Global Working Conditions Matter for American Workers - The American Prospect

[justaprogressive]

When workers in Michigan demand higher wages, employers threaten to move production to Mexico. When workers in Alabama organize, companies say, “It’s cheaper for us to do this in China.” Unchecked power of multinational corporations forces the most vulnerable workers across the globe to endure poverty wages and unsafe conditions. This is true here at home and abroad.

This is why we need an economic policy that prioritizes the well-being of workers around the world. We need a policy that recognizes that the right to organize is good for all workers, and that trade should be used to create opportunity, grow good jobs, and build a strong middle class everywhere.

This was the vision behind President Biden’s global labor rights strategy, announced in November 2023. It was the vision behind the Biden Department of Labor (DOL), which prioritized investments in and support for workers’ rights, including protecting the right of Indonesian workers to unionize in critical minerals sectors; supporting labor rights and preventing violence against maquila workers in Guatemala; addressing child labor in cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and combating forced labor in the cotton sector in Uzbekistan. These efforts matter not only because every worker should be treated with dignity and respect, and not only because cobalt mined in the DRC is used in American cars and cell phones. These programs also help level the playing field for workers in the U.S.

All of these efforts to lift up working people and protect U.S. workers have been eliminated by Elon Musk’s cuts. To say these cuts benefit American workers is both ignorant and dangerous.

The work at DOL to protect international labor rights is carried out by the Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB). The majority of this work is about combating child labor and forced labor. For example, DOL’s 2023 annual child labor report led Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire—countries that produce cocoa for chocolate bought by American consumers—to take steps to address child labor. Uzbekistan successfully addressed forced labor and child labor in the cotton sector, which competes with American cotton growers and exporters. Argentina’s government and private sector built technical assistance programs developed by the DOL in the blueberry sector, ensuring that children and teenagers had access to childcare and enrichment programs, effectively addressing child labor in that sector.

https://prospect.org/labor/2025-03-30-global-working-conditions-matter-american-workers-su-tai-ilab/

[Blue Full Moon]

1. But they are going to bring jobs back to the USA

Not