labor

Across Asia's Borders, Labor Activists Team Up to Press Wage Claims

Eveline Danubrata and Prak Chan Thul Reuters
For global companies that have shifted production to Southeast Asia's low-cost manufacturing hub, greater cross-boarder labor coordination could mean less room for wage bargaining, a squeeze on profits and maybe even higher price tags on anything from shoes and clothing to cars and electronics appliances. But even as wages rise, labor activists are confident they aren't at risk of pricing themselves out of the market.

Socialist Dialogue Needed in the East/South China Sea

Duncan McFarland Portside
Vietnam is justified in protesting the Chinese oil rig in the South China Sea. China is right in countering the US military buildup in southeast Asia. Duncan McFarland, who was in Vietnam at the height of the dispute in early reports from Vietnam and China. His conclusion: The working class should resist divide-and-conquer.

Tidbits - June 5, 2014

Portside
Reader Comments - Edward Snowden, NSA and NBC; Police Crimes; U.S. Cuba Policy; Tiananmen Anniversary; Ralph Fasanella's Art; Prisons and Solidarity Confinement; Workers and Labor; Taxes and Economic Growth; Carbon Pollution; New Populism; Sexual Harassment; Sexual assault of women protestors in India; Les Orear - R.I.P.

Tiananmen Anniversary Reflections

By Andrew Nathan Shanker Blog
Workers, students, and other participants had the same goals in the spring of 1989. They all wanted the ruling Chinese Communist Party to open itself up to dialogue with society over issues of corruption, reform, rule of law, and citizens’ rights.

Plying Social Media, Chinese Workers Grow Bolder in Exerting Clout

Dan Levin The New York Times
In recent years, workers across the country have been turning their aspirations into action, staging more than 1,100 strikes and protests between June 2011 and the end of 2013, according to China Labor Bulletin. In a sign that labor unrest is rising, there have been more than 200 strikes, including 85 in the manufacturing sector, in the past two months alone, the group said.

labor

40,000 Yue Yuen Workers on Strike

Celia Hatton BBC
Since April 14, 40,000 workers at the Yue Yuen Shoe Factories in Dongguan, Guangdong Provinece have been on strike. They make shoes and sneakers for Salomen, Nike, Asics, Car,and Adidas. Adidas has already begun moving production to another sweatshop.

The Cold War that Threatens Democracy

Tom Hayden Peace & Justice Resource Center
This new Cold War is not about communism taking over the world. It is more about returning to 19th century balance of power interests, borrowing the phrase John Kerry has used against Putin. It is about dividing up the spoils of the first Cold War among the triumphal capitalist democracies, as if Russia is defeated and short-lived. Pushing Western capitalism and NATO towards Russia was sure to touch off the current escalation, and worse may come.
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