Latino immigrant workers in the Los Angeles apparel industry

Abstract

The apparel industry is one of the most globalized industries in the world. Apparel manufacturers are moving production to areas of the world where they can obtain the lowest wage labor. Imports of clothing to the US have risen dramatically, while garment jobs have dwindled. Los Angeles is the one area of the country that is running counter to this trend, in part because of its access to a large, Latino workforce, many of whom are undocumented. This paper considers the organization of the apparel industry in Los Angeles today, especially the return of sweatshops. It examines the role of Latino immigrants as operatives in the industry, and the conditions under which they must work. The fundamental problem lies in the lack of political power of these workers, who must labor under an apartheid‐like system that denies them basic civil rights. Even recent signs of growing Latino political mobilization cannot bring immediate relief. Garment workers need to unionize in order to protect themselves. The problems and prospects for organizing are briefly considered.     

LA's the place: The Urban character and significance of Los Angeles 1

Michael Dear, H. Eric Shockman, and Greg Hise, eds., Rethinking Los Angeles. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1996.

William Fulton, The Reluctant Metropolis: The Politics of Urban Growth in Los Angeles. Point Arena, CA: Solano Press Books, 1997)

Roger Keil, Los Angeles: Globalization, Urbanization and Social Struggles. Chichester, UK: 1998.

Allen J. Scott and Edward J. Soja, eds., The City: Los Angeles and Urban Theory at the End of the Twentieth Century. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996.     

Public spheres on the move: the embodied deliberation of cycling in Los Angeles

ABSTRACT

Across Los Angeles, mass bike events have exploded in popularity and regularly stop cars to allow thousands of bodies to move together through the city. We argue that such “mobility events” are shared physical practices that embody political deliberation. By challenging dominant regimes of power, they create public spheres “on the move”, concretely and conceptually. While these publics have emancipatory potential, this potential is ambivalent because embodied practices can still reinforce social divisions. Our interdisciplinary approach, in conjunction with interpretive methodologies, contributes to the mobilities and political science literatures by tying together the structural factors and everyday practices at play in sociopolitical phenomena.     

Redlining or risk? A spatial analysis of auto insurance rates in Los Angeles

Auto insurance rates can vary dramatically, with much higher premiums in poor and minority areas than elsewhere, even after accounting for individual characteristics, driving history, and coverage. This paper uses a unique data set to examine the relative influence of place‐based socioeconomic characteristics (or redlining) and place‐based risk factors on the place‐based component of automobile insurance premiums. We use a novel approach of combining tract‐level census data and car insurance rate quotes from multiple companies for sub‐areas within the city of Los Angeles. The quotes are for a hypothetical individual with identical demographic and auto characteristics, driving records, and insurance coverage. This method allows the individual demographic and driving record to be fixed. Multivariate models are then used to estimate the independent contributions of these risk and redlining factors to the place‐based component of the car insurance premium. We find that both risk and redlining factors are associated with variations in insurance costs in the place‐based component, with black and poor neighborhoods being adversely affected, although risk factors are stronger predictors. However, even after risk factors are taken into account in the model specification, SES factors remain statistically significant. Moreover, simulations show that redlining factors explain more of the gap in auto insurance premiums between black (and Latino) and white neighborhoods and between poor and nonpoor neighborhoods. The findings do not appear sensitive to the individual characteristics of the hypothetical driver. © 2007 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management     

On the Rights of Undocumented Children

Changes in immigration laws over the last three to four decades have given rise to unprecedented numbers of undocumented children. However, as others have argued, policies regarding the control of undocumented migration have had deleterious effects on undocumented children and their basic access to social rights. Undocumented youth in the United States can legally attend K-12 education, but cannot legally work, vote, receive financial aid, or drive in most states. Their situation calls for a reexamination of immigration laws and a recasting of the frame that has been used to promote their inclusion.

Poverty and profit in Central American forest policies

The failure of forestry to contribute to poverty reduction in Central America is due to public policies which inhibit its profitability. Absence of public regulation of harvesting and competing subsidies to agriculture keep forestry stumpage prices artificially low. This encourages destruction of the forest resource, which damages both the environment and the potential to reduce poverty. A comparison of Costa Rica and Honduras reveals two dissimilar approaches toward forest policy. While Costa Rica attempts to raise producer and grower stumpage prices by tax credits, soft loans and differential species fees, Honduras enforces price ceilings and uses centralized authority to control forest production and export. Both countries exhibit weaknesses in the management control cycle of programming, budgeting, implementing and evaluating their forest policies. Yet the Costa Rican approach has increased stumpage prices already, which bodes well for their forest sector. By contrast, the major beneficiary of Honduran forest policy has been COHDEFOR, the state enterprise responsible for forestry management, controlling production, and running its national system of agroforestry cooperatives. Despite greater public authority and resources than the Costa Rican forest service (DGF), the Honduran forest policy is not likely to increase producer profitability or reduce poverty in the near future.     

Social security reform in Central and Eastern Europe: variations on a Latin American theme

After Chile reformed its social security system in 1981, several other Latin American countries and certain Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries implemented the Chilean model, with some variations: either a single- or multitier system, or with a period of transition to take care of those in the labor force at the time of the change. The single-tier version consists of individual accounts in pension fund management companies. Multi-tier systems retain some form of public program and add mandatory individual accounts. Most of the CEE countries did not want to incur the high transition costs associated with the Chilean model. The switch to a market economy had already strained their economies. Also, the countries' desire to adopt the European Union's Euro as their currency--a move that required a specific debt ceiling--limited the amount of additional debt they could incur. This article describes the CEE reforms and makes some comparisons with the Latin American experience. Most of the CEE countries have chosen a mixed system and have restructured the pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) tier, while the Latin American countries have both single- and multi-tier systems. Some CEE countries have set up notional defined contribution (NDC) schemes for the PAYGO tier in which each insured person has a hypothetical account made up of all contributions during his or her working life. Survivors and disability programs in CEE have remained in the public tier, but in most of the Latin American programs the insured must purchase a separate insurance policy. Issues common to both regions include: Administrative costs are high and competition is keen, which has led to consolidation and mergers among the companies and a large market share controlled by a few companies. Benefits are proportionately lower for women than for men. A large, informal sector is not covered by social security. This sector is apparently much larger in Latin America than in the CEE countries. Issues that are unique to some of the CEE countries include: Individual accounts in Hungary and Poland have proved more attractive than originally anticipated. As a result, contributions to the public PAYGO system in Hungary and Poland fell short of expectations. In several countries, laws setting up the programs were enacted without all the details of providing benefits. For example, in some countries laws must now be drawn up for establishment of annuities because they do not yet exist. Setting up a coherent pension policy has been difficult in some countries because of frequent and significant changes in government. This situation has affected the progress of reform in various stages of development. In general, a definitive assessment of individual accounts in these countries will not be possible until a cohort of retirees has spent most of its career under the new system.     

Migrants' remittances and economic voting in the Mexican countryside

This study advances and tests hypotheses about the effects of migrants' remittances on political behavior. Analyzing new survey data from Mexico, I find that despite being very poor, respondents who receive remittances tend to view their income as more stable than neighbors who do not receive this money. As a result, remittance recipients have relatively fewer economic grievances and tend to feel more optimistic about economic matters than neighbors who do not receive remittances. According to the economic voter thesis, citizens who are more satisfied with the economy are also less likely to pressure and oppose politicians, particularly incumbents. Analyses indicate that respondents in this sample who receive remittances are indeed less likely to lobby local officials for economic assistance. They were also less likely to mobilize against and punish the incumbent party in the 2006 Mexican presidential election.     

外来农民工流动党支部建设的重要作用及基本途径——以浙江省玉环县为例

社会融入难、负面社会心理的产生、合法化组织的缺失等是农民工所面临的现实困境.加强外来农民工的服务与管理,促进外来农民工的社会融合,是目前发达地区政府及基层党组织所面临的重要任务.近年来,浙江省玉环县在外来农民工的服务与管理方面做了积极的探索与实践,加强外来人口的党建工作,充分发挥流动党支部在促进外来农民工的社会融合和维护社会稳定方面的作用,并在实践中摸索出一条流动党支部建设的基本途径.     

职业教育与知识工人成长

今年5月,是上海工会管理职业学院建校60周年。作为学院聘任的劳模职业导师,我也是学院的一员。衷心祝贺工会学院60年来为上海工运事业和经济社会发展所作的积极贡献!也真诚地希望工会学院在未来能够越办越好,培养更多的优秀人才!在60年校庆之际,学院希望我能谈谈职业教育     

Migrating women: Mexican women in the United States

"This analysis considers some aspects of the international migration of Mexican women, seen under the light of two recent statistical sources: the [U.S.] 1990 census and the 1993-1994... International Migration Survey at the Mexican Northern Border. The joint analysis of migrations and migrant inventories reveals the hidden scope of feminine exile, as well as some of its peculiarities, and offers numerical answers to two questions: How does sex differentiate Mexican immigrants in the United States? How does the migration affect work, marriage, child-bearing, etc. of Mexican women? The results suggest the need to address migration no longer as an action of individuals, but of families (most immigrants are married), and to place the mother or the wife at the gravity center of the household migratory space." (SUMMARY IN ENG)     

The Impact of Home‐Based Child Care Provider Unionization on the Cost,Type, and Availability of Subsidized Child Care in Illinois

In February 2005, Illinois became the first U.S. state to grant home‐based child care providers (HBCPs) the right to form a labor union in order to bargain collectively with the state government. This policy inspired similar efforts across the country and represents a potentially important direction for child care policy. To date, the implications of labor unions for the cost, type, and availability of subsidized child care have not been evaluated empirically. In this study, we examine the impact of granting Illinois HBCPs the right to form a labor union on (a) the type of child care (licensed vs. license‐exempt/home‐based vs. center‐based) used by subsidy‐receiving Illinois infants and toddlers; (b) the per‐child cost of subsidized child care for infants and toddlers; and (c) the percentage of Illinois infants and toddlers who use child care subsidies. To conduct these analyses, we combine data from the Current Population Survey with Child Care and Development Fund administrative records on U.S. infants and toddlers whose families received child care subsidies during the period from 2002 to 2008. We use both a traditional difference‐in‐differences as well as a comparative case study with a “synthetic” control group approach. The synthetic control group approach improves on traditional comparative case studies by providing a transparent, empirical approach for constructing the counterfactual, documenting comparison units’ contribution to the synthetically created control group and detailing the degree to which the synthetic control group is, or is not, similar to the treated unit on preintervention measures of the outcome as well as on other selected characteristics. We find that subsidy‐receiving Illinois infants and toddlers spent an average of between 6.4 and 7 percentage points more hours in licensed care settings, as compared to license‐exempt settings, in the three years following child care unionization. We also find that between 0.7 and 1.1 percentage points fewer Illinois infants and toddlers used child care subsidies following unionization.     

我国农民工问题探析

农民工是我国城市中的一个特殊群体，他们肩负着建设城市和繁荣农村的双重任务，对我国工业化发展和城市化进程作出了重大的贡献，但是却没有得到善待。随着我国社会经济的发展，现在我们到了为农民工“正名”。真正把他们纳入工人队伍，善待他们、给他们以相应的待遇的时候了。     

关学对关中地区民风民俗之影响

关学作为张载开创的关中地区的理学,是中国传统文化的重要组成部分。关学在发展过程中对关中民风民俗的塑造起了非常重要的作用。从北宋张载至明清三李,张载的以礼为教,吕氏兄弟的《吕氏乡约》,冯从吾的关中书院,乃至三李的躬行孝道,崇尚气节,七百年间,关中人刚毅厚朴、务实重礼、崇尚气节、躬体力行的民风民俗特征逐渐形成。     

Federalism and Community in the American Context

The rise of modern federalism was shaped significantly by desiresto protect smaller, diverse communities against forces of imperialcentralization. The protection of community liberty was seenas a prerequisite for protecting individual liberty as well.As such, a federal polity was seen to be a limited self-governingcommunity of entrenched self-governing constituent communities.The rise of the idea of national community and the ideologyof the cosmopolitan nationstate, however, eroded the legitimacyand authority of local self-government and, thereby, federalism.Constituent communities also came to be seen as oppressive,especially of individual rights. Yet, desires for local self-governmenthave maintained a strong hold on public opinion, and recentextensions of individual rights, particularly voting rights,coupled with policy weaknesses of the national government andmodernization of state governments appear to be renewing possibilitiesfor revitalizing federalism as a self-governing community ofself-governing communities.