In The News

In New York Tickets, Ghana Sees Orderly City

Robert F. Worth July 22, 2002
In downtown Accra, the capital of Ghana, workers are employed by Data Management Internationale to punch in information from tickets served by New York City police officers. These data entry jobs, which have a constant flow of applicants though available positions are unpublicized, pay three times the Ghanaian minimum wage and more than twice the average per capita income. Data Management is a...

In Ecuador’s Banana Fields, Child Labor is Key to Profits

Juan Forero July 13, 2002
Banana, which was introduced to the New World by the Europeans in the 16th century, has become a staple export of Central America. Globalization of the banana market may have created more jobs for the poor, but the bulk of the earnings tend to go to the middlemen and giant retailers. As a New York Times front page report from Ecuador says, “Each 43-pound box of bananas purchased here by exporters...

Let Nike Stay in the Game

Bob Herbert May 6, 2002
Does the US Constitution protect freedom of speech even when that speech is full of lies? According to this opinion piece in The New York Times, it most certainly should. Last week, however, a lawsuit was brought against Nike charging the corporation with misrepresenting its overseas factories and falsely telling the public that it was in compliance with applicable wage and safety regulations....

Farewell, my lovely

Christopher Parkes April 4, 2002
Hollywood has been a major force of globalization. It has successfully marketed American entertainment to the far corners of the world, and spread ideas about freedom and fun. Its success often resulted in wiping out other producers of entertainment. But the forces of globalization seem to be pinching some in Hollywood as well. This Financial Times report raises the prospect of hollowing...

Brazil's Prized Exports Rely on Slaves and Scorched Land

Larry Rohter March 25, 2002
Slavery lurks in remote parts of the Brazilian Amazon as laborers are duped into working contracts that exploit them mercilessly. The prime exports of this resource-rich region – exotic woods and beef – have raised many controversies at both national and international levels. Human rights violations and environmental degradation – both difficult to monitor – often go unpunished or are even...

Leaner Factories, Fewer Workers Bring More Labor Unrest to China

Erik Eckholm March 19, 2002
China’s shift away from economic isolation has begun to take its toll on communist workers. Accustomed to government promises of job security, newly unemployed workers at state-owned factories are voicing their concerns through strikes and large-scale protests. Employees at the Daqing Oil Company were told months ago that the collapse of the oil industry would likely force massive layoffs....

Bush Weighs Raising Steel Tariffs but Exempting Most Poor Nations

David E. Sanger March 4, 2002
The American steel industry, once booming, is now on the verge of failure. Unions and major steel companies are calling on President Bush to save steel jobs by imposing high tariffs on all steel imports. Bush faces a sticky political situation. Tariffs – which contradict the free trade principles that Bush advocates – would likely alienate international allies in Europe and Asia that Bush...