As China, Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia become world economic powers, questions arise regarding the fate of workers in these countries. This book examines the difficult road traveled by human rights movements in these nations when trying to create independent labor organizations free from governmental interference. The in-depth treatment includes: * a worker's rights/labor standards model individumental interference * comprehensive data tables on many aspects of the labor struggle ally crafted for each of these nations * comprehensive data tables on many aspects of the labor struggle * China's problems as it moves from complete state economic control to a modified form of capitalism.

As China, Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia become world economic powers, questions arise regarding the fate of workers in these countries. This book examines the difficult road traveled by human rights movements in these nations when trying to create independent labor organizations free from governmental interference. The in-depth treatment includes: a worker's rights/labor standards model individumental interference comprehensive data tables on many aspects of the labor struggle ally crafted for each of these nations comprehensive data tables on many aspects of the labor struggle China's problems as it moves from complete state economic control to a modified form of capitalism.

Pesticide exposure has long been a cause for concern, and with good reason. Studies have shown that all persons, but especially children, pregnant women, farmers, farmworkers, and the elderly, may experience negative health effects from pesticide exposure. These effects may include acute poisoning, cancer, neurological damage, birth defects, reduced sperm count, suppressed immune systems, and reproductive and developmental harm. This book is a comprehensive examination of pesticide use, pesticide harm, and alternatives to harmful pesticides. Levine highlights the role of farming, because a substantial majority—70 percent or more annually—of pesticides are applied in agricultural uses, thereby making their way into the food chain and into the water supply. More than 20 types of pesticides have been detected in U.S. groundwater, and it is believed that nearly 100 have the potential to invade our municipal water systems. Some level of pesticide contamination has been detected in every state, in both urban and agricultural areas. Outside of agriculture, people are exposed to pesticides primarily in the home. Approximately 90 percent of all households in the nation use pesticides, and the number and concentration of these agents indoors has been shown to be greater than outdoors. Given that Americans now spend nearly 90 percent of each day indoors, this is an issue of real concern. In addition to homes, suburban and rural corporate parks are also affected. Schools are another worrisome venue. In too many of our 110,000 school districts, untrained persons are making critical decisions about the use of pesticides in school buildings and on school grounds. No other book currently examines this issue in such breadth and depth.

Despite popular belief, the problem of illegal child labor has not been remedied. The practice persists in the United States and even appears to be increasing. Levine, an acknowledged expert in the field, reveals the nature and magnitude of this old problem in today's economy. Levine explains that since 1981, there has been a relaxation in enforcement of federal child labor law provisions. He presents the complicated elements and troubling implications of a problem that has come to be ignored or overlooked in American society, focusing especially on matters of occupational health and safety. This book is important reading for the general public, as well as for scholars and policymakers involved with children's and labor issues in the United States.

The United States has more of its children in the workforce than any other developed country. They are found in textile, jewelry, and machine shops in New York and New Jersey, in Southeast supermarkets operating meat-cutting machines and paper-box bailers, in Washington state selling candy door-to-door, and in farming operations throughout the country.