Labour Day

preventing the creation of employees’ unions in organizations, mainly by their employers as well as politicians. David Bacon explores the evolution of union busting sophisticated strategies citing a case in Labour Department in California. With the perception that the department is mandated to implement labour and wage regulations to protect the rights of the employees, an official named Richard Sawyer loses his job. The Republican politicians together with the employers make an attempt to ban…

“They had dreamed of freedom; of a chance to look about them and learn something; to be decent and clean, to see their child grow up to be strong. And now it was all gone” (Sinclair 1906, 138). This is the bleak picture painted in Upton Sinclair’s 1906 novel The Jungle. A disturbing critique of turn-of-the-century industrialism with pervading themes of poverty, anti-corporation, and socialism. A commentary that exemplifies the Progressive era and the embodiments of freedom that came with it.…

In the history of Social and Public Policy, the 1833 Factory Act can be asserted as a critical piece of legislation because it recognised that the state could intervene by establishing frameworks to enforce parliamentary decisions for humanitarian purposes. This decisive change helped meet serious needs through enabling protections for children’s working conditions using regulatory inspectors. While laying these foundations led to further reform that built upon new ways of thinking on how to…

A Review of The Economy of Colonial America The Economy of Colonial America by Edwin J. Perkins is a detailed look into the economic and everyday situations experienced by Americans of the colonial era. Perkins uses many modern comparisons, along with comparisons to other parts of the world, in an attempt to describe the economic lifestyle of colonist. He ends every chapter with a bibliographical essay in part to show where his research comes from, but mostly in a way that encourages the…

In contemplating the different facets of occupation and the world of work, it is conceivable that one may overlook the significance of a person’s attitude on how a job is done or handled. This therefore, poses an interesting question, which is, in what way does a person’s attitude influence their working life? How can someone’s attitude towards their job have an impact on it, and in turn, on themselves? As defined by Merriam-Webster Dictionary, attitude is “a mental position or feeling/emotion…

skills which allowed them to enter the competitive labour market benefitted from long-term employment, good wages, and benefits (Friesen 181). These jobs required a higher degree of specialized knowledge. For the unskilled worker, this was problematic. They entered a time of low wages, fewer benefits, relentless surveillance, and not to mention high job insecurity. Although this epoch was considered a time of plenty – new developments in the labour market and record-breaking profits, there was…

Walrexon stores in Indonesia employee children and work them for long hours in poor environments. A TV ad recently reveals the conditions of these employees and Walexron seeks to find the legal and ethical issues that correspond to their predicament. Section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 prohibits the importation of merchandise produced by convict labor, forced labor or child labor (Bagely, 2015, p. 771). So, if Walexron imports the goods that the children are making, they breaking the law by…

important concerns raised in the report as the issue is that currently we do not have any credible threat of prosecutions for violations of the Labour Relations Act, they are rare and many cases get dismissed or accommodated (C.M. Mitchell., J.C. Murray, pg. 107, 110). This is proven as from the years of 2004-2014 the OLRB had thousands of unfair labour practice complaints filed, but from 10 years only 29 applications were given consent to prosecute and out of those 29 only 3 were granted. (C.M.…

laws and enacted the Bangladesh Labour Act of 2006. Legislative changes included increased union activity and allowing worker committees in EPZs. The Act was next updated in response to the Rana Plaza tragedy in 2013. The Bangladesh Labour Act 2013 included changes in union registration, required worker welfare funds and increased attention to occupational safety and health. Although the 2013 Act made some crucial changes, it had several shortcomings. The 2013 Labour Act is discussed in more…

The American Federation of Labor (AFL) has reigned as the primary labor federation to which the overwhelming majority of labor unions in the United States have historically belonged to, but this has not been without frequent contestation. Compare and contrast the AFL and 3 different competing labor organizations that we have discussed in class, including a discussion on leadership, policies, and organizing strategies (such as business unionism vs. social unionism). Use specific examples and cite…