Since the middle of the 19th century, when the industrial revolution first made significant impacts on social and economic life in the United States, labor unions have been respected and efficacious models of worker unification. That being said, the industrial revolution is old news. The digital revolution, also known as the third industrial revolution, has taken hold of modern lives. Jobs have become more specific and machines have replaced human workers in certain unskilled positions.
So what role does the union play in today’s economy? To understand, it is necessary to know how unions have always worked.
Unions have, since their inception, been organizations of workers dedicated to maintaining and, if need be, improving working conditions. They run a bit like mini-democracies: elected officials make decisions on behalf of the workers who elect them. Also like most democracies, workers pay for membership. They do this with tax-esque, regular payments, much of which go to those of the union’s staff members who aren’t volunteers.
The goals of unions are simple: to better working conditions. This mission can take many shapes, including pushing for increases in minimum wage and in worker productivity (often done by administering training programs), as well as trade restrictions, such as government-imposed tariffs and quotas. Tariffs are special taxes on imported or exported goods. Quotas are limits on the amount of a certain good that can be imported or exported.
Although there are basic goals common amongst most, if not all, unions, there are several varieties. These organizations represent, after all, different quantities and qualities of professional workers. As a small sampling, unions represent mechanics, teachers, factory workers, office workers, actors, musicians, police officers, construction workers, janitors, writers, doctors, engineers, plumbers and pharmacists, as well as countless others.
Local unions are comprised of local workers, usually bound by sector and region, not employer. They typically receive a charter from a national or international union before forming. There are over 60 national and international unions across the United States and Canada, representing millions of professionals.
Of these local and broad coalitions, there are slightly more specific trade and industrial unions. Trade unions represent workers who work a specific trade, such as those represented by The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations. Industrial unions, alternatively, represent workers who work a specific industry, including those represented by The United Auto Workers.
During the first industrial revolution, unions began to form alongside companies operating within steel mills, textile factories, mines and other heavily regulated environments. Because of this, unions are often associated with the “old economy,” but the new economy is, of course, where unions must work today.
As small and medium sized businesses outside of manufacturing become more prevalent, unions become increasingly general and must represent a much wider range of employees. This makes collective bargaining, a technique unions employ to facilitate negotiations between employers and employees, a more difficult task than it used to be. Naturally, since there are more managers with whom to negotiate and more potential hangups to avoid, the process may be elongated. Settlements may become compromised as unions juggle an array of workers.
These effects, however, are mostly speculative. In general, the union has been and continues to be, at least for today, an effective and empowering tool workers use and need.
– Adam Kaminski
Sources: Investopedia, Union Plus
Photo: The Century Foundation
The Fluctuating Latin American Economy
The Latin American economy has experienced a period of great fluctuation since 2010. Whenever there is good news, there seems to be an equal and opposite force of bad news applied. Constant fluctuation has curbed poverty and opened the door to the middle class, only to have that door slam close. There are several key points to consider as to why this is.
In the past decade, nearly 50 percent of those in poverty have risen above the poverty ranking. But many are still struggling to enter the middle class. Around 200 million, or over two-thirds of the population, are at a high risk of falling back into poverty.
To fully understand this, it is necessary to know how economic divisions are classed in Latin America. Twenty-five percent of Latin Americans are earning less than $4 USD per day and this is considered living in poverty. Some 34 percent earn between $10 and $50 USD per day and these individuals are judged to be middle class. When someone earns between $4 and $10 USD, they are part of the vulnerable class. This final group accounts for 38 percent of the population.
The UNDP disclosed this information in the 2014 Human Development Report; a report that uses data as recent as August 24 of the same year.
But not all news is bad.
The middle class of the combined Latin America and Caribbean grew from 21 percent to 34 percent equaling 81 million individuals in the time period form 2000-2012. The vulnerable population grew from 35 percent to 38 percent. The UNDP recognized poverty dropping from 42 percent to 25 percent over that same time period as a significant regional achievement.
Now, Jessica Faieta, the UNDP Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, says the good news might be running out unless a change is made.
“It is very clear that using the same policies will not provide the same results,” said Faieta. “More than ever, the region must invest in universal social protection, particularly in the most critical phases of life, as is the case with children, the elderly and youth entering the labor market.”
Other analysts agree with her conclusion. The region lacks critical social protection, a defense that has been pinpointed as crucial to long-term economic growth. Nearly 50 percent of the country lacks access to medical services, a retirement pension or a labor contract. If this is not amended, the region cannot be expected to grow at the same rate indefinitely.
– Andrew Rywak
Sources: UNDP, The Economist, BBC
Nigerian Startups Number One
When startups in Africa are discussed, people often generalize the continent as a whole. But it seems that Nigerian startups in particular are making big strides toward being the future of business on the continent. A slew of investments and ideas suggest the country will be the most prominent for some time.
In April 2014, the Nigerian economy added 89 percent to the GDP literally overnight. After adjusting its figures, the country is now worth $510 billion, easily surpassing the now number two South Africa at $370 billion.
The country did not have to squeeze the numbers, per se, but simply updated figures that were two decades old. The economy had been growing steadily at 7 percent per year but this year, the appropriate values to the banking industry and the burgeoning film scene were added, among other areas.
Despite all the other numerous problems the country faces—like ranking 153 out of 187 on the U.N. Human Development Index—its position as number one should prove to be a much needed boon.
And so far it has, at least for the startups that are quickly appearing in the country.
In the technology sector, incubation center Co-Creation Hub has made $500,000 available in order to fund ideas and experimentation. Startups will be given between $10,000 and $25,000 to clarify ideas and work out issues with business models.
Other companies are excited about the future of tech in Nigeria as well. Microsoft Corporation will sponsor the 2014 DEMO Africa Event, which is scheduled to take place in late September. The event will feature the top 40 startups from the country.
One company featuring at this convention will be Integrated Medics. In a country that needs to advance its healthcare as quickly as possible, it is certainly a highlight that a medical care startup will be featured. The startup plans and promises to deliver smooth and mostly automated healthcare features.
The outlook for the Nigerian economy overall is positive. As the country continues to grow (it’s expected to surpass the United States in total population by 2050), it must also continue to rely on both small and big business to keep its place as the number one African economy.
– Andrew Rywak
Sources: The Economist, This Day Live, The Tribune 1, htxt.africa, The Tribune 2
Latter-Day Saint Charities
Jose Perez, a citizen of the Dominican Republic, contracted polio at only eight months old. He has not been able to walk since age 11 and depends solely on a wheelchair to go the eight kilometers to work each day. Without the humanitarian efforts of the Latter-Day Saint Charities, he would never have had access to a stable and working wheelchair. He thus would never have been able to get to work and provide for his family.
Latter-Day Saint Charities was established by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in 1996. The organization is inspired by the Bible and the acts of Jesus Christ, who selflessly gave himself to the betterment of other people. Despite being a Christian religion, the LDS Charities is a non-biased organization, and has helped people from 179 countries around the globe.
The current bishop, Gary E. Stevenson, reiterates on the LDS philanthropy website the organization’s motto, which states that donations are truly “changing and saving lives.” He is very proud of the work done and the humanitarian aid that has been donated. The charity reminds us that every single dollar donated goes directly to help the poor and needy.
According to the charity’s website, members state, “We provide emergency relief assistance in times of natural disasters. In addition, our primary community development programs include clean water, neonatal resuscitation training, vision care, wheelchairs, immunizations, food production and other health programs.”
According to the charity’s 2013 Annual Report, the charity made significant headway in dealing with these various issues. In 2013 alone, LDS provided over 66,000 people around the world with wheelchairs. They built water and sanitation systems in 36 countries and taught people valuable lessons about hygiene. In addition, Latter-Day Saint Charities worked alongside doctors around the world to aid in correcting vision issues and providing medical supplies. The facts go on and on.
There are three primary ways we, as people outside of the organization, can help. First, we can donate either online or by sending a check to the LDS office in Salt Lake City, Utah. Secondly, LDS suggests people can volunteer within their own churches, whether it be through media production or tracking records. Lastly, we can become full-time volunteers and missionaries around the world.
Whatever charity you choose, it’s important that as members of the same world, we do what we can to take care of each other.
– Kathleen Lee
Sources: LDS Philanthropy, LDS Charities
Photo: Mormon Church
Poverty and Crime Linked
“Poverty is the parent of crime,” wrote Aristotle. The philosopher’s words have echoed for thousands of years and it is hard to deny that the two are not intrinsically linked. But recent studies have ripped the statement into an open debate and the genealogy has been brought into question.
The most pertinent study was conducted in 2011, after the height of conflicts in Afghanistan and Congo, while violence was on the rise in countries like Côte D’Ivoire and Libya. But the World Bank’s flagship publication, World Development Report, argued that violence is in fact the primary cause of poverty.
The two African nations Burundi and Burkino Faso are used as anecdotal reference that supports the raw data. The two had similar growth rates prior to 1990, when Burundi erupted into civil war. Now, Burkino Faso is 250 percent wealthier.
The research indicates that poor African countries are not in a “poverty trap” so much as they are in a violence trap. A poverty trap suggests that workmen, like farmers, are hesitant to take care of their crops because the insufficient infrastructure means the roads are unable to support large cargo. In theory, wealthier countries can help by pumping aid to build such a road.
While such construction is noble and beneficial to all involved parties, it is only the first step in creating orderly society. Even with roads and a lack of faith in the government, rebel stop and seizures and organized crime will make the farmer all the more hesitant to take the road even when it is there.
Still, data also backs the notion that these countries are violent because they are poor, as well. The World Bank report asked why young people joined gangs and rebel movements. Around 40 percent said unemployment was the primary factor.
What this means, generally, is that in addition to aid that prevents the poverty trap, violence is an issue that needs to be addressed. The Millennium Development Goals, for example, have not been reached by any violent country. And the fact that the MDGs do not address justice and security demonstrates that further steps that are necessary.
One tested manner of reducing violence is restoring faith in government. Ghana’s peace deal in 2003 and Nigeria’s credible cabinet appointments of recent years launched periods of relative peace. It is not enough that the people believe elected officials are not corrupt: the officials must also deliver results. New jobs must be created quickly.
Reports such as these show that while reaching MDGs is important, aid must be refocused and have a human aspect if they want to be more successful.
– Andrew Rywak
Sources: The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, Fundamental Finance
Photo: Ace Showbiz
Gender-Based Violence: A Global Issue
In the wake of the release of Ray Rice’s assault on Janay Palmer, reports of the NFL’s lack of punishment for other domestic violence and sexual assault cases have flooded the media. Many are calling for a boycott of the industry; others demand the resignation of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
This has not been the only news in gender-based violence within the United States. Men and women on college campuses have called attention to the high rates of sexual assault at colleges and universities across the country. Increased exposure also revealed the lack of effective investigation or punishment for the perpetrator. Even after the federal government became involved, lack of action at colleges and universities continues.
The problem of violence toward women is not limited to the United States. In many cases, incidence of sexual violence is closely related to poverty.
In India, survivors of sexual violence often experience the same lack of investigation and justice that survivors in the United States do. Al Jazeera reports that, in India, many women are offered a bribe in exchange for the perpetrator going free. These bribes do not come free of fear. In some cases, women are intimidated into dropping the charges.
In Fugana, India, this was the case for a 24-year-old woman, who, allegedly, was raped by three men. For other women, religious riots incited gang rapes, but fear of further attack prevents them from reporting the crimes. Even if survivors file reports, the conviction rate is only 25 percent.
According to SN Chaudhary, poverty plays a role in the occurrence of sexual violence in India. Women in lower socioeconomic groups are more often victims of rape. Higher rates of rape victims were illiterate than literate, suggesting a higher level of financial and social vulnerability.
In Uttar Pradesh, high rates of women have been raped while going to their bathroom outside. Over 90 percent of rape victims were Dalits, or members of the lowest caste. Most of these victims were minors.
More than that, high rates of sexual violence are an indicator of a highly patriarchal societal structure, which contributes to high rates of poverty.
How so? Survivors suffer from a high level of shame because they feel that their honor and respect are lost. In some cases, this translates into a loss of respect and honor for the family. This can lead to a lack of economic opportunity and isolation from a community. If women targeted come from poor backgrounds, rape often locks them into poverty.
As of 2013, India ranked 134 of 187 countries on a United Nations measurement of gender disparities in education, employment, health care and political representation. Limiting women’s access to these basic rights reduces the opportunity for nearly half of the population to reach financial security.
Allowing women to escape poverty can contribute to entire families reaching a new socioeconomic level and increasing access to education, healthcare and other key components of poverty reduction.
– Tara Wilson
Sources: Al Jazeera, PolicyMic, Human Rights and Poverty in India
Sources: EEA Grants
Hip-Hop Educators Fight Ebola
Concern regarding Ebola has reached all corners of the globe. This year alone, the epidemic has contributed to the deaths of at least 2,400 people in the West African region. The World Health Organization also estimates around 79 health workers have been killed.
As the death toll escalates, authorities struggle to keep up with the rising number of people needing care. Clinics do not have enough workers—or even enough beds—to successfully treat everyone affected. Patients are being turned away, and as a result are bringing the virus back with them to their communities.
Despite the growing international response, with the U.K. and the U.S. promising to open new treatment centers in the region, there is still a heavy demand for health workers to come to the region. With an inability to keep the situation under control, public education has become a crucial component in addressing the epidemic.
Consider West Point, an impoverished neighborhood in Liberia’s capital Monrovia, where residents stormed an Ebola holding facility as a protest. The government responded with an overnight lock down on August 20. The quarantine ended 10 days later, after a number of additional protests.
The event is an important example of how shifting the community culture is crucial to addressing the disease. Many West Point inhabitants realized after the quarantine the true seriousness of the epidemic. A number of communities were convinced the epidemic was a government hoax, but now acknowledge the reality of the disease and have rallied against it.
Tan Tan B and Quincy B are Liberian hip-hop artists who try to convey the reality of Ebola through meaningful lyrics like “Ring the alarm, turn on the sirens. I see my people dying, but nobody’s firing.” Similarly, another popular song called “Ebola’s In Town” tells people to avoid touching friends to limit spreading of the virus. “Di Ebola Song” is a hit in Sierra Leone that encourages people to seek early medical attention.
Music can’t save a dying person, but community education efforts combat the spread of disease. Dr. Ibrahim Wadembere, a public health consultant in Uganda, explains the importance of community awareness for Ebola outbreaks in the region. He writes that community empowerment spreads awareness of how the disease is caught and spread, but also creates morale and prevents public panic.
As the world faces a clear lack of resources in addressing the epidemic, the importance of public education only grows. We may not be able to immediately create more clinics and find more doctors, but we can educate communities on disease prevention.
The community is the root of the disease’s spread, and prevention, intervention and control measures can only be implemented through the community. Making the ideas accepted and understood by community members will help maintain safety as the world scrambles to find ways to put a stop to this deadly outbreak.
– Fabeeha Ahmed
Sources: NPR 1, NPR 2, Academia, BBC
The Union in a Modern Economy
Since the middle of the 19th century, when the industrial revolution first made significant impacts on social and economic life in the United States, labor unions have been respected and efficacious models of worker unification. That being said, the industrial revolution is old news. The digital revolution, also known as the third industrial revolution, has taken hold of modern lives. Jobs have become more specific and machines have replaced human workers in certain unskilled positions.
So what role does the union play in today’s economy? To understand, it is necessary to know how unions have always worked.
Unions have, since their inception, been organizations of workers dedicated to maintaining and, if need be, improving working conditions. They run a bit like mini-democracies: elected officials make decisions on behalf of the workers who elect them. Also like most democracies, workers pay for membership. They do this with tax-esque, regular payments, much of which go to those of the union’s staff members who aren’t volunteers.
The goals of unions are simple: to better working conditions. This mission can take many shapes, including pushing for increases in minimum wage and in worker productivity (often done by administering training programs), as well as trade restrictions, such as government-imposed tariffs and quotas. Tariffs are special taxes on imported or exported goods. Quotas are limits on the amount of a certain good that can be imported or exported.
Although there are basic goals common amongst most, if not all, unions, there are several varieties. These organizations represent, after all, different quantities and qualities of professional workers. As a small sampling, unions represent mechanics, teachers, factory workers, office workers, actors, musicians, police officers, construction workers, janitors, writers, doctors, engineers, plumbers and pharmacists, as well as countless others.
Local unions are comprised of local workers, usually bound by sector and region, not employer. They typically receive a charter from a national or international union before forming. There are over 60 national and international unions across the United States and Canada, representing millions of professionals.
Of these local and broad coalitions, there are slightly more specific trade and industrial unions. Trade unions represent workers who work a specific trade, such as those represented by The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations. Industrial unions, alternatively, represent workers who work a specific industry, including those represented by The United Auto Workers.
During the first industrial revolution, unions began to form alongside companies operating within steel mills, textile factories, mines and other heavily regulated environments. Because of this, unions are often associated with the “old economy,” but the new economy is, of course, where unions must work today.
As small and medium sized businesses outside of manufacturing become more prevalent, unions become increasingly general and must represent a much wider range of employees. This makes collective bargaining, a technique unions employ to facilitate negotiations between employers and employees, a more difficult task than it used to be. Naturally, since there are more managers with whom to negotiate and more potential hangups to avoid, the process may be elongated. Settlements may become compromised as unions juggle an array of workers.
These effects, however, are mostly speculative. In general, the union has been and continues to be, at least for today, an effective and empowering tool workers use and need.
– Adam Kaminski
Sources: Investopedia, Union Plus
Photo: The Century Foundation
New Standards for Poverty Line in India
India’s Economic Advisory Council enacted its highest standard for poverty this summer. The new standards will place 30 percent of the nation’s population below the poverty line. This adds an extra eight percent to the estimate under previous standards.
By the new benchmarks, a rural family of five living on 4,860 rupees (or about $80) a month or an urban family on 7,035 rupees (at 2011-12 prices) is considered poor.
Despite encompassing more citizens under the poverty line in India, these new standards reflect progress. This year, after recent elections and a new government, marks the first time the nation has taken on major economic reform in two decades.
Over the past 20 years, the Indian economy has witnessed rapid changes. The United Nations reported that the Indian economy is expected to grow at a rate of 5.6 percent this year. It is on track to surpass these expectations, already having expanded its economy by 5.7 percent by August. The manufacturing and mining industries have accounted for this growth, according to the Central Statistics Office.
These changes will better acknowledge and help address the actual needs of the Indian population, argue many economists.
This new definition puts India’s standards above the average in the developing world. The most popular definition of poverty is the World Bank’s $1.25 a day standard. Some economists argue that this low standard of poverty undermines the struggles of many legitimately poor families. A low bar for poverty often minimizes legitimate needs for poor families that are above the bar.
This perpetuates many myths about poverty. For example, many believe food is the biggest need for India’s poor. However, health care, drinking water and proper sanitation make up 40 percent of the poor’s biggest needs, according to the Director of McKinsey Global Institute Richard Dobbs.
“The kinds of contrasts we possess, no other country has,” said Himanshu, an economist at Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi, in an interview with the Washington Post. “And in a democracy, these things need to be questioned. That’s what the poverty lines do.”
— Ellie Sennett
Sources: Business Standard, The New York Times, The World Bank, The Wall Street Journal, Economic Times (India), Huffington Post
Top Charities to Donate to for Hunger
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization has estimated that around 870 million people of the 7.1 billion people in the world – that is, one in eight – were suffering from undernourishment between 2010 and 2012. Almost all the hungry people, 852 million to be exact, live in developing countries.
There are 16 million people undernourished in developed countries. Thankfully the number of undernourished people has decreased almost 30 percent in Asia and the Pacific, from 739 million to 563 million.
The decline in hungry people could be accredited to charities that make it their mission to end world hunger. One charity helping alleviate hunger for example treated 42,000 severely malnourished children in Democratic Republic of Congo in 2012. This charity is called Action Against Hunger.
Action Against Hunger has 30 years of expertise in specific areas like conflict, natural disaster and chronic food insecurity. It runs life-saving programs in over 40 countries benefiting seven million people each year.
In America, the number one charity to donate to for hunger is Feeding America. Formerly known as America’s Second Harvest, it provides food assistance to more than 25 million low-income people facing hunger in the United States, including more than nine million children and almost three million seniors. Feeding America services all 50 states with more than 200 food banks.
While considering which charity to donate to, a third charity to consider is the Bread for the World Institute. The Institute is a lot like The Borgen Project in that it aims to educate its advocacy network, opinion leaders, policy makers and the public about hunger in the United States and abroad. One of the primary goals of the Institute is to end hunger in the United States by 2030.
Thanks to donations and hardworking volunteers, world hunger has been cut in half; however, hunger still kills more people every year than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. For example, Asia currently has the most people on its continent that are hungry, making up about two thirds of the area. In order to stay on track and end hunger by 2030, donations are imperative and any of the charities listed above are rapidly working to make sure the money donated is used in the most efficient way.
– Brooke Smith
Sources: about.com, Bread for the World Institute, Action Against the World, WFP
Photo: flickr
Good360: a Supporter of Charities
Founded in 1983, Good360 has been the nonprofit leader in product philanthropy since its start. Good360, formally known as Gifts In Kind until changing its name in 2011, quickly escalated and became the fastest growing and most efficient charity in the country according to The Nonprofit Times.
The basis of Good360 is it helps companies donate new, nonperishables like apparel, books, toys, personal care products, office and school supplies, and computers along with many other items. Only three years in, product donations valued at almost $44 million that had been distributed to qualified nonprofit organizations.
Because of some of the great work Good360 has done, it has been recognized by both the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy and Forbes for its success in helping companies drive their bottom lines while doing a social good at the same time.
Over time Good360 created something called Retail Donation Partner Program. This program is what allows local charities to partner with retail stores in their communities. This benefits not only the charities but the local retail stores as well in donating their surplus.
For example, the Washington Nationals baseball franchise partnered with Good360 and collected donated toothbrushes for people impacted by the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.
With all these things that the company does and oversees there needed to be a set way of doing things. There are three ways to distribute product donations to the needy: warehoused donations, local retail donations and one-time local donations.
To understand fully how great the company is, it’s important to know how these processes work. The warehouse donations process created an efficient means of maintaining large quantities of product that are then broken up into smaller portions that are easier for charities to distribute.
The local retail donations allow retailers to directly donate to charities in their community. This is beneficial because it helps smaller charities get products straight from local businesses on a continuing basis. This is also good because it creates strong connections between the retailers and charities.
The last way that Good360 distributes product donations is through one-time local donations. This basically entails finding homes quickly that need donations within the local community. This is beneficial because it helps reduce waste and companies don’t need to set up a certain amount that they will always donate each month. It can be an item that they have excess of and, rather than throwing it out, that product can go to a good home. When this happens, local charities are notified of the opportunities for donations in their community and then orders can be filled on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Good360 made it on the Forbes list of the 50 largest charities in the United States. Ranking at number 36, Forbes also gave it 100 percent in the fundraising efficiency category. Only seven of the 50 charities received a 100 percent in the same category.
– Brooke Smith
Sources: Good360, Forbes
Photo: flickr