Beijing
In a reversal of decades of policy, some American labor leaders said this week that they’d cooperate with Chinese state–run unions. On a trip to China, Teamsters President James Hoffa and other union chiefs said that if pay and conditions improved for Chinese workers, that would raise the cost of doing business with China—which would be a good development for American labor. “It’s certainly in our interest to see that the workers here have a higher standard of living, that the manufacturers pay a better wage,” Hoffa said. Not all U.S. unions agree. The AFL–CIO opposes cooperation between U.S. and Chinese labor groups and is calling for sanctions to punish China for its poor labor conditions.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Fannie Flagg’s 6 favorite books that sparked her imaginationFeature The author recommends works by Johanna Spyri, John Steinbeck, and more
-
Google: A monopoly past its prime?Feature Google’s antitrust case ends with a slap on the wrist as courts struggle to keep up with the tech industry’s rapid changes
-
Patrick Hemingway: The Hemingway son who tended to his father’s legacyFeature He was comfortable in the shadow of his famous father, Ernest Hemingway
