Abstract This paper is a critical evaluation of three statements that can be reduced to one (the thesis). Sexism and racism are not accidental phenomena, but exist for the purpose of obtaining cheaplabor.
Abstract This paper explains how Jamaica's tourist industry after 1960 reproduced colonial forms of oppression in an industry controlled by colonial elite investors and beneficiaries that capitalize on cheaplabor supplies; explanation of results of mass tourism as pursued by various Third World countries, and in Jamaica's example; note higher basic costs, low industrial or other development, cultural decay; reinforcement of colonial/postcolonial elites in a dual economy and dual society of much poverty. Itwaru, Fanon, CLR James, plus other refs.
From the Paper "Jamaica is the third largest island in the Caribbean, discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1494, named earlier by the Arawak Indians, 'Xaymaca' or the 'land of wood and water'. The Spanish introduced slaves from Africa after 1513, as labourers in a new sugarcane industry. In 1655, Jamaica became a British colony, continuing on till its independence in 1962. Just before independence, economic development began that centered on cultivating tourism, in keeping with other emerging colonies of the British Commonwealth Caribbean. This paper shows that tourism involves a carrying on of colonial phenomenon in independent Jamaica, including the class gaps of a colonial society. The moneyed classes were those to invest directly..."
Abstract This paper explains that the first distinction between legal and illegal immigrants is that illegal immigrants are not subject to any law that allows them to work according to the conditions imposed by a certain country; whereas, legal immigrants follow the direct and clear provisions of the laws. The author points out that, although both types of immigrants are considered to be cheaplabor, the illegal immigrants particularly suffer from this discriminatory attitude. The paper stresses that, while there are restrictions posed on illegal immigrants, for legal immigrants there is the obvious need of trying to improve their lives to help them have a better standard of living and for the American government to benefit from their work.
From the Paper "Legal and illegal immigrants continue to be an area in which the American legislature as well as the public opinion in general continues to invest from all points of view. However, their approaches are rather different in the sense that while there are restrictions posed on illegal immigrants, for legal immigrants there is the obvious need of trying to improve their lives in order to help them have a better standard of living and the American government to benefit from their work."
Tags: legitimacy, public opinion, cheaplabor, enforcement, tax payer
Abstract This paper describes the problem of child labor and looks at the countries where it is most often practiced. The paper describes the horrible working and living conditions that these children are subjected to and looks at how some multinational companies take advantage of the cheaplabor provided by child laborers instead of taking a moral stand against the problem.
From the Paper "Child labor is one of the worst social problems that exist in modern society (Yan, 2002). The term child labor brings images of exploited and uncared children. In the many areas that child labor exists, Indonesia is one that has an especially large percentage of children working at a young age. Government statistics reveal that 2.08 million children between the ages of 10-14 works in Indonesia are employed at dangerous places. Among these children, half work full time. The amount of work and hours these children have are the same as adults. Many children work under hazardous conditions as scavengers, garbage pickers and fishing platforms. For obvious reasons, this is one of the greatest labor issues faced by the country."
Abstract This paper examines the phenomenon of child labor. Statistics are provided which highlight this problem. The writer details a history of this practice, looking at its causes and consequences. Literature which deals with child labor is presented - namely Charles Dickens in his many novels. Finally the paper examines this problem today and what can be done to reverse this trend.
From the Paper "In the late 1700's and early 1800's, power-driven machines replaced hand labor for the making of most manufactured items. Factories were springing up everywhere, first in England and then in the United States. The owners of these factories found a new source of labor to run their machines ? children. Operating the power-driven machines did not require adult strength, and children could be hired more cheaply than adults and by the mid-1800's, child labor was a major problem."
Abstract In this paper the author examines some of the works of Karl Marx, focussing on the theme of value of labor-power, which is a key point in Marx's socio-economic theory, and determines the value of commodities. The paper looks at the importance of the wage system and discusses Marx's point that value comes from social labor and profit comes from extracting unpaid labor from the laborer. The author continues to discuss the works of Karl Marx and some of the statements he has made in reference to labor-power. He also tries to put across the capitalist point of view, by giving a counter argument for each of Marx's points. In conclusion the author states that we must either accept that Marx failed in his attempt at a truly materialist explanation of history and society, or admit that machines and animals exist as social laborers, the same as humans.
From the Paper "Marx's argument is persuasive, and the syllogism is formally valid when we include the suppressed premise: each premise makes a clean step to the next. However, premise two lacks much-needed justification for the syllogism to be true within Marx's system of dialectical materialism. Premise 2 is a metaphysical proposition, not a physical-historical proposition. Nowhere does Marx explain why labor-power is only a capacity of a living worker. More specifically, Marx does not explain the difference between a power-loom and a human weaver. From the capitalist's view, both require upkeep (or some of the means of subsistence), both perform social labor, and both must be replaced when they wear out, or die. A possible reply Marx could give is that people are the root of the power-loom's productive force: that is, people produce the power-loom and maintain the power-loom. However, capitalists also maintain the laborer, by paying his wages. Within the system, the capitalist must care for the worker and power-loom in the same manner."
Tags: materialsim, unpaid, laborer, society, worker, productive, individual, force
Abstract This paper discusses the labor laws relevant to the guarantee of a non-discriminatory work environment. It focuses on how labor laws are applied within the labor union environment in protecting against discrimination. It explains that the labor laws in the United States are primarily governed by the U.S. Department of Labor which oversees approximately 180 various laws and regulations governing employment.
From the Paper "Labor laws in the United States are overseen by the Department of Labor which, collectively, oversees approximately 180 various federal labor oriented laws. This body of laws and regulations oversee many workplace activities relevant to more than 10 million unique employers and more than 125 million unique employees. The following major labor laws constitute some of the most broadly applicable and well-known labor laws. Additionally, since unions constitute some the largest forces in labor across North America, labor laws pertinent to unions are also discussed. However, it should be mentioned that regardless of union membership, union members are, of course, entitled to the same protections on the existing body of labor laws that any employee is as well as a host of other protections vis-?vis his or her union contract. Pay & Schedule The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) outlines the standards for wages and overtime pay, which affect most private and public employment in ..."
Abstract This paper examines how one of the most important laws concerning child labor was the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. It looks at how with its provisions imposing severe civil and criminal penalties and allowing for confiscation of good made with child labor, the Fair Labor Standards Act forced employers to stop using children in thousands of jobs. With remarkable success, the law simply outlawed child labor.
From the Paper "Among the social reform advocates of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, no issue roused more determined calls for action than child labor. Florence Kelly of Hull House was among the first to report on the matter, but soon there were numerous rigorously researched reports, telling of children underpaid, overworked, uneducated, and profoundly unhappy with their lot. While many of the working children were in agriculture, the worst conditions were in manufacturing, whether in southern textile mills, northern canneries, urban tenements, or mountain coal mines. "
Abstract In this article, the writer explains that labor migration vis-a-vis female domestic labor is the temporary movement of women, predominantly, but not exclusively, from the third world, to another global region wherein they work as servants so as to accumulate capital that they then can return to their families back home in the form of remittances. Besides being a highly gendered phenomenon, some have argued that the aforementioned labor migration renders these women little more than the contemporary "servants of globalization." The writer argues that this both is, and is not, the case. Specifically, the writer maintains that while these women certainly do serve the interests of others and certainly do find themselves performing menial tasks, they do not necessarily face the same burdens as "servants" from previous ages; that is to say, there are legal protections in place for all workers in developed lands and the increased scrutiny now surrounding the phenomenon of third-world labor migration makes it less likely for these women to be taken advantage of. The writer concludes that while it is largely true that domestic laborers are the "servants of (twenty-first century) globalization," one must be careful to avoid associating their plight with the truly harrowing plight of previous generations of servants.
From the Paper "In addition, while the global economy may make it easier for affluent individuals in the developed world to find cheap domestic labor abroad, the highly-integrated global economy also allows domestic laborers alternatives that might not have been available even a generation ago. To wit, if a domestic worker or care-giver is unsatisfied with the state of things in one part of the world, she can utilize the internet, liberalized rules (in most countries) vis-a-vis work visas and citizenship application, and the assistance of mass communication technology that allows for expeditious communication between global networks of similarly-situated workers, to find a position more in keeping with her desires.
"The idea of globalization serving domestic laborers by bringing them into contact with other, similarly-situated individuals through mass communication (even as it also isolates them from loved ones) deserves some further illustration."
Abstract This paper discusses how the national labor movement of Japan has traditionally been controlled by the nation's political factions. The writer describes the plight of Japanese workers in modern times, as labor unions that served the needs of management rather than the workers were created. The writer also discusses the rise of a national labor organization called Rengo in the 1990s in response to the control of the employee unions by political factions. However, the political entities within the nation reacted by creating a "union" that sought to end the efforts of the national labor movement and force the maintenance of policies that were intended to continue to oppress the workers of Japan.
From the Paper "According to Oaks "Japanese workers have failed to achieve labor rights that are standard fare throughout the developed world" (para. 4). In the 1980s it was evident that workers in Japan were faced with 46-48 hour days with no benefits, such as sick leave and a social security system for their retirement (Oaks para. 5). Oaks reported that regardless of the fact that the salaries that Japanese workers earned were comparable to workers in the United States, the ability of the Japanese worker to provide for his family was more difficult because of the increased cost of living (para. 6). The labor movement in Japan has continuously fought for worker rights that would address these problems. However, even when the government or political realm agrees to make changes to policy, those changes are generally masked by conditions of change that alleviate the actual policy from making a difference."
Tags: unrest productivity profit, International Labor Organization, law industry
Abstract This paper describes the unfair labor practices during the 1930s. The author relates, section by section, the 1935 National Labor Relations Act, also known as the Wagner Act after New York Senator Robert Wagner who backed it, which was passed to counteract some of these unfair labor practices such as child labor. The paper explains how the existence of the NLRA helped pave the way for many of the labor laws, which are taken for granted today, including the civil rights laws of the 1950s and 60s.
From the Paper "Section 8 of the NLRA listed, and prohibited, five unfair labor practices. Employers were prohibited from interfering with the employees union. This interference was interpreted as more than intimidation. Employers could not give conditions to any financial support they might offer. If they chose to contribute money or resources to the union it had to be with no strings attached.
Also, employers could not interfere with or restrain employees while they were exercise their right to organize or bargain collectively. Next, employers could not put conditions on employment, which could be interpreted to preclude or force union involvement."
Abstract The basis of Smith's theories about the division of labor in human production rests in his repeated reference to "the natural" effects of production. Marx, on the other hand, understands production as a structure that is premised on social inequalities amongst humans. Where Smith regards "self-interest" as the natural force behind increasing a nation's wealth, Marx regards differences in social class as the source of exploitation in labor. Smith idealizes the division of labor, and Marx & Engels both regard exploitation of social inequality as the basis for divisions in labor.
Abstract This paper explains that the division of labor is a significant concept which involves both the process itself and the effects of the process on laborers. More specifically, the paper explains that the division of labor is a fundamental theoretical and practical principle that involves the actual process of separating labor into distinct roles which do not let the worker manufacture a completed product, but rather separates the work into dissociated roles which are picked up by different skilled and semi-skilled workers, each completing a part of the process.
From the Paper "The result and goal of this process is ultimately profit. And it follows that the capitalists running the production operation will use the division of labor to separate their working pools into skilled, highly-paid labor and semi-skilled, low-pay labor. Barbara Garson, realizing this conclusion, calls even the efficiency of the division of labor into question: "The main advantage of the auto assembly line to an employer is not speed but control... the requirement for control over unwilling workers shapes the division of labor at least as much as any straightforward calculation of the most efficient methods." The workers are perhaps thus unwilling because the division of labor has rendered the satisfaction possible and perhaps inherent in making a whole product from its individual parts to a more mechanistic process of manufacture in which one worker is responsible solely for a monotonously repeated process of sub-manufacture in which the worker feels naturally dissociated from the end product of his/her labors."
Abstract This paper discusses two Hollywood films on labor unions, corruption and labor-capital conflict. It explores how each film depicts union activity. The films are Elia Kazan's 1954 "On the Waterfront" and Paul Schrader's 1997 "Blue Collar. The paper examines the different style and approach to union politics of each film.
From the Paper Hollywood has often used its capacity as a producer of popular entertainment to address political and ideological concerns..."
Abstract This paper discusses child labor laws in the United States. It starts off by discussing the history of child labor in this country and why there was a great need for reform. It also tells the reader the struggle that reformers went through to get child labor laws on the books. Next, the laws regarding child labor are discussed for today's times. The consequences of violating the laws are also mentioned.
From the Paper "The United States government has enacted many laws and regulations over the years to protect the rights of workers in this country from unfair labor practices, employment discrimination and abuse. One of the groups of people that the government has enacted this type of legislation to protect is that of children, some of the most vulnerable workers. Throughout this paper I will examine child labor laws in the United States. I will give the background for such laws and the history of child labor in this country, including situations which created the needs for these laws. Furthermore, I will discuss how these laws have evolved over the years and what effect child labor laws have on the workplace today. Although child labor is not a big issue today as far more youth are in school than working during current times, this was not always the case."
