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 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
Innovation and Affordability: d.light Solar
The company d.light manufactures and distributes solar lights and other products to people around the world. Currently, 300 people work to complete the goals of d.light: give reliable energy to 100 million people by 2020. Aside from providing power, d.light notes that reliable power also contributes to better performance in school and better overall safety and health.
Nearly one and a half billion people around the world live without access to electricity. For a fifth of the population, the light switch that most people use every night does not exist. Most people without access to power live in regions with the highest rate of poverty: Southern Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Many without access to power use kerosene lamps. But these are polluting and harmful to the people who use them. Burning one for four hours a day for one year results in 100 kg of carbon dioxide emissions, which contributes to climate change.
For individuals, using kerosene lamps can cause severe respiratory problems. If these health problems do not cause death, they severely limit access to jobs, which limits income and continues the cycle of poverty. As a demonstration of the importance of consistent electricity, it has been shown that household businesses with better lighting have a 30 percent increase in income, simply because it allows people to work at night.
The kerosene lamps are also extremely cost inefficient. LED lights produce almost 100 times more wattage than kerosene lamps. But without other options available, a significant portion of individual or family income goes toward kerosene lamps. Merely limiting access to modern technology results in dangerous, and possibly fatal consequences to people in poverty.
In 2004, Sam Goldman witnessed the effect of kerosene lamps when one burned his neighbor in Benin. This personal contact with the effects of limited access to electricity inspired Goldman to educate himself on sustainable and affordable innovation. During this time, he met Ned Tozun. Together, they created d.light, “an international social enterprise serving households without access to reliable electricity.”
d.light provides products such as study lamps, family lanterns and light systems with a phone charging capability. The products are powered through solar energy and can provide light for up to 15 hours. Indicating that the company knows its consumers, the products are versatile and can withstand the effects of weather or other uncontrollable factors.
As of July 31, d.light has empowered over 37 million lives, given solar lighting to almost 10 million children and saved over $1 billion in energy expenses. For each consumer, buying a d.light product can save approximately $150 over 5 years. Moreover, d.light positively impacted the environment by reducing carbon emissions by nearly 3 million tons.
Witnessing the dangerous affects of limited access to energy, two individuals created innovative yet accessible methods to address a problem associated with poverty. The innovation of d.light helps to alleviate both a cause and a consequence of an enormous issue. The benefits of d.light Solar evidences the significant potential impact of ensuring that people in poverty have access to innovative products.
– Tara Wilson
Sources: CNN, Acumen, d.light Solar
Photo: Discovery
WRF: Helping the Disabled Worldwide
Fifteen percent of the world’s population has some form of disability, leaving approximately 110 million adults with significant difficulties in functioning. Founded in 1955 by Howard Rusk, the World Rehabilitation Fund (WRF) believes that all people, regardless of disabilities, have the right to be part of their communities and to have full access to opportunities like education and employment.
To make good on its belief, WRF has become involved in humanitarian services in the Middle East. The nonprofit is dedicated to provide artificial limb technology to disabled people in Afghanistan, one of the most heavily-mined places in the world. WRF aims to provide fitted limbs to 2,000 amputees. WRF piloted prosthetics limbs in response to devastating natural disasters such as the earthquake that crippled thousands of Pakistanis in 2006. The artificial limbs have proved to be suitable and comfortable for below the knee amputees.
In addition to providing prosthetics, WRF also provides people with living skills and job opportunities, which helps amputees reestablish their self-esteem.
WRF also supports the disabilities by financially supporting the Artisans Association of Cambodia. The AAC sells artisan products made by Cambodians with disabilities and helps them to make a living wage. The sales revenue of the AAC rose from $250,000 in 1999 to over $3,000,000 in 2012, benefiting 2,000 artisans. The AAC exports its products to over 9 countries in Asia, Europe, North America and New Zealand.
Today, the WRF is responding to the civil war in Syria, assisting millions of refugees being forced to flee to neighboring countries such as Lebanon. WRF-Lebanon provides life-changing devices to people with disabilities ranging from hearing aids to artificial limbs. Over 600 people have been helped by WRF and its partners in that war-torn area.
WRF’s sustained efforts to make a difference in the lives of the disabled people across the globe is a testament to their belief that each person’s dignity is interconnected. As Rusk, says, “To believe in rehabilitation is to believe in humanity.”
– Jing Xu
Sources: World Health Organization, The World Rehabilitation Fund
Fast Facts on Hunger in Africa
The first of the U.N. Millennium Development Goals is that of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger. But according to the recently released 2014 Human Development Report, there are still 1.2 billion people living on $1.25 a day or less with little access to adequate food — and a vast majority of Africans fall into this group.
Here are six facts to know about hunger in Africa:
1. Although Africa is the second largest continent and covers close to one fifth of the Earth’s land area, the 54 countries that comprise the continent cannot feed their people. This is not due to a lack of food but instead a lack of agricultural infrastructure, raised food prices, drought and conflict.
2. In the most recent estimate (2010), approximately 239 million people in sub-Saharan Africa were hungry. Out of those, 30 percent were undernourished.
3. There are many mouths to feed. African population growth expanded from 221 million in 1950 to 1 billion in 2009 and is expected to be 4 billion in the year 2100. With such a high population, it is nearly impossible to produce enough food for everyone.
4. Poverty is a cause of hunger, hunger is a cause of poverty. Living under the poverty line makes it extremely difficult to buy food. Without food and with hunger, a person has lack of energy and can develop health problems which mean lost days at work and more medical needs.
5. According to the International Food Policy Research Institute, 160 million African children are malnourished, and one in five children will never reach 5 years of age.
6. Vitamin and mineral deficiencies are a major cause of death in women and children. These deficiencies are often referred to as “hidden hunger.” To combat this problem, UNICEF reported that “The WHO, the New Economic Partnership for African Development, the Development Bank of Southern Africa, the Micronutrient Initiative and the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition” have ensured that two-thirds of the sub-Saharan population now have access to iodized salt and children have been give vitamin A supplements.
While these facts are startling and seem unconquerable, they do not need to be. By moving to action, Africa can put an end to its hunger crisis. Moves to action may include donation to a charity or NGOs, such as The Borgen Project and contacting your state senator and asking them to support increase aid in U.S. foreign policy to end hunger in Africa.
– Kori Withers
Sources: UNICEF, NPR, United Nations, World Issues 360, Hunger Notes, United Nations Development Program
Photo: Flickr
Mountain2Mountain: Bikes for Change
It is illegal for women to ride bikes in Afghanistan. However, bikes have long been a “symbol of freedom of mobility.” In the United States, they were used as such during the women’s suffrage movement of the early 1990s.
M2M was founded in 2006 by Shannon Galpin. In 2009, she became the fist woman to bike across Afghanistan. The goal of this mission was to “challenge perceptions of gender.” One of her biggest inspirations was the four years she worked in Kandahar prison. In this all women’s Afghan prison, Galpin found that women there lacked a voice. These women had passionate stories of struggle and injustice and Galpin wanted to help them be heard.
This inspired the creation of two M2M projects, Combat Apathy and Strength in Numbers. Combat Apathy is the activist wing of M2M and is an online platform where women and men can share their stories of hardship and triumph. Strength in Numbers, or SIN, is a campaign to create awareness and support for women on bikes.
There will be a summit this fall in Rome for SIN in which expansion to other countries will be attempted, as well as a solidarity ride. The project is also organizing U.S. based summer bike camps, which are aimed at young girls who are at risk or have experienced gender violence.
In Afghanistan, though, the biggest accomplishment for the SIN campaign is their support of the women’s cycling team. The project gives support to the team in the form of buying equipment, recruiting coaches, securing sponsorships, arraigning safe travel to and from training and financing regional traveling. SIN has even petitioned for the cycling team’s access as observers to the 2016 Olympics in Brazil, with further efforts to gain access to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
An attempt at expanding the movement outside Kabul has also begun by starting the first women’s mountain biking team in the province of Bamiyan. The team is financed by SIN and given gear and clothing.
The press coverage and international media attention have helped raise the popularity of the cycling team and there has been evidence of growing national pride. This changing perception will help advance women’s rights in Afghanistan.
The goal of the Afghan women’s cycling team is to give women a chance to achieve freedom in an otherwise oppressive country. Cycling on the team is not just about exercise or confidence building for these women. Its about all Afghan women who can gain greater access to education and healthcare by riding bikes. Access to both leads to higher literacy rates and lower maternal mortality.
These women cyclist are extremely brave as they endure a lot of criticism and even violence for their actions: rocks are often thrown at them as they ride and they are insulted by passing cars.
One of the team members, Marjan Sidiqqi, said that, “They tell us that it is not our right to ride our bikes in the streets and such. We tell them that this is our right and that they are taking our right away. Then we speed off.” This is a bold thing to say in a country where many still believe that women who ride bikes dishonor their families and that women’s cycling is a moral crime slightly worse than adultery.
Mountain2Mountain is still in its infancy, so data on the nonprofit is hard to find. It has not yet been reviewed on charity network and not been completely evaluated by GuideStar. This does not mean it is illegitimate, only that attention should be paid to its development and individual and government donors should keep an eye out for possible support now or in future.
— Eleni Marino
Sources: Mountain2Mountain, Combat Apathy, CityLab, GuideStar
Photo: Mountain2Mountain
Hunger in Comoros with Hope on the Rise
The Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy Paper produced by the officials of Comoros stated that, “information on the economic environment supports the assumption that the socio-economic situation is deteriorating and that poverty is on the rise.”
Much of this social upheaval has been attributed to what can only be described as an unstable government. Comoros has been the site of 20 coups and attempted coups since its independence in 1975. The newest elected leader, Ikililou Dhoinine, a native born to the islands, took office in May 2011. He looks to spearhead the reduction of poverty by pledging “to stop at nothing in the fight against corruption.” Despite this hopeful claim, the people of Comoros are among the poorest in Africa and heavily dependent on foreign aid.
But others have joined the goals of Dhoinine. Dominic MacSorley, Chief Executive of Concern stated that, “firefighting with emergency aid is not enough.” Comoros conducted its own comprehensive household survey and found that many locals agreed that the way to bolster the economy was to show “importance of recovery in the private sector, particularly in the agro-foods area, to ensure a robust economic growth and achieve a significant reduction in poverty.”
Engagement Communautaire pour le Développement Durable, or the ECDD, has been working toward just that by creating a model of community landscape management integrating improved livelihoods with natural resource management.
Agroecology and Market Gardening were two of the techniques implemented. Agroecology refers to the process of conserving the land while simultaneously respecting ecological principles and learning from nature. For example, learning how the rainforest continually recycles nutrients back into the soil. Market Gardening is the process of growing vegetables to take to market for a profit.
ECDD’s project slogan, ‘Komori ya lao na meso,’ means ‘The Comoros of today and tomorrow.’ It is plain to see that this slogan was embodied at the very hearts of the ECDD efforts. These practices have set a new precedence in the hopeful fight against hunger in Comoros and the world.
– Frederick Wood II
Sources: International Food Policy Research Institute, ECDD Comoros 1, ECDD Comoros 2, BBC, trust.org, International Monetary Fund
Photo: Flickr
Lingering Malnutrition in Iran
Today, though, Iran has the lowest rate of childhood malnutrition in the region that includes the Middle East and North Africa. Roughly four percent of Iranian children are malnourished, a dramatic decrease from the percentages in the 1960s. Adequate vitamin A consumption is the norm, and 99 percent of households consume iodized salt, which provides the iodine necessary for proper brain development in children.
Thus, Iran was remarkably successful in dealing with the malnutrition problem. However, there is still much room for improvement. Iran still demonstrates what one might term “provincial malnutrition.”
For example, the province of Hormuzgan has a rate of underweight children triple that of the country’s average rate. In Sistan-Baluchestan, 21 percent of children will not grow to their full height potential because of malnutrition.
It is a common phenomenon: malnutrition reduction in urban areas and the lack of reduction (or the opposite) in rural areas.
Certain population groups, such as the large Afghan refugee population in Iran, are struggling with food insecurity and higher levels of malnutrition as well. Wasting among Afghan refugee children was found to be 12.7 percent, higher than the urban average. The diet diversity of refugee families is poor, too; around 15 percent of households go without fruits and vegetables for spans longer than a month.
Another population group, the elderly, was also found to have higher levels of malnutrition than the national average.
The reduction of malnutrition in Iran has not been universal, then. And even in urban areas, where people are more food secure, another problem related to malnutrition has appeared—namely, obesity. The obesity rate among children in the cities doubled during the past decade, and obesity is compatible and even correlated with malnutrition.
Fortunately, one expert, Dr. Zahra Abdollahi, the Health Ministry’s deputy for improving nutrition, is working to make the reduction of malnutrition in certain provinces a priority.
Ensuring such a reduction would improve children’s school performance and overall quality of life, according to Abdollahi. It would also improve the health of mothers and newborns, an area for needed improvement across the globe.
One major obstacle these efforts will face is Iran’s increasing population. Iran’s population of over 80 million strains the government’s ability to feed everyone in part because of its heavy reliance on grain imports. Reducing malnutrition requires increasing food security, a requirement that unsustainable population growth makes difficult to achieve.
– Ryan Yanke
Sources: World Bank, UNICEF, Iranian Journal of Epidemiology, IRNA, World Food Programme, Breitbart, Green Party of Iran
Photo: Flickr