Range of Future Options Available to American and Global Workers

Global Workforce

There is a lack of regulation to protect the ability of American workers to secure well-paying, decent jobs, which form the backbone of the middle class. There are a great number of threats to the stability of the American middle class as more and more businesses make decisions that are to the benefit of their profitability than to the welfare of their workers. Opportunity, health and wealth are most certainly spread equitably on a global level, nor can they be while countries that have been the dominant social and economic forces since WWII set the global agenda for to benefit their own middle class workers to the exclusion of the subsistence workers of underdeveloped nations. The policies are set through international policies including trade agreements, United Nations policy briefings, and regional agreements. Countries with little bargaining power are unable to influence the international policies which are set to regulate the distribution of labor and opportunity and are perpetually excluded from the best interest of vulnerable workforces being given consideration.

The global labor trend of braindrain, in which trained and educated workers from less affluent nations leave their nation of origin to make more money for the same work in more affluent nations. The result is that there are smaller trained workforces within less affluent nations available to provide medical care and support to vulnerable, less-wealthy populations. Less-wealthy nations over time develop historical relationships related to occupation and nation of origin as more and more people become aware of the amount of money can be made in different countries and seek to leave their homeland to work abroad. This is a serious economic, cultural, and political issue that affects the composition and compensations of workers in skilled industries and the nature of competition to fill positions with highly trained, underpaid staff.

One way in which to rectify the large disparities in global workforce opportunity, distribution, and management would be to create policies which regulate braindrain in a way that does not inhibit workers from underdeveloped nations from moving to other nations to seek greater economic opportunity. Economic development of underdeveloped nations is key to slowly eradicating the wage gulf between richer and poorer nations so that it becomes unfavorable for industrialized nations to outsource their labor to less affluent countries. At the same time, governments of industrialized countries must look as comprehensive policies, including tax breaks for not outsourcing and tax penalties for outsourcing, to incentivize keeping jobs from American companies in America.

All policies much be examined carefully to look at the impact upon the slim opportunity extant in underdeveloped nations. The IMF and World Bank could look at ways in which to subsidize the creation of industrial and economic development in less affluent nations and help enforce policies that would keep the control and ownership of these industries in the hands of local business interests. There are many international corporations from affluent countries that extract natural resources and inexpensive labor from underdeveloped nations without a decent wages or a portion of the profits staying in the countries of extraction. Even though it could be viewed initially as a non-competitive policy, less affluent countries must regulate the types of businesses which can operate in their borders, as such predatory corporations ultimately exacerbate the wage and economic disparities and deplete the natural resources of underdeveloped nations.

The union model is still one of the best lines of defense for workers, particularly in vulnerable middle class jobs in developed nations where they have more political parity. The institution of the union is the only one in which the issue of primacy is the welfare and status of the workers. Given the majority of institutions and policies are solely for the best interest of the profitability and macroeconomic health of the nation, the union is vital to protecting the labor force from unsafe and unjust business practices. The power of unions, as Yates point out, has been attenuated over the past several decades as the dominance of business interests has been increasingly professionalized and protected by political forces. The weakening of the institution of the union is not indicative of its dwindling importance but of its increased importance as the sphere of influence of business interests rapidly increases.