Comparative Advantage and Labor Protections in Free Trade Agreements: Making Labor Protections in Trade Agreements Practical and Effective

The tension between competitiveness in international trade and the improvement of living standards has become a central controversy in negotiating trade agreements. Under pressure from the labor rights movement over the course of the last twenty-five years, the United States has regularly advocated for the inclusion of labor standards in trade relationships. Generally, governments in developing countries resist the incorporation of labor protections in trade agreements because of a belief that labor protections diminish a nation’s competitiveness in the international marketplace. Labor rights advocates, particularly in the United States, have fought for the inclusion of labor rights in trade agreements as a means of lifting living standards in developing countries, and preserving them in developed countries, to avoid and international “race to the bottom” where countries try to out-compete each other by keeping labor costs as low as possible. This article argues that trade agreements should include labor provisions that provide effective protection for core labor rights. Such protection should ensure that countries have domestic laws protecting core labor rights and that those countries enforce those laws. Further, the labor standards provisions must include (1) a compelling incentive program to reward developing nations that improve labor conditions and comply with labor standards and (2) an effective enforcement mechanism to penalize countries that violate the labor provisions. Section one of this article provides a short summary of the history of labor standards in United States trade policy and some of the debates surrounding the movement to include labor protections in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Central American-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR, referred to in this article simply as “CAFTA”). Section two provides an overview of traditional economic theory supporting free trade and several arguments that call that theory into question. Finally, section three offers a defense regulating trade and makes specific policy recommendations regarding the inclusion of labor standards provisions in future trade agreements

Developing a stoma acceptance questionnaire to improve motivation to adhere to enterostoma self-care

IntroductionIn stoma care, patient education is often weak in terms of improving patientsâ level of acceptance of living with a stoma. Self-care educational interventions in enterostomal patients, which according to Oremâs Theory should take into account these patientsâ specific needs, require instruments that measure patientsâ stoma acceptance to improve motivation based on the resumption of activities they used to carry out before having a stoma.MethodsThe aim was to develop an instrument that measures the level of stoma acceptance to improve motivation to adhere to enterostoma self-care.Aspects that improve stoma acceptance and consequently motivation to adhere to enterostoma self-care were identified through 10 focus groups. In the focus groups, the motivation indicators were grouped, categorised and results entered into a Stoma Acceptance Questionnaire (SAQ). The SAQ was then piloted with 104 enterostomal patients from three general hospitals. The SAQ latent structure was explored using nonparametric item response theory.ResultsA three-factor structure was demonstrated for the 16 items of the SAQ: Autonomy and normality; Self-determination and normality; and Trust and burden. Mokken Scaling identified the âresumption of enterostomal patientsâ normal activitiesâ as a measure of stoma acceptance.DiscussionThe SAQ could enable nurses to adopt a standardized approach to the assessment of enterostomal patientsâ motivation to resume their normal activities and identify needs linked to this. The SAQ could also be used to measure the effectiveness of psychosocial and educational interventions aimed at improving stoma acceptance

Le piante vascolari del litorale trapanese: da Ronciglio a Capo San Vito

Vascular flora of the Trapani littoral between Ronciglio and Capo San Vito (NW Sicily). – The list of the vascular plants observed and collected in the Trapani littoral between Ronciglio and Capo San Vito (NW Sicily) during the last 20 years is presented here and commented. In total, 541 specific and infraspecific taxa were recorded. This flora has marked Mediterranean characteristics as shown by the absolute prevalence of therophytes as well as Mediterranean chorotypes. Among the most interesting taxa belonging to this flora are some halophytes and rare endemics such as Biscutella maritima, Calendula maritima, Cynomorium coccineum, Erica sicula, Galium litorale, Halocnemum strobilaceum, Limonium bocco- nei, L. ponzoi, Limoniastrum monopetalum e Pseudoscabiosa limonifolia

Shigella sonnei biotype g carrying class 2 integrons in southern Italy: a retrospective typing study by pulsed field gel electrophoresis.

Background: Emergence and global dissemination of multiresistant strains of enteric pathogens is a very concerning problem from both epidemiological and Public Health points of view. Shigella sonnei is the serogroup of Shigella most frequently responsible for sporadic and epidemic enteritis in developed countries. The dissemination is associated most often to human to human transmission, but foodborne episodes have also been described. In recent years the circulation of multiresistant strains of S. sonnei biotype g carrying a class 2 integron has been reported in many countries worldwide. In southern Italy a strain with similar properties has been responsible for a large community outbreak occurred in 2003 in Palermo, Sicily. The objective of this study was to date the emergence of the biotype g strain carrying the class 2 integron in southern Italy and to evaluate the genetic heterogeneity of biotype g S. sonnei isolated throughout an extended interval of time. Methods: A total of 31 clinical isolates of S. sonnei biotype g identified in southern Italy during the years 1971\u20132000 were studied. The strains were identified at the serogroup level, characterized by biochemical tests and submitted to antimicrobial susceptibility testing. Molecular typing was performed by pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) after digestion of DNA by XbaI. Carriage of class 2 integrons was investigated by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with specific primers and confirmed by restriction endonuclease analysis of amplicons. Results: The 15 isolates of S. sonnei biotype g identified in the decade 1971\u20131980 showed highly heterogeneous drug resistance profiles and pulsotypes. None of the isolates was simultaneous resistant to streptomycin and trimethoprim and none was class 2 integron positive. On the contrary, this resistance phenotype and class 2 integron carriage were very common among the 16 strains of biotype g identified in the following two decades. Moreover, all the more recent isolates, but one, showed closely related pulsotypes. Conclusion: Although our findings refer to a limited geographic area, they provide a snapshot of integron acquisition by an enteric pathogen responsible for several outbreaks in the years 2001\u20132003 in Italy. Molecular typing, indeed, suggests that the emergence of biotype g class 2 integron carrying S. sonnei in southern Italy should be backdated to at least the late 1980s. In the following decades, the circulation of biotype g appears to be sustained by multiresistant highly related strains. Similar trend are described in several countries, but the questions about mechanism of emergence and worldwide spread of this pathogen remain ope

The dissimilar chemical composition of the planet-hosting stars of the XO-2 binary system

Using high-quality spectra of the twin stars in the XO-2 binary system, we have detected significant differences in the chemical composition of their photospheres. The differences correlate strongly with the elements' dust condensation temperature. In XO-2N, volatiles are enhanced by about 0.015 dex and refractories are overabundant by up to 0.090 dex. On average, our error bar in relative abundance is 0.012 dex. We present an early metal-depletion scenario in which the formation of the gas giant planets known to exist around these stars is responsible for a 0.015 dex offset in the abundances of all elements while 20 M_Earth of non-detected rocky objects that formed around XO-2S explain the additional refractory-element difference. An alternative explanation involves the late accretion of at least 20 M_Earth of planet-like material by XO-2N, allegedly as a result of the migration of the hot Jupiter detected around that star. Dust cleansing by a nearby hot star as well as age or Galactic birthplace effects can be ruled out as valid explanations for this phenomenon.Comment: ApJ, in press. Complete linelist (Table 3) available in the "Other formats -> Source" downloa

Card Check Recognition: the Ongoing Legal and Legislative Battle

A great debate has been brewing for years over whether unions should be able to organize employees outside of the traditional election procedures provided by the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA” or “the Act”). Typically, in an organizing drive, a union solicits support from employees to indicate a desire to run a National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) election. The union does this by collecting cards from employees affirming the employees’ desire to have a representation election. If the union collects valid cards from at least one-third of eligible employees in the appropriate bargaining unit, the union may then petition for a Board election. If the majority of employees support the union in the election, then the employer must recognize the union and bargain in good faith with the union for an initial labor contract. During the period between the representation election and the completion of the first collective bargaining agreement, the NLRA bars the employer, the employees, and competing labor unions from challenging the representative union’s majority status for a reasonable period of time. Board elections have long been the preferred method of obtaining union recognition. Recently, however, many unions have begun focusing on another organizing strategy known as card check recognition. In card check recognition campaigns, a union demonstrates majority support of the employees in a bargaining unit by collecting cards from a majority of employees that express the employees’ desire to have the union represent them and gaining the consent of the employer to recognize the union as the representative of the employees without the formality of a Board election. Unions generally negotiate neutrality agreements with employers prior to launching a card check campaign to ensure the employer will not oppose the union during the organizing drive. If the employer refuses to recognize the union, then the union may petition the Board for an election. Though the NLRB and courts prefer Board elections, unions generally prefer card check campaigns because they are vastly more likely to result in a successful unionization drive than Board elections. However, anti-union groups criticize this approach as an unfair coercion of employees to join unions. In 2004, the NLRB granted review of several cases that called into question the underlying principles of card check recognition. In Dana Corporation and Metaldyne, the Board, reversing a Regional Director’s dismissal of the complaints, decided to hear cases where the dispute concerned whether or not voluntary employer recognition of a union based on a card check campaign should be given “election bar quality.” An election bar is the period of time during which a union’s right to represent the bargaining unit cannot be challenged by an employer, employees, or another union. The Board took the cases to determine whether unions certified as a result of a card check campaign should be granted the same amount of protection as unions certified through a Board election. In Shaw’s Supermarkets, the Board reversed the Regional Director’s dismissal of a case where employees’ attempted to decertify the union, which the employer voluntarily recognized based on the union’s presentation of signed cards supporting unionization. Again, the Board’s decision to hear such a case indicated its willingness to consider treating union recognition based on card check as inferior to recognition based on Board elections. While awaiting the Board’s verdict, a rich legislative debate over card check recognition has been renewed. This year, Republicans and Democrats introduced opposing legislation specifically related to card check recognition. Republicans introduced the Secret Ballot Protection Act (“SBPA”), which would make NLRB elections the exclusive method for union recognition, prohibiting employers from voluntarily recognizing a union based on a demonstration of majority support. Across the aisle, Democrats introduced the Employee Free Choice Act (“EFCA”), which would mandate that an employer recognize a union upon demonstration of majority support by submission of employee-signed union authorization cards to the NLRB. This article argues: (1) that the NLRB should define the “reasonable period of time” for a certification bar following union recognition based on a card check campaign to be commensurate with election bar quality; (2) that the NLRB should not narrow the availability of card check recognition as an organizing tool in its resolution of Shaw’s Supermarkets; (3) that Congress should reject the Secret Ballot Protection Act’s effort to prohibit card check recognition campaigns; and finally, (4) that Congress should, perhaps with some minor amendments, pass the Employee Free Choice Act. Section II of this article provides contextual background surrounding the issue of card check recognition. Section III provides legal analysis of Dana Corporation and Shaw’s Supermarkets, including legal history supporting card-check recognition as a legitimate organizing tool. Section IV analyzes the legislative efforts to prohibit and to codify card check recognition