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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.

labor

Labor Ruling Puts Atlanta’s Fast-Food Empire on Edge

Dan Chapman and Leon Stafford The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A recent National Labor Relations Board ruling means unions could one day organize nationally among all McDonald’s workers, rather than one store at a time. Nowhere perhaps did the ruling reverberate louder than in Atlanta, headquarters for Arby’s, Chick-fil-A, Popeye’s and other fast-food franchises, as well as many hotel, retail and temp agency chains.The ruling could be a huge boost for the Service Employees International Union, which is organizing fast-food workers.

labor

Hiring Picks Up, But Wages Not Keeping Pace

Ylan Q. Mui The Washington Post
The lack of wage growth is one reason why many consumers feel that the broader economic recovery hasn’t reached their wallets. The problem has divided academics and fueled political debate on Capitol Hill and across the country, turning an increase in the minimum wage, for example, into a central issue in the midterm elections.

Full Employment and the Path to Shared Prosperity

Dean Baker and Jared Bernstein Dissent
If high unemployment is one of the obstacles to more equitable growth, then the question is: how do we achieve full employment? There are four main ways. Each route faces substantial political opposition, both because of powerful interests that would be hurt by paying higher wages and because of popular prejudices that are persistently promoted in the media.

labor

Over 100 McDonald’s Workers Arrested Protesting Outside Shareholder Meeting

Alan Pyke thinkprogress.org
Fast food workers earn 1,200 times less than CEOs, the widest disparity of any U.S. economic sector. McDonald’s employees make about $8.25 per hour on average before taxes, and the corporation tacitly acknowledges it pays poverty wages. The company drew flak last year for a website that advised its employees to budget by spending nothing on keeping their homes warm, finding a place to live that costs less than $600 a month and spending $20 a month on health insurance.
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