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Some Businesses Say Immigrant Workers Are Harder To Find

Fieldale Farms in Gainesville, Ga., says it can't keep enough workers to meet demand for its poultry products, despite paying $16 per hour plus benefits. Jim Zarroli/NPR hide caption

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Jim Zarroli/NPR

Some Businesses Say Immigrant Workers Are Harder To Find

January 29, 2015 • The president's recent executive actions will allow millions of immigrants to stay in the U.S. But many businesses say those changes aren't enough to help them find and keep all the workers they need.

Some Businesses Say Immigrant Workers Are Harder To Find

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Indian Man, A No-Show At Work For 25 Years, Finally Gets The Ax

January 11, 2015 • A.K. Verma left his desk at the Central Public Works Department in 1990 and never came back. It finally caught up with him.

Florida Tomato Pickers' Wins Could Extend To Dairy, Berry Workers

Farm workera at Lipman Produce load tomatoes on a truck on Jan. 16, 2014 in Naples, Fla. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. joined an initiative that will require its Florida tomato suppliers to increase farm worker pay and protect workers from forced labor and sexual assault, among other things. Wilfredo Lee/AP hide caption

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Wilfredo Lee/AP

The Salt

Florida Tomato Pickers' Wins Could Extend To Dairy, Berry Workers

December 12, 2014 • In the last four years, 30,000 tomato pickers covered by a "fair food" program got a 50-to-70 percent pay raise. Advocates are now working with retailers and other industries to duplicate the model.

Nancy Becker, an Amazon employee in Bad Hersfeld, Germany, speaks at a protest rally outside the company's headquarters in Seattle in December. Ted S. Warren/AP hide caption

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Ted S. Warren/AP

Business

Amazon's German Workers Push For Higher Wages, Union Contract

KUOW

September 1, 2014 • Amazon has thousands of workers in Germany and many are unhappy that they're classified as lower-paid logistics workers. The company says they're well compensated for unskilled labor.

Amazon's German Workers Push For Higher Wages, Union Contract

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Met Opera's Union Lockout Postponed; Financial Analysis To Come

A worker unveils advertisement for future productions at the Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center in New York City. The Metropolitan Opera's general manager Peter Gelb has threatened a lockout if there is no an agreement with unions to that represent musicians, stagehands and other employees. John Moore/Getty Images hide caption

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Music News

Met Opera's Union Lockout Postponed; Financial Analysis To Come

August 3, 2014 • The drama continues. For months now, unions have been negotiating with the Metropolitan Opera's leadership over compensation and benefits; employees also accuse the Met of financial mismanagement.

Met Opera's Union Lockout Postponed; Financial Analysis To Come

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Picketing Truckers Raise Tensions At LA Port Amid Dockworker Talks

Picketers supporting independent truck drivers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach stand outside a container terminal. Kirk Siegler/NPR hide caption

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Kirk Siegler/NPR

Business

Picketing Truckers Raise Tensions At LA Port Amid Dockworker Talks

July 10, 2014 • Some drivers are on strike at the ports of LA and Long Beach, and shipping companies are in negotiations with dockworkers over a new contract. Analysts say a full-blown strike would hurt the economy.

Picketing Truckers Raise Tensions At LA Port Amid Dockworker Talks

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Samsung Faces Allegation That A Chinese Supplier Used Child Labor

Electronics giant Samsung is facing allegations that a supplier in China used child labor to meet the company's production targets. Michael Conroy/AP hide caption

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Michael Conroy/AP

The Two-Way

Samsung Faces Allegation That A Chinese Supplier Used Child Labor

July 10, 2014 • But the South Korean electronics company's own recent report on conditions at about 100 Chinese suppliers' factories found no child labor, though it did find other violations.

Labor-Starved Pear Farmers Buckle Under Bumper Crop

Some of this season's Comice pear harvest is rotting in Pacific Northwest orchards because there aren't enough workers to pick it. Deena Prichep/for NPR hide caption

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Deena Prichep/for NPR

The Salt

Labor-Starved Pear Farmers Buckle Under Bumper Crop

October 7, 2013 • The majority of the nation's pears grow in the Pacific Northwest, and this year's harvest is predicted to be one of the largest in history. But farmers are facing a shortfall that's been plaguing many agricultural industries: not enough workers to pick the fruit.

Labor-Starved Pear Farmers Buckle Under Bumper Crop

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Samsung Under Fire For Alleged Brazil Labor Violations

A man holds up a Samsung S4 smartphone against a video screen. Samsung is accused of labor violations in Brazil, home to its largest manufacturing operation. Dado Ruvic/Reuters /Landov hide caption

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Dado Ruvic/Reuters /Landov

Parallels

Samsung Under Fire For Alleged Brazil Labor Violations

August 20, 2013 • The company's troubles in Brazil mirror allegations it faces in China. They also are similar allegations of labor violations against Apple in China.

The Salt

After Immigration Bust, Herb Grower Tries A New Path

KUOW

August 7, 2013 • One of the nation's largest herb producers once relied heavily on undocumented labor, but has learned some hard lessons since an immigration crackdown. He says transitioning to a legal workforce was well worth it, but that navigating a cumbersome foreign worker program has been challenging.

After Immigration Bust, Herb Grower Tries A New Path

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Companies On The Move Look For Healthy Workers

A Denver man runs in the snow near Washington Park after a winter storm moved through town in late January. Ed Andrieski/AP hide caption

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Ed Andrieski/AP

Shots - Health News

Companies On The Move Look For Healthy Workers

April 10, 2013 • Penny-pinching CEOs are relocating businesses to places with fitter workers and lower health costs. Colorado, where adult obesity rates are low, is playing up its health advantage as it tries to lure companies to move.

Nestle To Investigate Child Labor On Its Cocoa Farms

A worker shovels cocoa beans drying in the sun for export, in Guiglo in western Ivory Coast. Ben Curtis/ASSOCIATED PRESS hide caption

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Ben Curtis/ASSOCIATED PRESS

The Salt

Nestle To Investigate Child Labor On Its Cocoa Farms

November 29, 2011 • Nestle, the world' largest food company, has hired an organization that specializes in accountability to investigate and document child labor on the cocoa farms that supply its chocolate in Côte d'Ivoire.

Shining A Light On The Hidden Hardships Of Tomato Pickers

A protester outside a Trader Joe's in Washington, D.C. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers, which organized the protest, says Trader Joe's has refused to meet standards set by leaders of the fast-food and foodservice industries for a more humane tomato supply chain. Claudia Saenz/Student/Farmworker Alliance hide caption

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Claudia Saenz/Student/Farmworker Alliance

The Salt

Shining A Light On The Hidden Hardships Of Tomato Pickers

September 22, 2011 • This summer, fair food activists demanded that Trader Joe's sign an agreement to pay tomato pickers higher wages. The social cost of industrial agriculture is rarely discussed even as American consumers grow increasingly discontented with how food is produced.

Reid Blames House, Delta For FAA Shutdown

Construction equipment sits idle in front of the half-completed new control tower at Oakland International Airport. Thousands of construction workers on aviation projects have stopped work, as a standoff over funding of the FAA continues. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images hide caption

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Justin Sullivan/Getty Images