Workplace Issues : Research

This report is an analysis of the implementation of the Harkin-Engel Protocol which was meant to eliminate child labor in the cocoa industry in West Africa.

1. So what’s a cutting-edge, multi-billion dollar company doing with an ancient Chinese science? Going back to the wisdom of the ages as it enlists the assistance of a highly credentialed, leading Feng Shui Master and skilled Italian architect, Dr. Simona Mainini, on how to re-design the offices of eighteen European countries to remedy the high levels of stress and rage.

It has long been understood by organizations and academics that the people make the place. A quality workforce is an important source of competitive advantage, and organizational and financial success for firms. Attracting talent is difficult for business organizations, and may become increasingly so in the years to come, as demographic and economic factors create a "war for talent".

Poverty and unemployment are significant problems in Berkeley and other Bay Area cities and there is an urgent need for a new source of living wage jobs for low income residents with barriers to employment – a population that includes youth and adults who do not have a high school degree, have been out of the labor market for a long time, were formally incarcerated, have limited education and/or labor market skills. This report describes a category of jobs with significant potential to fill this need – green collar jobs.

In July 2006, the Chicago City Council passed a “Big Box Living Wage Ordinance,” mandating that all retail stores larger than 90,000 square feet and operated by companies making more than $1 billion year in revenue pay workers a minimum hourly wage of $10 per hour. The ordinance was vetoed by Mayor Richard Daley in September 2006, who said the measure would be harmful to the city.

"Family Values at Work" documents the consequences on workers, families, businesses and the nation when family values end at the workplace door. The document details the wrenching stories of workers suffering from the lack of family-friendly work rules, summarizes key research, and lays out a policy agenda modest compared to that of other advanced nations yet urgently needed by U.S. workers and their families.