As a footnote to that, it's not only minimum wage workers who are getting screwed.According to a new global comparison by the International Trade Union Confederation, an international labor coalition that represents 176 million workers from 161 different nations, the United States ranks in the bottom half of the world when it comes to labor rights.
The ITUC has a five-point scale, with one being the best and five the worst. It's based on a 97-point evaluation of the state of labor rights in each country, ranging from worker-related fundamental civil liberties to collective bargaining rights.
The US scores a four, joining other nations where the ITUC finds “systematic violations” of worker rights. The only country in North or Central America to get a five was Guatemala.
American labor rights and union strength have been waning for decades, a decline that has accelerated of late. Over the past three years, more than a dozen states have put restrictions on collective bargaining for public employees and 19 have taken up anti-union, anti-worker, so-called “right-to-work” laws over that same time.
And just like in the case of the minimum wage, the world is starting to notice.
Sources cited in links:
http://www.ituc-csi.org/IMG/pdf/survey_ra_2014_eng_v2.pdf
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/05/29/3442519/us-labor-rights-rankings/
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/10/31/2864651/workers-rights-states/
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