As economy gains, outsourcing surges

The spread of outsourcing is a big reason the US economic recovery so far is a jobless one, and has stayed that way much longer than in previous upturns.

Lured by lower costs overseas that enable them to increase profits, companies like Dell Computer Corp., Procter & Gamble Co., American Express Corp., and Citibank employ 20,000 Filipinos to answer their phones. The Philippine government predicts that call center jobs will double over the next year.

US jobs also are going to Ireland, Russia, India, China, even Ghana.

Despite a Commerce Department report at the end of October that the economy grew at a 7.2 percent annual rate in the third quarter, the sharpest growth in 19 years, the economy still lost 41,000 more jobs.

One school of thought claims that over time, Americans will benefit from the higher corporate profits that come from outsourcing. Low-level work will be performed in low-wage countries, saving US employees for more demanding, higher-paying tasks.

Mike Gildea, executive director of the Department for Professional Employees of the AFL-CIO, does not believe the explanation that Americans will do better in the long run. “It’s a load of crap,” he said. “This is exactly what we were told about manufacturing jobs 15 years ago.” (Boston Globe)

Musicians Against Sweatshops

Musicians Against Sweatshops (MASS), is calling on socially conscious musicians to take a stand for exploited garment workers.

MASS, launched over the summer at the massive Glastonbury festival in the UK by folk rock legend Billy Bragg, Ethical Threads UK and No Sweat Apparel, is now taking aim at the multi-billion dollar music merchandising business.

Bragg is being joined by bands including Chrissie Hynde and the Pretenders, Chumbawumba, and others. These musicians have committed to buying their merchandise from union shops and worker-owned cooperatives.

Rap icon P Diddy is currently in the headlines because of his clothing line’s use of sweatshop labor. (NoSweatShop.org)