In The News

China Exports Pollution to US, Study Finds

Edward Wongjan January 27, 2014
Pollution knows no borders. A study by nine researchers in three nations quantifies “how air pollution in the United States is affected by China’s production of goods for export and by global consumer demand for those goods,” reports Edward Wongjan for the New York Times: “The scientists wrote that ‘outsourcing production to China does not always relieve consumers in the United States – or for...

Don’t Cry For Me, Motown

Nayan Chanda August 19, 2013
Detroit was a US auto manufacturing center a few decades ago, but now its population of 700,000, down from 2 million, cannot afford to pay off $18 billion in debt and unfunded liabilities. The city has filed for bankruptcy. “Outsourcing, automation and suburbanisation have drained its population” and “the bankruptcy of what used to be the country’s fourth-largest city does indeed signal the...

US Tech Firms Look Abroad for Engineers

Kim Gittleson June 27, 2013
US tech companies have long complained that most slots in some US university math and tech programs are filled by foreign students, many of whom cannot stay in the country to work. The US reserves 65,000 H-1B visas for workers deemed “highly skilled” – covering not just engineers but teachers, telemarketers and outsourcing staff – and another 20,000 for foreigners with graduate degrees. Conducted...

Pope Condemns Bangladesh “Slave Labor”

May 9, 2013
Pope Frances, an advocate for the poor, has stepped up on May Day to denounce workers conditions in Bangladesh and compare their condition to “slave labor.” He linked work with dignity and argued that providing extra work for others is a higher purpose than making profits, reported BBC news and Vatican Radio. More than 700 people died in a building collapse near Dhaka, the country’s worst...

Can Western Companies Put an End to Bangladesh Factory Disasters?

Pramila Jayapal May 1, 2013
Responsible corporations prioritize workplace safety. Building-structure codes, fire and smoke alarms, multiple exits, limited work hours and other standard safety regulations are documented to prevent accidents. Consumers may appreciate low prices, but will avoid brands that become associated with brutal workplace conditions. A factory fire in November and a building collapse in April have put...

Canada Must Face Globalization Head On

Rod Szasz April 25, 2013
Information technology, a global marketplace, wage differentials, plenty of skilled labor and a quest for profits have made outsourcing inevitable for banking and many other businesses. Workers lose jobs as consumers consistently choose low-cost electronics, apparel, news or banking services. “No country is unaffected by these changes,” writes Rod Szasz, trader and founder of an industrial...

US Senate Plans Crackdown on Visa “Abusers”

Anna Fifield April 24, 2013
Proposed US immigration reform may include tough rules to weed out IT sourcing companies that are believed to abuse the H-1B visa system for skilled scientists and researchers. Program abuses include undercutting wages and hiring workers with skills that duplicate those already available among US workers. Top recipients of H-1B visas include Indian firms, with a bulk of their employees based in...