelty and Inefficiency of a Low Minimum Wage
According to the Center for Economic and Policy Research, it took a minimum-wage worker 130 hours to earn a year’s worth of health benefits in 1979. That comes down to three-and-a-half weeks of full-time, minimum-wage work. By 2011, the same health coverage costs 749 hours, or 19 weeks of full-time, minimum-wage work. In other words,… Continue reading
About Me
Humanist | Bibliophile | Writer | Wiki Editor | World Citizen | Esquire (J.D. / LL.M.)