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Government Purchasing Policy Forum in Washington, DC

November 13, 2009

When workers rights are not respected and instead greater attention is given to the company that can provide the lowest bid, the use of taxpayer money can be used to help facilitate the race to bottom.  While some restrictions do exist on where states can source from, these restrictions are often limited in scope.  For example, there might be restrictions on sourcing from places that use child labor or indentured servitude, but no mention of other labor rights concerns such as the freedom of association or the amount of money workers are paid for their work.DSCF0990 copy

Assassination of Farmworker Organizer Santiago Rafael and the FLOC Campaign to Organize Tobacco Workers in the Southern US

November 13, 2009

On April 9th 2007 FLOC organizer Santiago Rafael was brutally tortured and murdered in the union’s office in Mexico. Within a month of the crime FLOC compelled the Mexican government to work with authorities in Nuevo Leon to investigate the murder. Local police were able to apprehend one of the murderers through telephone records. Nuevo Leon authorities then tried to use the apprehension to close the case right away, claiming it was an isolated case of violence with no political motive behind it. However, as Velazquez said, what this case truly reflects is the dangerous situation FLOC organizers put themselves in by attempting to rectify the corruption that is endemic in the recruitment of Mexican laborers.

Rachel Maddow takes on corporations defending child and forced labor

November 12, 2009

As Sirota and Maddow note, the report in Inside US Trade stated that:

Business groups are worried by the potential effects of provisions
banning the import of all goods made with convict labor, forced labor,
or forced or indentured child labor that were included in a customs
bill sponsored by Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) and
Ranking Member Charles Grassley (R-IA)...

What does Kraft's proposed takeover of Cadbury mean for workers?

November 9, 2009

Kraft has shut down factories leading to thousands of layoffs in recent years while the CEO saw a 50% increase in total compensation in the last year.  Recently, Cadbury has been under fire in England for closing a factory in Keynsham which has drawn the ire of trade unions.  Kraft has stated that it wants to re-open the factory, but it's unclear how Kraft plans to cut production costs while re-opening the plant and keeping unionized jobs in England.  According to this article in the Guardian, workers have reason to be ske

Central American Labor Groups Share Challenges

November 9, 2009

Representatives at the meeting included: David Eduardo Soto Oliva, a union leader from the National Federation of Unions of Guatemalan State Workers (Federación Nacional de Sindicatos de Trabajadores del Estado de Guatemala[FENESTEG]); Danilo Flores, coordinator of the Union Platform on Labor Justice in El Salvador within the Foundation to Study the Application of the Law (Fundacion de Estudios para la Aplicación de Derecho); Yadira Minero, coordinator for the Women Workers’ Program of Center on Womens’ Rights in Honduras (Centro de Derechos de las Mujeres); Miguel Ángel Ruíz Estrada, General Secretary of the multi‐sector Labor Union Confederation – “Jose Benito Escobar” in Nicaragua (Confederación Sindical de Trabajadores “Jose Benito Escobar” [CST‐JBE]); Alicia Vargas Obando, Secretar

Another Drummond Worker Dies on the Job

November 2, 2009

Eva Seidelman, ILRF Program Assistant                         DSC_0013

The La Loma coal mine owned by the Alabama based company, Drummond, is a major danger zone for workers. On October 30, 2009, yet another worker died on the job due to a work accident, the third death at a Drummmond owned-mine since March 2009. 16 workers producing for Drummond have died within the short period Drummond has maintained operations in Colombia.

Thoughts from Kenya: It is time for a workers bailout!

October 26, 2009

The possible effects of the recession are not new to Kenyans.  We have had several recessions in this country.  In the 1990s, liberalization coupled with bad governance and corruption crippled agricultural and manufacturing sectors that had been in recession since 1986.  As a result, Kenyans experienced reduced access to basic social services due to decreased government revenue allocations, rising levels of unemployment especially among women, development of precarious forms of livelihoods in the informal and formal sectors, de-industrialization, reduction of workers' earnings and loss of state revenues.  And to bail out the investors, the government relaxed control and regulation.  Most notable was the amendments in the Finance Act No.

Dole Food Company Goes Public: The Importance of Socially Responsible Investing

October 23, 2009

In Columbia, Dole workers have struggled to exercise their right to organize.  In 2004, Dole’s subsidiary, Dole Fresh Flowers, fought a multi-year battle to replace the independent union of cut-flower workers on its Colombia plantations, Sintrasplendor, with a separate company-friendly union, Sinaltralflor, which failed to improve conditions for its workers.

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