Image licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
An investigation in New York City has found that hundreds of nail salons are ignoring workers’ rights. Middle and upper class customers have come to expect cheap manicures and until now, no one has questioned how the price can be so low. In a year long investigation for the New York Times journalist Sarah Maslin Nir found widespread wage theft and indentured servitude in an industry that puts its workers' health on the line. The two part series, “Unvarnished”, has prompted action from consumers and the state government. Listen to hear more from the reporter about her investigation and the reaction to the story.
Story Length: 7:00
Socrative users can import these questions using the following code: SOC-1234
April 9, 2015
4:10
Where does your fish come from? A year-long journalistic investigation found that some of the fish that ends up in U.S. food products appears to have been been caught by slaves. People from Burma are being held against their will and forced to work loading and unloading fish on a remote island in Indonesia. When this modern day slavery was uncovered, reporters traced the route of this fish all the way to American stores, tables and pet food. Listen to learn more about how slavery still exists in parts of the world.
Read MoreNovember 23, 2014
4:40
On Thursday November 20, 2014, President Obama announced an Executive Action to provide relief from deportation to some undocumented immigrants. Republicans argue that Obama doesn’t have the authority to take this action alone, while immigration activists are disappointed that the plan does not go further. This public radio story outlines the specifics of the Executive Action.
Read MoreSeptember 11, 2014
4:17
The success of workers at the Massachusetts supermarket chain, Market Basket, is making labor movements across the country rethink their strategies. In this labor dispute, workers walked off the job to protest the CEO of the company being fired. They didn’t come back to work until he was reinstated by the board of directors. All this was accomplished without a union. This public radio story looks at the ways the Market Basket strike is unique and how it can and can’t be duplicated by other labor movements or unions. Listen to learn more about the power of using technology to organize and the importance of management joining collective action.
Read More