Low wages jobs migrate out of China
Remember when Mexico's low wages were the magnet for job-moving manufacturers in the U.S.?

Then, when China opened its borders and the world discovered even cheaper wages there, it became the world's low-wage darling? Under a headline "China loses some allure as the world's factory," The Wall Street Journal reported Aug. 7 that stupendous growth in China from 1990 to 2003 flattened in 2004 and 2005 at about $60 billion per year, before dropping a half-percent in the first half of 2006.

"Even a flattening in the trend is striking," the Journal said, "given the reputation China has developed as an irresistible magnet for foreign companies' money."

The reason for the lack of growth, the Journal said, is probably because the manufacturing that can be profitably shifted there has already done so. For example, there aren't many Asian electronics manufacturers who haven't moved to China, a nation which also limits how much foreign investment can be made in domestic companies.

But don't weep just yet for the world's employers. Although wages have risen in China - which is another reason why growth is stagnant - there are other nations like Malaysia, Indonesia with weak labor laws and low wages. Even Vietnam, the Journal said, "has become a hot spot for manufacturing."


AFL-CIO links With day laborers
When you think "day laborer," you might think of adjectives like "underpaid," "exploited," "undocumented," or "overworked." Certainly, "nonunion" would apply.

The AFL-CIO, trying new strategies to increase union exposure to workers and help the situation of all workers, announced on Aug. 9 a partnership forged with the National Day Labor Organizing Network, pledging to work together on issues ranging from workplace rights to immigration reform to health and safety and other job-related concerns.

"Through this watershed partnership," said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, "we will strengthen our ability to promote and enforce the workplace rights for all workers - union and non-union, immigrant and non-immigrant alike."

Local, state and national AFL-CIO reps will be able to work with 140 "worker centers" in 80 cities and towns around the nation, which serve as a place for day laborers and low-wage workers, many of them immigrants and people of color, to come together and learn about their rights. The centers also operate as advocates for the workers - and there are approximately 200,000 in the U.S.

The centers provide a structure by which workers join together to set their own terms and conditions of employment. For example, in Agoura Hills, Calif., day laborers have set their minimum wage at $15 per hour.

The centers also provide a variety of services, including leadership development, legal representation to recover unpaid wages, English classes, workers' rights education and access to health clinics, bank accounts and loans. Through creative strategies, worker centers have achieved significant success, the AFL-CIO said, in improving working conditions and raising wages for low-wage workers in high turnover industries and in permanent employment relationships.

"One of the ways to ensure that the rights of all workers in this country are protected is to ensure that the 12 million undocumented immigrants come out of the shadows," said Executive Director Pablo Alvarado "We thank President Sweeney for his leadership in supporting a legalization program with a path to citizenship and political equality."

Earlier today, the Executive Council passed a policy statement to allow the creation of the partnership with NDLON and with individual worker centers.
(In May, Janice Fine, assistant professor of labor studies and employment relations at Rutgers University, wrote a Point of View column for the AFL-CIO website about worker centers and how the labor community can work with the centers for both their benefits.)

The centers provide a structure by which workers join together to set their own terms and conditions of employment. In Agoura Hills, Calif., day laborers have set their minimum wage at $15 per hour. Centers also provide a variety of services, including leadership development, legal representation to recover unpaid wages, English classes, workers' rights education and access to health clinics, bank accounts and loans. Through creative strategies, worker centers have achieved significant success in improving working conditions and raising wages for low-wage workers in high turnover industries and in permanent employment relationships.