Weekend News & Commentary — June 11-12, 2016
Sunday is World Day Against Child Labor, and a reminder of the work that still needs to be done. Despite recent successes, the International Labor Organization estimates that there are still 168 million child laborers worldwide. Nonprofit leaders are calling upon corporations to scrutinize their supply chains, noting the continued importance of partnering with unions on this front.
More American workers are being replaced with foreigners on temporary visas, and some of them are starting to speak up. According to the New York Times, some of the workers who have lost their jobs to global outsourcing are now sharing their experiences with the public — but not without running afoul of severance agreements prohibiting them from criticizing their former employers. To combat the chilling effect of these “nondisparagement” agreements, some have suggested revising the visa laws to allow former employees to formally contest their layoffs.
Are manufacturing workers paid enough? NPR reports on a recent study from UC Berkeley’s Labor Center, suggesting that over a third of American manufacturing workers and their families depend on public assistance.
