In The News

The TTIP Gap: How a Trans-Atlantic Trade Deal Can Be Fixed

Christoph Pauly, Michael Sauga, Michaela Schiessl and Gerald Traufetter June 11, 2015
The US exported $344 billion to the EU, and the EU exported $450 billion to the US in 2013, reports Spiegel Online. Policymakers expect the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership to counter competition from Asia by streamlining regulations. German manufacturers anticipate meeting one US standard rather than 50 imposed by states. “In virtually every industrial sector today, a large number...

HSBC’s Local Rethink Can’t Shore Up Global Act

Paul J. Davies June 10, 2015
The world has only a few global banks. HSBC, based in the UK, is cutting costs, laying off 50,000 or 10 percent of its workforce and eliminating units in emerging economies like Turkey and Brazil. “HSBC’s targeted returns are beaten by the best local banks in many countries,” writes Paul J. Davies for the Wall Street Journal. “HSBC insists the fight to remain global is worth it. It claims $22...

Fair Trade for the Global Garment Industry

David Welsh May 22, 2015
Profits and fast-changing styles in the global garment industry depend on low wages, long hours and dangerous workplaces in countries like Cambodia. Writing for the New York Times, David Welsh, country director of the AFL-CIO Solidarity Center in Cambodia writes: “the big brands reap billions of dollars chasing the lowest production costs they can find, moving from one country to another when...

China’s Factory Workers Are Becoming More Restive

Anita Chan May 21, 2015
Migrant workers in South China are increasingly more assertive. A once relatively compliant workforce is staging more and bigger strikes prompting authorities to escalate suppression. Anita Chan, author and research professor, analyzes the internal and external forces behind the unrest. Labor activism is most intense in Guangdong Province, near Hong Kong with its NGOs that spread the word about...

The Robots Aren’t Threatening Your Job

Catherine Rampell April 10, 2015
Robotic technology with ever-improving artificial intelligence, sensors and other capabilities inspires awe, yet many workers fear a mass loss of jobs. Society should be optimistic though if policymakers plan ahead, argues Catherine Rampell for the Washington Post. “Across history, technological developments have caused certain skill sets and jobs to obsolesce, yes, but they have also created...

Japan Can’t Close Door on Immigrants

Kwan Weng Kin March 25, 2015
Japan’s looming demographic crisis is well known and widespread prejudices against immigrants may cripple the country’s ability to address the problem. Japan’s population could decline by a third over the next 50 years, and observers view immigration as the only viable solution to labor shortages in the Japanese economy. At present, foreigners constitute 1.6 percent of Japan’s population, and...

New Fees, Regulations on Tap for Employers of Foreign Workers

Tara Carman February 23, 2015
Canada is backing away from open borders for skilled labor. New rules require employers who hope to hire a foreign worker must submit copies of the employment offer, details about their business operations and a $230 fee. The government’s aim is to protect Canadian workers against displacement, with the new requirements applying only to businesses that don’t conduct Labor Market Impact...