The State We’re In, September 5, 2009. This week, a Labour Day special on the right to a good boss. With stories from the United States, Canada, Argentina, Italy and South Korea. From the worst to the best, to having no boss at all.

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This week’s theme is "The right to a good boss".

Bad bosses
We hear a few examples of terrible management and consider the way bosses treat us.

I was a bad boss, briefly
Elaine Pondant of Nacogdoces, Texas, had a terrible supervisor and swore she would never be a bad boss. Then one day, she did just that. Elaine explains what pushed her over the edge and how she climbed back.

Listen to the section here

The best boss is no boss
After the economic collapse in Argentina, many factory owners abandoned their factories – some were taken over by the employees who made new rules: no bosses - worker ownership. Some went further: they liberated workers who were being made to work as virtual slaves.

Listen to the story here

The invisible boss
When Michael Rhee went to a job interview in Korea, he was offered a job that seemed too good to be true. And after he took it, he was proven right. He tried to complain to the boss, but the man was nowhere to be found.

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One tough lady
Hashmeya Muhsin Hussein may very well be the only female union leader in all of the Middle East. She tells us about how to run an electrical union during wartime and about how her work endangered her family.

Listen to the story here

War crimes and the workplace
Bosnian, Croat and Serb men accused of war crimes are being held at a detention centre in the Hague.  When their new boss turned up, there were raised eyebrows. She’s just over 5 feet tall, weighs just over 50 kilos (or about 110 lbs) and is delighted that her new job allows her to wear her hair long. But no one there underestimates Michele Paynter.

Listen to the story here

Working in luxury
Their factory is a renovated castle, they get a three-course Italian feast at the canteen and come to work in a restored Umbrian village. The workers of the "King of Cashmere" Brunello Cucinelli have nothing to complain about.

Listen to the story here

Dr Don's dilemma
Dr Don Melady is an emergency room physician. When Don was with a cardiac patient in a delicate condition, one of his doctor interns came to him with a dilemma: the patient she was treating didn’t want to be seen by her because she’s black. Don explains to Jonathan how he handled the problem.

Listen to the story here

Listen to this week's show in full: