Globally, the economic opportunities for women are even worse.  According to the International Labour Organization’s recent report on “Global Employment Trends for Women,” female workers not only receive lower pay, but in many countries, they are often restricted from the ability to work even though it would significantly benefit their families.  Even when they are allowed to work, they are often limited in their employment options due to a lack of access to certain industries.  

Grace Chang's book, Disposable Domestics, is as relevant today as it was ten years ago. Analyzing mostly Korean, Filipina and Latina immigrants, she argues that immigration patterns do not only correlate with poverty, but with US influence and interference in a country. Chang notes that "the extraction of resources by the United States and other First World nations forces many people in the Third World to migrate and follow their countries' wealth." We can see this playing out before our very eyes with the violations of multinational corporations in foreign countries. They save money through lax environmental laws and abuse labor laws they know will not or cannot be enforced.

Before we can properly assess the democratic nature of certification, we must understand how these organizations are structured. An ideal initiative has a standard setting body and monitoring body, both completely autonomous. The standard setting body is rather self explanatory; it sets the standards that producers must meet in order to qualify for certification. The standards can be broken down into four separate categories: social, ecological, trade, and price. The monitoring body's job is at the ground level, assuring that producing farms are honestly run and meet the rigorous requirements.

Rainforest Alliance v. Fairtrade: How Do Their Structures Stack Up?

Relationships to Corporations

Present at the gathering to express their stalwart support for keeping the work in New Bedford were Councilmembers Jane Gonsalves and Brian Gomes, State Representative Tony Cabral, and representatives for Senator John Kerry and Rep. Barney Frank, each of whom delivered passionate, hopeful speeches about the value of a worker’s voice and the significance of this struggle both in present and future economies.

“While we watch the equipment being moved out of the plant,” wrote a worker in a letter addressed to Army officials, “I would also like you to know that the workforce includes people who pay home mortgages, parents of young children who both work at Eagle, pregnant women and middle-aged people. All of us depend on this employment.”