I was a slave in Puglia. A long first-person exposé, in English, about immigrant slave labor in Italy, from Fabrizio Gatti writing in the Italian newspaper L'Espresso. "I can hire you. Tomorrow," he promises. "Do you have a girl friend?" "A girlfriend?" "You have to bring me a woman. For the boss. If you bring him one, he'll put you to work right away. Any girl will do." He points to a twenty year-old woman and her companion, working on the conveyor belt of a huge tractor that is being used to gather tomatoes. "Those two are Romanians, just like you. She slept with the boss." "But I'm alone." "No work for you then." Photo galleries. Italian version (includes additional sidebars not found in the English version, including local and government reaction to the exposé and more photo galleries under the sidebar "Reportage Fotografico.")
posted by Mo Nickels on Sep 4, 2006 - 16 comments

Big Brother Nixes Happy Hour National Labor Relations Board Green Lights Ban on Off-Duty Fraternizing Among Co-Workers It is a regular pastime for co-workers to chat during a coffee break, at a union hall, or over a beer about workplace issues, good grilling recipes, and celebrity gossip. Yet a recent ruling by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) allows employers to ban off-duty fraternizing among co-workers, severely weakening the rights of free association and speech, and violating basic standards of privacy for America's workers.
posted by jackspace on Jul 29, 2005 - 50 comments

Many of you will lose your overtime benefits today. Welcome to Monday morning!
posted by RavinDave on Aug 23, 2004 - 65 comments

Minimum wage is San Fransisco is now $8.50. Minimum wage in New York City is $5.15 per hour. Minimum wages from around the United States.
posted by the fire you left me on Feb 2, 2004 - 125 comments

Shooting the messenger. "The Bush administration, under fire for its handling of the economy, has quietly killed off a Labor Department program that tracked mass layoffs by U.S. companies." (via madamjujujive)
posted by four panels on Jan 4, 2003 - 38 comments

Department of Labor eliminating women's bureau? Posted on the CWA site is some info on how the Bush Administration is trying to close all of the regional offices of the Women's Bureau at the Labor Department. I guess, since we're being paid almost 73% of what men are, we should be grateful and assume that this 80 year institution has done all it can do for women?
posted by dejah420 on Jan 10, 2002 - 24 comments

Debunking the Myth of a Desperate Software Labor Shortage. This recently updated and very extensive study by a member of the CS department at UC Davis CS outlines the issues involved for new and old programmers, including how there isn't really a shortage of programmers in the US, employers are just extremely picky. Also provides suggestions for programmers wanting to keep up with their skills to stay in the industry.
posted by valerie on Aug 1, 2001 - 9 comments