International Labor Laws: NATLEX

How do countries around the world protect disabled workers, provide for social security and family leave, and restrict child labor?  Labor Day weekend is a great time to discover NATLEX, an International Labour Organization (ILO) database of labor and related human rights legislation covering 196 countries. Users can browse by country or topic to produce citations and descriptions of relevant laws, often with a link to the full text in English, French, or Spanish, ILO's three official languages. NATLEX makes every effort to keep current with new legislation. The "New in NATLEX" feature locates new legislation added this month and  each previous month for the past year, by country and topic. NATLEX is a key resource for comparative labor law research.


Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Working Conditions Laws: Global Report

Minimum wage and other working conditions are hot topics in the media lately.  Those looking for an international view of comparative working conditions laws, including wage, hour, maternity and annual leave laws in more than 150 countries, have an excellent resource for research papers and legal practice, as well as for business development, in Working Conditions Laws Report 2012: A Global Review. This report, released in 2013 by the International Labour Organization (ILO), a specialized agency of the United Nations, draws from the latest data in ILO's Working Conditions Laws Database.  It provides a wealth of statistical information summarized by region and outlined country by country with numerous graphs and charts.

The ILO maintains many other valuable databases of worldwide labor laws, standards, and working condition and employment statistics.  In addition, the ILO website provides other downloadable reports and working papers on specific labor and employment issues. 

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Online Resources: BNA Collective Bargaining Negotiations & Contracts

If you are looking for a source that reviews information about negotiating and administering contracts, in addition to providing sample contract clauses relating to collective bargaining, try Collective Bargaining Negotiations & Contracts (BNA).  The manual contains chapters on pay plans, employee benefits, working conditions and provides sample clauses on economic weapons of labor, wages/hours and more.

To access the Collective Bargaining Negotiations & Contracts manual:

• Go to the Library's home page, click "Online Resources"
• Click the "Labor and Employment Law" link
• Scroll down to "Collective Bargaining Negotiations & Contracts (BNA)"

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Triangle Factory Fire Online Exhibit

This impressive site is one of my favorites, especially around Labor Day. Created by Cornell University's ILR (Industrial and Labor Relations) School and the Cornell University Library, it brings to life the horrors of the New York City Triangle Factory fire that claimed 146 lives in 1911 and marked the beginning of New York's leadership role in worker protective legislation.  It features photos, interviews, and witness accounts of the fire, as well as the reports, speeches, and other documents from the reform movement it spurred--the movement that inspired the "transformation of the labor code of New York State" and led "to the adoption of fire safety measures that served as a model for the whole country."   



Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Online Resources: BNA Benefits Practice Resource Center

If you are looking for a benefits publication that provides authoritative, in-depth, and practice-oriented news, analysis, and practice tools, try the Benefits Practice Resource Center.  The Resource Center is organized into six areas which includes Pensions & Retirement, Health Benefits, Fringe & Welfare Benefits, Compliance & Enforcement, Litigation, and Executive Compensation.

To access the Benefits Practice Resource Center:

• Go to the Library's home page, click "Online Resources"
• Click the "Labor and Employment Law" link
• Scroll down to "Benefits Practice Resource Center (BNA)"

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Online Resources: BNA Workplace Immigration Report

If you are looking for a publication that provides workplace immigration news, expert analysis, federal and state legislation and regulations, as well as immigration enforcement actions, try Workplace Immigration Report (BNA).  Dates of coverage are from October 22, 2007 to the present.

To access the Workplace Immigration Report:

• Go to the Library's home page, click "Online Resources"
• Click the "Labor and Employment Law" link
• Scroll down to "Workplace Immigration Report (BNA)"

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Labor Day

The first Monday in September, thanks to an Act of Congress passed in 1894, is set aside to celebrate the national holiday we know as Labor Day. The U.S. Department of Labor provides an overview of "Labor Day History" that describes the last holiday of the summer as "a creation of the labor movement" that is "dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers." The social and legal background of the early 20th century labor reform movement comes alive at "The Triangle Factory Fire," an impressive exhibit created by the Cornell University Library and Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations. Exploring original documents, first-hand accounts, and photographs from Cornell's collections, visitors to the site can glimpse the horrors of the New York City factory fire that resulted in 146 young worker deaths, and then explore the path that led through investigation of a tragedy to New York's pioneering and landmark worker protective legislation.

Child Labor Photographs

As a photographer for the National Child Labor Committee, Lewis Hine (1874-140) documented child labor across America. His images exposed the harshness of the practice and the poor conditions under which the children worked.

The George Eastman House has an online exhibit of Lewis Hine's work titled "Let Children Be Children: Lewis Wickes Hine's Crusade Against Child Labor". Take a look. Images such as "Little Spinner in Mill, Augusta, GA" and Breaker boys in coal chute, South Pittston, Pennsylvania are both striking and disturbing.

Next, stop by the Child Labor Education and Action Project and find out more about child labor in the modern world.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat