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Of Gods and Goblins

October 26, 2017

This week, as millions of American kids prepare their costumes for the biggest chocolate consumption holiday of the year – Halloween – most are unaware of the 2 million children laboring in West African cocoa fields.  Likely none share industry experts’ worries about the sustainability of cocoa supplies in the world.  Yet cocoa, which has the lofty Latin name, Theo Broma (fruit of the gods), has proven to be one of the most difficult development conundrums for those who advocate for international trade as a path to prosperity for developing nations. 

87th Labor Leader Murdered in Guatemala Since 2004

October 10, 2017

Para una version en español, haga clic aquí.

In Guatemala, defending your rights at work can cost you your life. Workers who speak out against wage theft, exploitation and anti-union discrimination run the risk of facing serious retaliation, including intimidation, threats, physical violence, kidnappings and even murder.

 In Guatemala, violence against worker rights defenders is the norm, not the exception. Since 2004, 87 labor leaders have been murdered, a reality that makes Guatemala one of the most dangerous countries in the world to be a trade unionist.

How Anti-Sweatshop Activists and Unions Made Severance Pay Mandatory

September 27, 2017

In August last year Iris Montoya came to work at the Rio Garment factory in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, where she had worked as a sewing machine operator for 11 years. At 11 a.m., the factory lights shut off and management escorted the workers outside, locking the doors behind them.

Management announced that the factory was shutting down operations that very day. Panic broke out. Workers were told to go home, barred from retrieving their belongings, and left without their last week’s pay.

Three weeks later, when Montoya went to the hospital for foot surgery, she was denied coverage. Management had been deducting insurance from workers’ paychecks for the past five months but had not been depositing the money into the health care system.

Time to Unleash the Power of the U.S National Contact Point

September 26, 2017

One of the many items in the packed agenda at the UN General Assembly in New York last week was the establishment of more concrete standards for companies seeking to do business sustainably in pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals. More and more top business leaders are seeking guidance on how to ensure good corporate behavior. But the UN standards are not the only resource to CEOs that want to make environmental and social protection part of their business model.

Is Foxconn a fantasy?

August 7, 2017
Foxconn factory. Prachatai/Flickr. (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Last week, President Trump, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and Foxconn – an electronics manufacturing company owned by a wealthy Taiwanese tycoon – announced plans to build a factory in the United States to produce LCD screens. Trump lauded this as a victory in his stated quest to bring manufacturing jobs to the United States. But the reality may be something different. 

The highs and lows of the 2017 TIP Report

July 2, 2017
2017 TIP Report

Last week, the U.S. Department of State delivered its annual Trafficking in Persons report. Though the report is much anticipated each year by anti-trafficking advocates, this year drew extra attention as the first report released by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in the Trump administration, and in the wake of two straight years of allegations that political considerations had weighted some country rankings.

There is much in this report for which the State Department should be commended, in particular:

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