Human Rights
Workers' Rights Archive
PROTECTING WORKERS ON THE JOB: SEVEN PRIORITIES FOR FEDERAL ACTION
IN 2009. American Public Health Association. Robert Harrison and
Celeste Monforton. Web posted February 1, 2009.
Full Text [PDF format, 6 pages]
Advocates for worker health and safety provides recommendations for
reversing the erosion of protections for the nation’s workers. Citing
lagging federal enforcement of existing standards and inaction on
passing tougher new standards, the American Public Health Association’s
(APHA)
Occupational Health and Safety Section and the National Council on
Occupational Safety and Health called for immediate action to minimize
work-related injuries and illnesses that can cause serious health
problems.
[Note: contains copyrighted material]
THE UNPAID CARE WORK-PAID WORK CONNECTION. Levy Economic Institute, Bard College. Rania Anonopoulos. Web posted August 6, 2008.
Full Text [PDF format, 96 pages]
The gender-based wage differentials and occupational segregation continue to characterize the division of labor among men and women in paid work. However, unpaid work in social reproduction, subsistence production, family businesses, and the community is often ignored. Beyond the obvious gender inequalities, unpaid work constitutes an integral part of any functioning economy, and as such is linked to economic growth, government policy, migration, and many development issues. The paper concludes that gender equality must be understood through the paid–unpaid work continuum.
[Note: contains copyrighted material]
THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY: JOB QUALITY IN THE UNITED STATES OVER THE THREE MOST RECENT BUSINESS CYCLES.
John Schmitt. Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR). Web posted November 6, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 27 pages]
[Note: Contains copyrighted material.]
This report looks at "good jobs" over the last three business cycles that occurred during the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. For this report, a good job is defined as one that pays at least $17 per hour and offers employer-provided health benefits. The data for this report come from the March Current Population Survey covering the years 1979 through 2006. This annual review finds that the 2000s business cycle has "consistently under-performed comparable periods during the preceding two cycles…"
DEATH ON THE JOB: THE TOLL OF NEGLECT: A NATIONAL AND STATE-BY-STATE PROFILE OF WORKER SAFETY AND HEALTH IN THE UNITED STATES. American Federal of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO). Web posted April 27, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 154 pages]
This is the 16th year that the AFL-CIO has published this report. This report contains information on the “state of safety and health protections for America’s workers. The report includes state-by-state profiles of workers’ safety and health and features state and national information on workplace fatalities, injuries, illnesses, the number and frequency of workplace inspections, penalties and public-employee coverage under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHAct). It also includes information on the state of mine safety and health.”
INTERNATIONAL PUBLICS STRONGLY FAVOR LABOR AND ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS IN TRADE AGREEMENTS.
World Public Opinion.org., Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA). Web posted March 21, 2007.
Full Text [html format, var. pagings]
According to this survey, a majority of the populations in developing and middle income countries around the world support trade agreements that include minimum labor and environmental standards. Additionally, ninety percent of the Americans polled support these protections. However, leaders of less developed nations generally oppose trade agreements that include mandating minimum standards for working conditions and environmental protections.
UNDERSTANDING LOW-WAGE WORK IN THE UNITED STATES.
Heather Boushey, Shawn Fremstad, Rachel Gragg, and Margy Waller. The Mobility Agenda and the Center for Economic Policy and Research. Web posted March 15, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 24 pages]
Over 40 million jobs in the U.S. (about 1 in 3) pay low wages—defined as $11.11 per hour or less. Most of these jobs do not offer employment benefits such as health insurance, retirement accounts, and paid sick days or family leave. This report analyzes labor market data to provide a better picture of the low-wage labor market. The report also examines whether an opportunity exists for these workers to move out of the low-wage market into better-paying jobs.
MAJOR ISSUES IN THE FEDERAL LAW OF EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION, FOURTH EDITION.
George Rutherglen.
Federal Judicial Center (FJC). August 2004.
Download the document [pdf format, 196 pages]
The fourth edition of this document discusses developments in the law through June 2004, including changes resulting from the Civil Rights Act of 1991 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. It covers such issues as claims of disparate treatment and disparate impact, affirmative action, and discrimination on the basis of sex, national origin, and religion. Other federal remedies for employment discrimination are also discussed.
The author's findings have confirmed several trends first evident in the legislation of the early 1990s. The law has evolved toward ever more intricate statutory provisions and correspondingly detailed judicial decisions. It has also relied increasingly on damages as a remedy for employment discrimination and therefore on tort principles to determine liability. Newer statutes have also shifted away from racial discrimination as the principal target of civil rights laws and toward discrimination on other grounds, such as disability. An introductory section places these developments in the context of previously enacted statutes.