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Stand in Solidarity: International Day of the Flower Worker

February 14, 2011

The majority of Colombian flower workers receive the minimum wage, which covers approximately 45% of the food budget for a family. Workers often rely on overtime pay to compensate for insufficient wages, but Law 789, passed in 2002, defines the working day as 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., establishing that overtime rates are only applicable outside of that time frame. Obligatory and unpaid overtime is common, and workers comply for fear that they will lose their jobs.

The Dank Smell of Roses

February 12, 2011

Years ago, the disparity between workers’ wagers and company profits was not quite so huge. International competition has pressured companies to demand more and more of each worker, without increasing their wages. Retired agronomist Alberto Caro who once owned a share in a flower farm chose not to succumb. He told Farthing, “I sold because I could see that as international competition grew we would be forced to squeeze our workers harder and harder.”

The Dark Side of Chocolate

February 11, 2011

In other words, the diamond in my ring might have been placed there by a child, chained to a life of slavery, poverty and illiteracy. I have chosen not to replace my diamond for now.  

To be fair, I don’t wear much jewelry, so this isn’t a big sacrifice. Where it does hit closer to home is with my love of chocolate.

The truth about your Valentine’s candy is probably going to bring more guilt than its calorie count.

Hundreds of thousands of children work in the worst forms of child labor, and many have been sold into slavery to work on the cocoa farms of West Africa. And more than 70 percent of the world’s chocolate starts on these farms.

Protests in Egypt Receive Labor Organizations’ Support

February 3, 2011

This new union emphasizes the need for unemployment compensation, a higher minimum wage, extended benefits, the right to organize, and for all detainees imprisoned after January 25 to be released immediately. It brings together health sector employees, tax inspectors, manufacturers, public employees, and others. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka praised the workers for their courage and their defiance of the union ban.

Stop trade-union repression in Dole Philippines’ plantation!

January 27, 2011

The management takeover of the workers’ union last February 13, 2010 – wherein the management-created UR Dole headed by Francis Gales, orchestrated an illegal “general assembly,” impeached the duly-elected officials of AK-NAFLU-KMU, and replaced the latter with officials from UR Dole – earned vehement protests from throughout the country and the world. Because the move is patently illegal, even the government’s Department of Labor and Employment was forced to call it as such and released a status quo order that nullifies the bogus general assembly and the “impeachment.”  Drunk with arrogance from their seeming invincibility, the Dole Philippines management refused to heed the order.

Moving Knowledge to Action: The Colombian FTA

January 18, 2011

A report released in July of 2010 by the Global Rights and the National Association of Displaced Afro-Colombians (AFRODES) underscores the violence and discrimination levied against Afro-Colombians. Forty-two have been killed since 1996—11 in 2010 alone. Sixty-seven percent of the 77 massive displacements in 2009 took place in Afro-Colombian areas, and 69% of the displaced received no immediate assistance after their removal.

Clean Clothes Campaign Gains Widespread Recognition in Amsterdam

January 14, 2011

The CCC partners widely with similar organizations in the United States and outside of Europe, such as SweatFree Communities and the International Labor Rights Forum.

In the midst of so many other serious international issues taking prime space on television screens and in newspapers, it is encouraging to see attention being given to human rights issues that affect millions of lives in many countries around the world.

This noteworthy recognition of Marieke’s work heralds the changes in global consciousness that we can hope 2011 will yield.

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