But beyond their sky-high resale price, the viral collectibles may come with a steep humanitarian cost as well. As The Guardian reports, New York-based labor rights group China Labor Watch (CLW) has accused the toys' maker, Chinese toy manufacturer Pop Mart, of employing 16- and 17-year-olds without offering them the necessary labor protections required by Chinese law. The group also alleges that these young workers aren't given adequate health and safety training, among other labor rights violations at the company's factory in Jiangxi province.
According to H&M, the digital twins will initially appear in social media posts, clearly marked with watermarks to indicate their AI origin, in compliance with platform guidelines on Instagram and TikTok that require disclosure of AI-generated content.
What you might not appreciate is that conifers, which grow and thrive all year alongside other evergreens, have played some surprising roles in U.S. history. Take the eastern white pine. It decorated the first coins minted in the British colonies. Spruce lumberjacks in the early 20th century, meanwhile, helped enshrine some key labor rights, including an eight-hour workday and overtime pay. These tales and more are highlighted by Trent Preszler, an environmental economist at Cornell University,
"It's clear to everyone close to this situation that this is a blatant, unapologetic act of vicious union busting," one of the fired staffers said anonymously in a November statement. "Rockstar employs so many talented game developers, all of whom are crucial to making the games we put out."
As Canadian citizens, we say "Elbows Up," but will our corporate entities stand with us when they are under threat? Do we feel our corporations-and their leaders-are more loyal to democracy than our American equivalents? I think many of them would have no problem with a vassal state if it allowed them to avoid Trump's wrath. They may simply look for the transition that least interferes with their business.
Judging by the sale and well-stocked rails, the items didn't appear to be in demand, and with so many identikit sequin garments in existence (more than 500 black sequin vests at the same price and under on Vinted at the time of writing in the UK), what's the point of producing more every year? You may have guessed I am not a fan of sequins.
With clothing companies that will be offering discounted Black Friday deals this week relying heavily on the labor of tens of millions underpaid and overworked garment workers across the Global South, two reports by the human rights group Amnesty International make the case that ensuring these employees are afforded the right to organize their workplaces is key to ending worker exploitation across the fashion industry.
H-2A workers are very vulnerable to pressure from their employers. They can only work for the growers who recruit them, who can legally impose production quotas and fire workers for not meeting them. Recruiters are legally allowed to refuse to hire women, and almost all H-2A workers are young men. They can be fired for protesting, organizing, or simply working too slowly. They then lose their visas and usually find themselves on a blacklist, unable to return to work in subsequent seasons.
While the world holds its breath to see if the US tech industry can bring about human-level artificial intelligence - and therefore completely rewrite the social contract and economy - experts are warning current iterations of the tech are already remaking the workplace in insidious ways. This week, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), a group representing nearly 45 million workers across 40 European countries, published a comprehensive report about the disturbing impact of algorithms that increasingly control the workplace.
South Korea's government has said it will launch an investigation into whether human rights violations were committed when hundreds of its citizens were detained in a US immigration raid. About 475 people, mostly South Korean nationals, were arrested at the construction site of an electric vehicle battery factory in the US state of Georgia on 4 September. The raid was the largest single-site operation conducted since the US president, Donald Trump, launched a sweeping immigration crackdown.
The company saw 18 worker suicide attempts at one plant in 2010 alone. But worker rights at Foxconn have seen some improvements since 2010, largely due to intense international pressure following the suicides and subsequent labor unrest. However, reports from labor watchdogs indicate that these gains have been inconsistent and, in many cases, have failed to create a genuinely safe and equitable work environment. Many fundamental issues particularly excessive hours, low pay and limits on freedom of association persist.
They understand that predatory delivery apps demand routes and times that are impossible without battery power, but also want to be able to cross the street without worrying for their safety. That's why I'm introducing a bill alongside nearly one-third of my fellow City Council members from both sides of the aisle that will defend pedestrians, protect delivery workers, and demand safety on our streets: the Ride Safe, Ride Right Act.
A few days after Donald Trump's reelection, Díaz had convened an International Labor Congress in Madrid. Bringing together labor ministers, union officials, researchers, and activists from around the world, she called for "an international alliance for labor rights." All through the conference, Díaz, dressed in white, listened carefully and took notes from her seat at the front of the room.
In 2011, Joey La Neve DeFrancesco had been working in room service at a luxury hotel in Providence, Rhode Island, for nearly four years, whisking delicacies on demand to guests' rooms, when he reached breaking point. He was paid a measly $5.50 (4) an hour, made to work punishingly long shifts and, to top it off, had managers taking a cut of his hard-earned tips. The poor treatment ratcheted up after DeFrancesco and colleagues tried to unionise workers at the hotel.
In a hospital in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, in mid-May, Tewodros* was at work treating patients when two police officers barged into the emergency room. Earlier that same month, the doctor had participated in a public sector health workers' strike, protesting poor working conditions and low pay. The government had immediately declared the strike illegal, setting the stage for a tense standoff with the country's health professionals.
Donald Trump is no friend of organized labor. Nor is Trump a friend of federal workers-or the unions that represent them. In fact, on March 27, the president issued an executive order demanding that most federal agencies terminate their union contracts. The president claimed he had the power to suspend collective bargaining for national security reasons-sparking ongoing legal and legislative battles.
The ultra-luxurious Santa Monica Proper hotel has been accused of failing to pay its employees minimum wage and, in some cases, paying them less per hour than it charges guests for a bowl of hummus.
"We're striking along with all these other shops and together trying to improve the landscape for legal representation in New York City," Ryan Acquaotta, a campaign coordinator and shop steward at Urban Justice Center, said. "When everybody's doing it together, it's a lot harder to break the strike."
The tentative agreement between the Legal Aid Society and the attorneys' union comes after negotiations to ensure that 1,100 public interest attorneys will remain employed before a strike deadline.
