Josh Eidelson covers labor as a contributing writer at The Nation, Salon, and In These Times. His work has appeared at outlets including Slate, The American Prospect, Washington Monthly, Alternet, Dissent, Dollars and Sense, Jacobin, and Working USA: The Journal of Labor and Society. His reporting on the Walmart strike wave received a Sidney award from the Sidney Hillman Foundation.
After receiving his MA in Political Science from Yale, Eidelson spent five years as a union organizer for UNITE HERE in Sacramento, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia. He appears frequently as a commentator on labor and politics on radio and TV. He is based in New York.
Dear Josh:
I am a (very) seasoned veteran of the globalization of production for apparel and other low tech products by US and UK retailers. There are specific reasons for the supply chains of today to
be labor abusive and exploitive. The top management of major U.S. are well aware of these practices, and how much they “think” they save through exploitation of workers as well as subverting customs, origin, and RSL compliance. There is ample ifo about how much this really costs, ultimately, the consumer, who ends up paying for the management bonuses doled out by quarterly earning gains enabled by these practices. Sound familiar? It should. I happens in the same cities, business environments, similar boardrooms, common boardmembers, as the “banking” crisis. Both the Banking crisis and labor laws were in place 80-100 years ago, but the
technological changes in our society have enabled multinational to easily subvert these outdated laws. Until the victims can get a foot hold, the stratification of our global society will continue.