You're shocked! shocked! that some media mouthpiece trumps profits over workers' rights? where have you been for the past 50 years?

OK, I'm just being mean.

So what are we going to do about it? boycotting cheap crap from China only hurts the Chinese, since the peripatetic factory owners will pull up stakes in a minute for, oh, Laos or Bangladesh, anywhere else that's cheaper with worker-hostile and bribe-receptive governments.

I have long maintained that the last great sweatshop nations will be those of coastal Africa, once the rest of the third world gets tired of being brutalized so Wal-Mart goobers can save two cents on underpants and the share price remains propped up.

Andrew Leonard does a disservice to readers by parading his personal ideological predilections and ignorance of economics in his totally onesided fawning over the proposed labor legislation in China and his disparagement of business leaders. While strengthening occupational safety and health regulations will benefit all parties in the long run by improving the health and productivity of the Chinese work force, making it difficult for employers to fire workers is about the stupidest measure I can think of, since it makes employers reluctant to hire labor, promotes an underground, temporary labor force, and lowers labor productivity by shielding workers against firm sanctions for poor performance. Similarly, strengthening unions in an era of globalization where firms must compete on international markets is not universally desirable. The advanced industrial countries now have labor unions almost exclusively in the state sector, where issues of competitivity and productivity are notoriously absent. If Mr. Leonard can't present a more balanced and informative report, he should be replaced by someone who both cares about workers' welfare and knows some economics.