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Full-Text Articles in Law
Ride-Hailing Drivers As Autonomous Independent Contractors: Let Them Bargain!, Ronald C. Brown
Ride-Hailing Drivers As Autonomous Independent Contractors: Let Them Bargain!, Ronald C. Brown
Washington International Law Journal
“Autonomous” workers include most gig-platform drivers, like those working globally for Uber and Lyft, who are usually classified as independent contractors and are ineligible for labor protections and benefits. The “new economy” and its business model, with its fissurization and increased use of contingent and outsourced workers hired as independent contractors, provide employers flexibility and lower costs by shifting labor costs to the workers. Many of these workers operate more as employees rather than genuine independent contractors or self-employed entrepreneurs, causing lost employee labor benefits and costing the government billions of lost tax dollars. Legal attempts continue to classify these …
How To Establish Labor Protection Standards For Kenyan Local Workers In Chinese Multinational Corporations, Qun Zhao
Washington International Law Journal
China has increased investment into Kenya since it proposed the Belt and Road Initiative. Many Chinese State-Owned-Enterprises (“SOEs”) and private companies have established their presence in Kenya; most of them engage in labor-intensive industries like infrastructure building or manufacturing. Labor-intensive work requires companies to hire many local workers, which gives rise to labor conflicts between Chinese employers and Kenyan employees. Major conflicts between the two parties stem from several factors including informal hiring, wrongful termination, and tense relations with Kenyan labor unions. This article suggests that Chinese companies in Kenya should comply with Kenyan labor law to resolve labor issues …
China-Eu Bit And Fta: Building A Bridge On The Silk Road Not Detoured By Labor Standard Provisions, Ronald C. Brown
China-Eu Bit And Fta: Building A Bridge On The Silk Road Not Detoured By Labor Standard Provisions, Ronald C. Brown
Washington International Law Journal
It is time for European Union and Chinese leaders to build on the existing EU-China 2020 Strategic Agenda for Cooperation, quickly conclude on-going negotiations on their EU-China Bilateral Investment Treaty, and begin substantive negotiations on an EU-China Free Trade Agreement? China is now the European Union's second-biggest trading partner behind the United States, and the European Union is China's biggest trading partner. China is reaching to become the leader in globalism and is investing heavily to make it happen. One of the world’s largest projects, the Belt and Road Initiative is a primary driver of China's larger development strategy. A …
New Formalities For Casual Labor: Addressing Unintended Consequences Of China's Labor Contract Law, Daniel S.S. Cairns
New Formalities For Casual Labor: Addressing Unintended Consequences Of China's Labor Contract Law, Daniel S.S. Cairns
Washington International Law Journal
China’s Labor Contract Law (“LCL”) came into force on January 1, 2008. The first major piece of labor legislation since the 1994 Labor Law, the Labor Contract Law expanded legal protection for workers by mandating that labor contracts be in writing and delivered to all workers. Employers, predicting that the law would effectively raise the cost of employing full-time, long-term workers, sought methods of “creative compliance” with the law. One avenue for creative compliance emerged through the loophole in the LCL for so-called “dispatch workers.” Dispatch workers are formally employed by third-party dispatch service agencies and thus not covered by …
New Formalities For Casual Labor: Addressing Unintended Consequences Of China's Labor Contract Law, Daniel S.S. Cairns
New Formalities For Casual Labor: Addressing Unintended Consequences Of China's Labor Contract Law, Daniel S.S. Cairns
Washington International Law Journal
China’s Labor Contract Law (“LCL”) came into force on January 1, 2008. The first major piece of labor legislation since the 1994 Labor Law, the Labor Contract Law expanded legal protection for workers by mandating that labor contracts be in writing and delivered to all workers. Employers, predicting that the law would effectively raise the cost of employing full-time, long-term workers, sought methods of “creative compliance” with the law. One avenue for creative compliance emerged through the loophole in the LCL for so-called “dispatch workers.” Dispatch workers are formally employed by third-party dispatch service agencies and thus not covered by …
Fishers Of Men: The Neglected Effects Of Environmental Depletion On Labor Trafficking In The Thai Fishing Industry, Joanna G. Sylwester
Fishers Of Men: The Neglected Effects Of Environmental Depletion On Labor Trafficking In The Thai Fishing Industry, Joanna G. Sylwester
Washington International Law Journal
Migrant fishermen are left out. Both Thailand’s labor trafficking laws and anti-trafficking measures espoused by international bodies fail to effectively protect men coerced into working in Thailand’s fishing industry. Thailand is a prominent destination for human trafficking victims because of the country’s economic, social, and political conditions. The majority of trafficking victims identified within Thailand are migrants from Thailand’s neighbors—predominantly Myanmar (Burma)—who often escape from conditions of poverty or political persecution. Because of a high demand for Thai fish products and labor shortages in the fishing industry, the commercial fishing industry is a hotbed for labor trafficking. The Government of …
Labor Relations And Labor Law In Japan, Atsushi Tsuneki, Manabu Matsunaka
Labor Relations And Labor Law In Japan, Atsushi Tsuneki, Manabu Matsunaka
Washington International Law Journal
This article builds on a rationalistic understanding of Japanese employment customs to argue that, up until the 1990s, Japanese labor law facilitated private bargaining instead of engineering a desired outcome directly through legal regulations. Through this indirect approach toward labor relations, at least part of Japanese labor law made a highly positive contribution to the attainment of economic efficiency. After the 1990s, the merits of Japanese employment customs diminished and needed reform. While such reforms were made in some aspects, Japanese labor law has taken the stance of directly regulating the economy, particularly in the area of employment protection and …
Article 14 Of China's New Labor Contract Law: Using Open-Term Contracts To Appropriately Balance Worker Protection And Employer Flexibility, Jovita T. Wang
Article 14 Of China's New Labor Contract Law: Using Open-Term Contracts To Appropriately Balance Worker Protection And Employer Flexibility, Jovita T. Wang
Washington International Law Journal
China’s economy rapidly developed as it shifted from a planned economy to a market economy. Cheap labor encouraged foreign companies to conduct business in China, but that business came at the expense of labor protection. Workers who had previously enjoyed lifetime employment suddenly faced rampant layoffs, labor abuse, and unemployment. Despite China’s implementation of the Labor Law in 1994, labor abuse continued, especially by employers refusing to follow written contract requests to define the employment relationship. Many workers were left unprotected. In response to these problems, China passed the Labor Contract Law in 2007 to clarify requirements of employment contracts …
Litigating Labor Rights Across A Demilitarized Zone: The South Korean Constitutional Court As A Forum To Address Labor Violations In North Korea's Kaesong Special Economic Zone, Lavanga V. Wijekoon
Litigating Labor Rights Across A Demilitarized Zone: The South Korean Constitutional Court As A Forum To Address Labor Violations In North Korea's Kaesong Special Economic Zone, Lavanga V. Wijekoon
Washington International Law Journal
South Korea heralds North Korea’s Kaesong Special Economic Zone as a shining example of inter-Korean cooperation. South Korean corporations at Kaesong combine South Korean expertise with North Korean labor. However, Kaesong operations violate the North Korean workers’ labor rights. This Comment explores the legal mechanisms available in South Korea to hold violative South Korean Kaesong corporations accountable. The South Korean Constitutional Court should entertain a constitutional petition from the North Korean workers. Such petition will compel the South Korean government to recognize the North Korean workers’ rights under the South Korean Constitution and hold violative South Korean corporations at Kaesong …
Extending The Reach Of The Chinese Labor Law: How Does The Supreme People's Court's 2006 Interpretation Transform Labor Dispute Resolution, Jill E. Monnin
Extending The Reach Of The Chinese Labor Law: How Does The Supreme People's Court's 2006 Interpretation Transform Labor Dispute Resolution, Jill E. Monnin
Washington International Law Journal
Chinese workers are taking advantage of the dispute resolution tools that legal reform has provided in the past decade, including mediation, arbitration, and litigation. Despite a history of resolving disputes through informal mediation, more and more workers are relying on the new pathways of arbitration and civil suits in local courts. The 1993 Regulations on the Resolution of Enterprise Labor Disputes and the 1994 Labor Law facilitated workers’ access to formal legal forums. Then, in 2006, a Supreme People’s Court (“SPC”) interpretation made a number of important changes to the application of the Labor Law and workers’ access to dispute …
What Impact Will The Revised Trade Union Law Of China Have On Foreign Business?, Zana Z. Bugaighis
What Impact Will The Revised Trade Union Law Of China Have On Foreign Business?, Zana Z. Bugaighis
Washington International Law Journal
Cheap labor. Minimal regulations. Bribable officials. Foreign corporations attracted to China because of its low cost of business have avoided the unionization desired by the Chinese Communist Party (“CCP”) despite China’s history of weak trade union laws and inconsistent enforcement of union mandates. However, recent concerns of social unrest have forced the CCP to consider reforming the political tools used to control Chinese society. The CCP wants to create social stability, avoid independent unionization, and prevent the westernization of China. Foreign Investment Enterprises (“FIEs”) present new challenges for labor market regulation in China with their large number of non-unionized workers …
The 2006 Revisions To Japan's Equal Opportunity Employment Law: An Narrow Approach To A Pervasive Probem, Megan L. Starich
The 2006 Revisions To Japan's Equal Opportunity Employment Law: An Narrow Approach To A Pervasive Probem, Megan L. Starich
Washington International Law Journal
In June 2006, Japan changed its approach to employment discrimination by amending the Equal Employment Opportunity Law (“EEOL”). The change was prompted by increased gender discrimination litigation, domestic economic pressures relating to the low birth rate, a stagnant economy and declining labor force, and criticism from the United Nations. The revised law attempts to address several of the shortcomings of the old law. First, Japan has made the law applicable to all workers rather than just to women workers. Second, the revisions expand the scope of the law by including a section on indirect discrimination. Third, the revisions provide greater …
Ending The Silence: Thai H-2a Workers, Recruitment Fees, And The Fair Labor Standards Act, Andrea L. Schmitt
Ending The Silence: Thai H-2a Workers, Recruitment Fees, And The Fair Labor Standards Act, Andrea L. Schmitt
Washington International Law Journal
Increasing numbers of Thai workers are coming to the United States using “H-2A” temporary agricultural worker visas. Compared with their Latin American counterparts, Thai H-2A workers are more vulnerable to poor working conditions and other abusive employment practices for two reasons. First, the workers often pay large recruitment fees to labor recruiters in Thailand, and they therefore arrive with a much weightier debt burden. This debt, combined with conditions inherent in the H-2A system, puts intense pressure on workers to remain silent. Second, Thai workers are more culturally and linguistically isolated in rural U.S. communities than their Latin American counterparts. …
Domestic Technological Innovation: An Approach To Solving South Korea's Labor Problems, Jeffrey F. Dickerman
Domestic Technological Innovation: An Approach To Solving South Korea's Labor Problems, Jeffrey F. Dickerman
Washington International Law Journal
When Korea' became a democracy in 1987, Korea's militant labor movement erupted into a series of nationwide protests and explosive labor strikes. As a consequence, Korea's new democratic government enacted progressive labor laws aimed at increasing wages and improving working conditions for laborers. However, these new progressive labor laws lowered the productivity of businesses. Consequently, many Korean goods could no longer compete in the global market and Korean businesses faced bankruptcy. Tension now exists between Korean businesses and workers as each side attempts to regulate the Korean workweek. The competing interests between business and workers can be balanced by domestic …
Discrimination Down Under: Lessons From The Australian Experience In Prohibiting Employment Discrimination On The Basis Of Sexual Orientation, Joshua Colangelo-Bryan
Discrimination Down Under: Lessons From The Australian Experience In Prohibiting Employment Discrimination On The Basis Of Sexual Orientation, Joshua Colangelo-Bryan
Washington International Law Journal
Australia offers greater legislative protection against employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation than does the United States. This difference is not due to greater social or political awareness on the part of Australians. Rather, Australian federal law results from the work of progressive national committees given wide discretion to address discrimination under international agreements to which Australia is a party. The creation of Australian federal laws is not instructive in the U.S. context because the limited scope of these laws is incompatible with American discrimination statutes. Furthermore, the process by which sexual orientation became a proscribed ground under …
The First Step Forward—The Aids Dismissal Case And The Protection Against Aids-Based Employment Discrimination In Japan, Marc Lim
Washington International Law Journal
The fight against AIDS in Japan, a journey that has encountered much resistance from a Japanese public and corporate sector ill-educated on the disease, may have taken a new turn. Before 1995, employees infected with HIV or suffering from AIDS had little recourse in fighting against the discrimination they faced in their private lives and in the Japanese corporate sector. With the AIDS Dismissal Case, the Japanese judiciary, in a show of judicial activism, found the dismissal of an HIV-infected worker based upon his HIV status illegal and an infringement upon the worker's human rights. In addition, the court found …
Local Public Employment Discrimination Against Korean Permanent Residents In Japan: A U.S. Perspective, James M. Kearney
Local Public Employment Discrimination Against Korean Permanent Residents In Japan: A U.S. Perspective, James M. Kearney
Washington International Law Journal
Japanese government officials have recently indicated a willingness to relax restrictions that have prohibited Korean permanent residents of Japan from competing for local civil service jobs, though changes have not yet been forthcoming. The current bar on resident aliens has important symbolic and practical significance in a country widely criticized for its entrenched racism and for its lack of substantive civil rights law. This Comment traces the history and special circumstances of Koreans in Japan and argues that Koreans are already protected from most kinds of public employment discrimination by Article 22 (freedom to choose an occupation) and Article 14 …
Labor Relations And The Law In South Korea, Laura Watson
Labor Relations And The Law In South Korea, Laura Watson
Washington International Law Journal
This Comment looks at labor legislation's role in shaping the present state of labor relations in South Korea A brief history of the government's symbiotic relationship with business serves as a backdrop for assessing the current laws. The laws have an employer bias accenluated by the broad administrative oversighit government has over labor relations. More troublesome provisions of the laws are considered in detail. This Comment then turns to recent pro-labor changes in the laws but discusses why labor unions are unlikely to achieve full equality in labor relations at this juncture. In conclusion, this Comment makes suggestions for change …
The Effort To Stop Abuse Of Foreign Workers In The U.S. Commonwealth Of The Northern Mariana Islands, Greg Holloway
The Effort To Stop Abuse Of Foreign Workers In The U.S. Commonwealth Of The Northern Mariana Islands, Greg Holloway
Washington International Law Journal
This comment examines the problem of foreign worker abuse in the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands ("NMI"). The United States and the NMI have a unique relationship governed by an agreement known as the "Covenant." The Covenant creates fundamental barriers which will limit the effectiveness of federal efforts to resolve the foreign worker abuse problem in the NMI. This comment demonstrates that a balanced effort of prosecutions by both governments under U.S. federal labor law and NMI criminal law is needed to protect the well being of foreign workers in the NMI.
The 1992 Employment Service Act And The Influx Of Foreign Workers In Taiwan And Translation Of The 1994 Implentary Provisions, Dorothy S. Liu, Li Mingde, Judy Demarsh
The 1992 Employment Service Act And The Influx Of Foreign Workers In Taiwan And Translation Of The 1994 Implentary Provisions, Dorothy S. Liu, Li Mingde, Judy Demarsh
Washington International Law Journal
The 1992 Employment Service Act, the first major law in Taiwan to legalize the hiring of blue-collar foreign workers, was adopted to stem the tide of illegal aliens while alleviating Taiwan's labor shortage. The Act and its Implementary Provisions, however, have not resolved the problems caused by the influx of foreign labor. Taiwan's foreign labor policy has not curtailed the influx of illegal aliens, and in an effort to resolve the labor shortage without recognizing the consequences of importing foreign labor, Taiwan has encouraged the continuation of labor-intensive industries and has indirectly perpetuated the continuation of employer abuses against foreign …
Strangers When We Met: The Influence Of Foreign Labor Relations Law And Its Domestication In Japan, Ryuichi Yamakawa
Strangers When We Met: The Influence Of Foreign Labor Relations Law And Its Domestication In Japan, Ryuichi Yamakawa
Washington International Law Journal
This Article examines the influences of foreign law on Japanese labor relations law and the process by which foreign legal concepts have been domesticated, focusing in particular on the provisions, interpretation, and operation of the Trade Union Law of 1949. Acting on the constitutional right to organize and to bargain and act collectively, the Japanese Diet established the framework for Japanese labor relations law by enacting the Trade Union Law of 1945 which was subsequently amended in 1949. While European constitutions appear to be the model for the constitutional provision regarding the right of workers to organize and German influence …
Thailand's State Enterprise Labor Relations Act: Denying Public Employees The Right Of Association And The Right To Organize And Bargain Collectively, Kelly A. Doelman
Thailand's State Enterprise Labor Relations Act: Denying Public Employees The Right Of Association And The Right To Organize And Bargain Collectively, Kelly A. Doelman
Washington International Law Journal
On April 15, 1991, Thailand's new legislative body enacted the State Enterprise Labor Relations Act, removing public employees from the dominion of the Labor Relations Act and dissolving the existing public labor unions. This Act has had a crippling effect on the entire Thai labor movement, which historically relied on the leadership and influence of public unions to promote private industry worker interests. This Comment argues that the State Enterprise Labor Relations Act contains many provisions which violate internationally accepted labor standards, specifically the right of association and the right to organize and bargain collectively. This Comment further asserts that …