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Kids in Cotton Fields

November 1, 2007

The International Labor Rights Forum has been working to stop child labor in the cotton industry for years. For more information and to watch more videos about abuses in Uzbekistan's cotton industry, click here (or you can check out the favorite videos on our YouTube station). You can also read the report by the Environmental Justice Foundation on this issue, titled White Gold: The True Cost of Cotton, here.

390,000 Chinese workers die per year of occupational illnesses

November 1, 2007

The Salt Lake Tribune reported that of the 200 million (less than 1 in
4) workers in China who are routinely exposed to toxic chemicals and
life-threatening diseases in factories, 390,000 died in 2005. China's
Ministry of Health reported that more than 16 million enterprises in
China have been subjecting workers to high, poisonous levels of toxic
chemicals.

Happy Halloween!

October 31, 2007

To find out more about how ILRF views ethical cocoa sourcing, check out this
joint statement signed by 50 organizations and fair trade companies. Would
your organization like to endorse this statement? Contact Tim at
tim.newman[at]ilrf.org.

GAP found using child labor

October 29, 2007

No longer is it a news story when women are sexually harassed in a
factory. No longer is it a news story where workers are fired for
trying to form a union. At ILRF we are contacted by our partners all
the time and yet are at a loss for what's next. Companies have been
able to hide behind voluntary initiatives and fantastic PR machines
that so many believe. It's a constant struggle for the media and
consumers to realize just how prevalent sweatshops are still today.

ILRF Critiques Wal-Mart's Sourcing Practices

October 24, 2007

“To effectively address these flaws, Wal-Mart must reorganize its
auditing program to enable auditors to fully investigate factories and
gain a realistic depiction of operations. Further, Wal-Mart needs to
communicate and engage with all levels of the supply chain directly,
from workers to suppliers, and take responsibility for its powerful
role in the production process,” as stated in the report.

Make Your Halloween Fair Trade!

October 16, 2007

For more information about the Reverse Trick-or-Treating action, check out www.ReverseTrickOrTreating.org or contact Tim at tim.newman[at]ilrf.org or 202 347 4100. Here are some other Halloween ideas to stop child labor in the cocoa industry:

Nestle: Harmful to Kids Around the World

October 12, 2007

ILRF has been campaigning against Nestle to stop the use of child labor in its cocoa supply chain for years. However, Nestle, along with other major chocolate companies, continues to fail to take the necessary action to stop child labor on cocoa farms in West Africa, especially in Cote d'Ivoire.

Philippines Blacklists Human Rights Advocates

October 4, 2007

The full list can be viewed on the HRW website here. The list contains many human rights advocates who have traveled to the Philippines to document the ongoing extrajudicial violence targeting labor activists and others.

Murderers of Colombian Trade Unionists Rarely Brought to Justice

September 27, 2007

You can read USLEAP's full report on impunity under Uribe here. You can also check out other blog posts on violence against trade unions in Colombia here. USLEAP's findings are also supported by the recent Annual Survey of Violations of Trade Union Rights by International Trade Union Confederation and you can read more about that report here.

Here is the full press release from USLEAP:

For Release at 12:01 am
September 27, 2007

Take Action to Defend Union Organizers in Guatemala

September 26, 2007

SITRABI is the oldest union
in Guatemala and arguably
one of the strongest and the largest private sector union in Guatemala. This
is not the first attempt to intimidate workers.

In 1999, in a case that brought international attention to violence against unionists in Guatemala, seven members of SITRABI were violently attacked and forced to flee to the United States. Their case became the key test on impunity for workers rights advocates and the U.S. government who put Guatemala’s trade benefits on probation until Guatemalan courts convicted the criminals.

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