Unions

Unions:

THW rejects unions:

Background:

Labor unions in the United States are legally recognized as representatives of workers in many industries. The most prominent unions are among public sector employees such as teachers and police. Activity by labor unions in the United States today centers on collective bargaining over wages, benefits, and working conditions for their membership and on representing their members if management attempts to violate contract provisions. Although much smaller compared to their peak membership in the 1950s, American unions also remain an important political factor, both through mobilization of their own memberships and through coalitions with like-minded activist organizations around issues such as immigrant rights, trade policy, health care, and living wage campaigns.

Today most unions are aligned with one of two larger umbrella organizations: the AFL-CIO created in 1955 and the Change to Win Federation, which split from the AFL-CIO in 2005. Both advocate policies and legislation on behalf of workers in the United States and Canada, and take an active role in politics. The AFL-CIO is especially concerned with global trade issues.

American union membership in the private sector has in recent years fallen under 9% — levels not seen since 1932. Unions allege that employer-incited opposition has contributed to this decline in membership.

Unions are currently advocating new federal legislation that would allow workers to elect union representation by simply signing a support card. The current process established by federal law requires at least 30% of employees to sign cards for the union, then wait 45 to 90 days for a federal official to conduct a secret ballot election in which a simple majority of the employees must vote for the union in order to obligate the employer to bargain. Unions report that, under the present system, many employers use the 45 to 90 day period to conduct anti-union campaigns.

During the 2008 elections, the Employee Free Choice Act had widespread support of many legislators in the House and Senate, and of the President. Since then, support for the "card check" provisions of the EFCA subsided substantially.

Pros:

·      They provide support against big companies

·      unions are good for workers: if workers have a problem with the employer, then they can all ban together and take care of the problem.

·      unions allow employees to band together to negotiate for better wages and benefits, and to make sure that everyone is being treated fairly by the employer.

·      they even help protect minorities, and other subordinated groups, from being wrongfully fired.

·      it helps all working people, the economy and the future of progressive politics.

·      provides better and safer work environments.

·      encourages teamwork and cooperation.

·      Created jobs for hundreds of people and immigrants, Put the US one step ahead of the world, Brought people to the large cities to work instead of farms, Brought people over from different countries and created America. Lead to some great accomplishments.

Cons:

·      bad for the employer: workers can ban together until the employer meets their needs.

·      employers can become aggressive, and very unfair to try and stop unionization, employers can be charged with unfair labor practice.

·      unions push wages to unreasonable amounts, employers can be striked against.

·      striking can make union members look greedy, People were underpaid

·      Children had to work alongside their parents; the conditions were terrible in the factories.

·      people were paid as little as possible so the robber barons could make as much money as possible. rich get richer, the poor get poorer

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_unions_in_the_United_States

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.toc.htm

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.nr0.htm

http://www.law.harvard.edu/programs/lwp/HTUPmission.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/25/AR2008012503076.html

Genetically modified crops

Genetically Modified crops:

THW ban genetically engineered crops.

Background:

Genetically modified foods, also known as genetically engineered foods, are the latest contribution of genetic engineering technology. Genetically modified foods are made by inserting genes of other species into their DNA. Though this kind of genetic modification is used both in plants and animals, it is found more commonly in the former than in the later. There are a variety of reasons for developing genetically modified foods. For instance, some foods are genetically modified to prevent the occurrence of allergies after consumption, while some are developed to improve their shelf life. It is also been said that experts are working on developing foods that have the ability to cure certain diseases. Some of the genetically modified foods that are available in the market include cotton, soybean, canola, potatoes, egg plant, strawberries, corn, tomatoes, lettuce, cantaloupe, carrots, etc. Though developers and manufacturers of genetically modified foods ensure that there are various advantages of consuming these foods, a fair bit of the population is entirely against them. Let us look at some of the genetically modified foods pros and cons.

Pros:

• One of the major advantages of genetically modified foods is that they help in controlling the occurrence of certain diseases. There are some foods that cause allergy to people when consumed. By modifying the DNA system of these foods, the properties causing these allergies are eliminated successfully.
• It is also said that genetically modified foods grow faster than the foods that are grown in the traditional manner. Due to this, productivity increases, providing the population with more food. Apart from this, it is claimed that genetically modified foods are a boon in places which experience frequent droughts, or where the soil is incompetent for agriculture, due to which it is difficult to grow normal crops.
• Though the seeds of genetically modified foods are quite expensive, the total cost of production is said to be lesser than the production of traditional crops. The main reason for this is that these foods have natural resistance towards pests and insects and so not much pesticides and insecticides have to be sprayed on them. This reduces the necessity of exposing genetically modified crops to harmful pesticides and insecticides, making these foods free from chemicals and environment friendly as well.
• Genetically modified foods are said to be high in nutrients, and contain more minerals and vitamins than those found in traditionally grown foods. Other than this, these foods also taste better. Another reason for people opting for genetically engineered foods is that they have an increased shelf life and so there is less fear of the foods getting rotten quickly.
• About 200 million acres of farmland worldwide are now used to grow GE crops such as cotton, corn, soybeans and rice. The most common GE crops are Soybeans, which represent 63% of all GE crops, Corn (19%), Transgenic Cotton (13%) and Canola (5%).^iv The majority of genetically modified crops grown today are engineered to be resistant to pesticides and/or herbicides so that they can withstand being sprayed with weed killer while the rest of the plants in the field die.

Cons:

• The biggest threat caused by genetically modified food is that they can have harmful effects on the human body. It is believed that consumption of these genetically engineered foods can cause the development of diseases which are immune to antibiotics. Moreover, according to some experts, people who consume such foods have high chances of developing cancer. Besides, as these foods are new inventions, not much is not known about their long term effects on human beings. As the health effects are unknown, many people prefer to stay away from genetically modified foods.
• In many countries, manufacturers do not mention on the label that the foods are genetically manufactured because they think that this would affect their business. However, this is not a good practice as consumers do not get the chance to decide whether they should really opt for these foods.
• Many religious and cultural communities are against genetically modified foods because they see it as an unnatural way of producing foods. Many people are also not comfortable with the idea of transferring animal genes into plants and vice versa. Also, this cross-pollination method can cause damage to other organisms that thrive in the environment.
• Experts are of the opinion that with the increase of genetically modified foods, developing countries would start depending more on industrial countries because it is likely that they would control the food production in the time to come.

What is the current situation abroad?

The EU is delaying the planting of GM crops until they are proved to be safe. The US, Canada and Argentina are bringing a case in the World Trade Organization alleging that this delay is simply a trade barrier by another name. Given the absence of evidence of any harm from GM foods, the plaintiffs have every chance of winning the argument.

References:

http://www.geneticallymodifiedfoods.co.uk/fact-sheet-pros-vs-cons.html

http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/gmfood.shtml

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article1024188.ece

http://blisstree.com/feel/genetically-modified-food-pros-and-cons/

California Department of Food and Agriculture. “A Food Foresight Analysis of Agricultural Biotechnology: A Report to the Legislature,” January 1, 2003.

Hogg, Chris, “Taiwan breeds green-glowing pigs.” BBC News, January 12, 2006.

Fernandez-Cornejo, Jorge; Margriet Caswell, “The First Decade of Genetically Engineered Crops in the United States.” USDA, 2006.

California Department of Food and Agriculture. A Food Foresight Analysis of Agricultural Biotechnology: A Report to the Legislature. January 1, 2003.