Sweatshop-coddling, on Steroids

Labor activist Jeff Ballinger asks why the International Labor Organization is expanding its "Better Work" program that promises to improve the life of garment workers by pushing out conflict at the workplace. "Changes comes in society when people get organized and take risks," he says.  This interview on WBEZ's "Worldview" program follows Ballinger's insightful piece on the Better Work phenomenon in the latest issue of Labor Notes magazine.

Should minimum wages extend across borders?

A British workers' rights group is calling for a common minimum wage across Asia, and Labor Notes' Mark Brenner was on PRI's "Marketplace Morning Report" radio show supporting the notion. Multinational companies dodge the issue of how much the people who make their products are paid, he said, and putting a floor below wages across Asia would force companies to stop playing one country off another.