Labor is Not a Commodity

Haitian Garment Union, SOTA, Perseveres Despite Uphill-Odds

2012-01-27T09:00:00-05:00

By Hanna Claeson

After more than two months of struggle, backed by international solidarity efforts, fledgling Haitian Garment union “Sendika Ouvriye Takstil ak Abiman” (SOTA, or translated into English, Textile and Apparel Worker’s Union), seems to be achieving the before unthinkable. Five out of the six union leaders, who were fired in late September within days of the public announcement of their leadership role in the new union, have been reinstated. Johny Joseph, (Treasurer of SOTA) and Hilaire Jean-Francois (SOTA’s Secretary of Organization),were reinstated in December. The remaining three workers – Wilner Elissaint (General Coordinator of SOTA), Cénatus Vilaire (Secretary of Grievances of SOTA), and Brevil Claude (Education and Public Information Secretary of SOTA) – returned to work in early January, 2012. The sixth worker, Mitial Rubin (Secretary of SOTA), has not been reinstated by his employer, a factory called One World Apparel, owned by Charles Henri Baker, a former candidate for President of Haiti. Four out of the six workers worked at Genesis, a factory that produces apparel almost exclusively for Gildan. Gildan, in turn, is the leading producer of blank T-shirts for the North American market, which are used by universities, public entities, and groups buying in bulk. Genesis was also the first company to start firing workers.

The reinstatement and compensation of all of the union leaders is crucial to the labor justice in Haiti, home to the harshest labor conditions and lowest wages in the Caribbean/Central America region. The continued survival and vitality of the union will set a precedent for union organizing and labor rights advocacy for workers throughout the entire country, in diverse sectors of the economy. It will be a signal to both union and non-union-workers that the right to association can be upheld and respected, instead of only punished and retaliated against. Only when it is safe to join a trade labor union will union-organizing efforts have a chance at achieving their goals: respect on the job, better hours, wages, and working conditions.

The reinstatement of the union leaders is also significant to international solidarity efforts, as it is a testament to our power to successfully support workers’ organizing for their rights. After the International Labor Rights Forum called on its supporters to take action, nearly 5000 people sent letters to Gildan. These actions, combined with the Worker Rights Consortium’s report— that documented the ways that the dismissal of SOTA-union leaders violated laws and university codes, and that recommended reinstatement of the workers as an urgent priority—have shown SOTA and its supporters that they are not alone. Although delayed in its action, Gildan intervened aggressively at Genesis and played a pivotal role in achieving reinstatement. Hanesbrands played a similar role at Multiwear, the factory where Hilaire Jean-Francois is employed.

The battle is far from won. Most immediately, we must continue the call for the reinstatement of Mitial Rubin, and to support SOTA in its efforts to negotiate a compensation agreement. Not only should the workers be reinstated, they also have the right to be paid for the period of time that they were not working due to the illegal firings. Crucial to the continued success of the union—and to related labor organizing efforts in the country—are continued, and constructive relations between SOTA and employers. As supporters of worker justice, we have an important role to play in ensuring that apparel brands actively support (through continued and growing orders) factories that encourage and enter into dialogue with trade labor unions. Sustainable orders for factories that demonstrate compliance with labor rights will make Haitian factory owners take note, and serve to support union-organizing efforts nation-wide.

Lastly, should future similar cases arise, we must be ready to act swiftly to advocate for the prompt reinstatement of fired workers. In the case of the fired SOTA union leaders, the delay of the report by Better Work Haiti -- a labor rights project of the International Labour Organization and the International Finance Corporation -- was not completed until two months after the firings. It is troubling that Better Work initially requested that companies not launch corrective actions until their report was released. In the meantime, not only were the six union leaders jobless, but other factory workers were likely dissuaded from joining union efforts for fear of losing their jobs. While Better Work’s eventual report supported the WRC’s findings, the timing of the report was problematic.

The struggle continues… lit a kontinye!

Hanna Claeson is a Hampshire College student and an intern with SweatFree Communities at the International Labor Rights Forum.

The New Face behind Unionized (and Feminist) Bananas in Latin America

2012-01-24T10:23:26-05:00

By Lupita Aguila Arteaga, STITCH

More and more women in the global labor rights movement continue to impress us all with their resilience and passionate fight for gender equality in our unions and organizations. In the last few years, women in the banana unions across Latin America have upped the ante. Bananeras, as they are dearly called, have achieved victories we can only dream of in the U.S., including clauses in their union contract that allows them to take a paid day off for a mammogram and/or a pap smear, union-wide campaigns with workshops against domestic violence, as well as union-led campaigns against HIV/AIDS with a focus on reproductive justice and accessibility to healthcare for all women in their communities. Not to mention the fact that ALL local banana unions have a women’s committee.

Well, let’s add another triumph for women everywhere: newly-elected by the Coordination of Latin American Banana Unions, Iris Munguia, General Coordinator of more than 45,000 workers in eight countries across the region! Iris was named coordinator of COLSIBA during its XI Conference in August 2011. She is the first woman to be elected to lead COLSIBA since its founding in 1993. The fact that Iris was elected for this important position illustrates the great progress that unions in Latin America have made regarding the representation of women.

I’m sure I don’t speak for myself when I say that Iris is the kind of leader every woman strives to be. Everything about her demeanor says luchadora, yet she emanates so much kindness and wisdom. She’s precise and strategic about her work and how it affects banana and agriculture workers everywhere, especially women workers. She’s a globetrotter unionist and a single mother. And did I mention she has an impeccable fashion sense?

Iris is anything but “new” to the struggles of banana workers in Latin America. Born on a Chiquita banana plantation, Iris began as a rank-and-file worker at the Indiana packing plant in La Lima, Honduras. Her work, fairness, honesty and belligerent defense of the rights of her peers led to her 1994 election as the first-ever female Secretary of her union SITRATERCO (est. 1954). In 1995, Iris’ leadership and advocacy for women’s rights was once again recognized and she was elected Regional Coordinator of the Women’s Committees of COLSIBA. She served as Sub-Coordinator of COLSIBA prior to the 2011 union elections.

Along with other women unionists from Central America, Iris helped STITCH develop a collaborative women's leadership training manual to expand its training capacity and systemize its work. The curriculum offers a feminist perspective to training women workers and building their leadership capacity. Completed in 2007, it is still being widely used by COLSIBA and other unions in the region.

As the new general coordinator of COLSIBA, Iris hit the ground running. COLSIBA has organized a global meeting of women workers from the banana sector to be held in Ecuador this February, where women workers are invited to share experiences and discuss how the unions can better support them. It’s expected that these needs will then be shared with all stakeholders at the Second Conference of the World Banana Forum. The World Banana Forum (WBF) is the voice for the global banana sector, convening leaders from the entire supply chain. No other platform brings together all the players – workers and producers, multinationals, retailers, certifying bodies, researchers, NGOs, governments and UN agencies– in common pursuit of a more sustainable banana sector.

At a time when the banana sector faces one of its largest threats in history as its unionization rate declines, it is more important than ever for U.S. consumers to stay up to date on the struggles of banana workers and their unions in Latin America. After all, nearly all bananas consumed in the U.S. come from plantations in Latin America and bananas continue to be the most profitable item sold by grocery stores.

Supermarkets like Wal-Mart are now working as wholesalers, buying their bananas directly from non-unionized independent producers. In the race to the bottom, unionized banana plantations- who pay better wages, provide healthcare and other benefits- cannot compete with the low sale prices of non-unionized banana plantations. Fair trade certified bananas have recently become a hot commodity (even the multinational corporation Dole has a line of FT bananas sold in the U.S.) and while they may meet the environmental certifications necessary, most come from non-unionized plantations where workers are not provided with benefits nor paid wages similar to those of a worker from a unionized plantation. Boycott bananas? Our partners on the ground have not called for an international boycott of bananas, and actions like these ultimately further affect banana workers and their unions without calling attention to the real problems.

Doesn’t a union label for bananas and other produce sound great right about now? Unfortunately, we’ve got a long way to go until that happens. In the meantime, enjoy your bananas, but don’t forget about the nearly 300,000 workers who made it possible for you to buy bananas at your local grocery. Support the development and sustainability of stronger banana unions and their women’s committees. Follow and support the struggles and victories of Iris and COLSIBA in 2012. Demand higher standards and benefits for workers from the fair trade movement. Continue to stand up to Wal-Mart, Dole, and other companies that continue to depreciate the rights of workers in the global economy. Talk to your state representatives about the need for new trade rules and the negative affects of current trade agreements being felt by all workers. It’s an uphill battle, but a battle we can win through real solidarity.

Check out Iris and other bananeras in STITCH’s documentary, “Pushing Back: Women Workers Speak Out on Trade.”

Boycott of Philippine Airlines and AirPhil Continues

2012-01-11T10:53:01-05:00

By Liana Foxvog, International Labor Rights Forum

At the height of the period for booking year-end travel, International Labor Rights Forum joined the boycott of Philippine Airlines (PAL) and Air Philippines, in solidarity with the Philippine Airlines Employees' Association (PALEA). To date the petition on our website in support of the boycott has generated 4715 letters. These letters are addressed to Lucio Tan, owner of both PAL and AirPhil; Jaime Bautista, President and Chief Operating Officer of PAL; Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III, President of the Philippines; Rosalinda Dimapilis Baldoz, Secretary of Labor and Employment of the Philippines; and Ramon Jimenez, Secretary of Tourism of the Philippines.

Last month we featured Philippine Airlines as one of the worst companies for workers' right to associate in 2011 in our annual Working for Scrooge report, and we'll continue our support of the boycott until the locked-out and fired workers are reinstated.

PAL was founded in 1941 and is the first and oldest commercial airline in Asia. Out of its hubs at Ninoy Aquino International Airport of Manila and Mactan-Cebu International Airport of Cebu City, PAL serves nineteen destinations in the Philippines and 24 destinations in Southeast Asia, Middle East, East Asia, Oceania and North America, including Vancouver, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Honolulu.

After posting record sales of $65 million last year, the Airline announced it would fire more than 2,600 employees.

Founded in 1941, PAL and its unionized workforce have a 65 year history of working together collaboratively to ensure the company’s success. In fact, to help PAL recover from the 1997 Asian financial crisis, its workers agreed to suspend their collective bargaining agreement and accept across the board salary and benefit freezes for more than a decade. To reward its employees' loyalty and sacrifice, in 2009 PAL management announced it would implement a “fire and rehire” outsourcing scheme that would slash workers’ salaries and benefits in violation of the collective bargaining agreement PAL has signed with its workers. The scheme, announced during a routine meeting with elected union leaders, would have allowed the company to illegally fire more than 3,500
airline workers.

To stop PAL’s illegal plans and reach a fair settlement the union sought assistance from Philippine Department of Labor mediators, who met with the Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) and PAL management for two weeks. Unfortunately, PAL management refused to discuss the outsourcing scheme during the talks and thus PALEA filed a notice of strike in late January of 2010 to protect the workers’ jobs and their ability to form and join a trade union.

On April 16, 2010, PAL informed the union of the closure of the airport services, in-flight catering and call center reservations departments and the termination of some 2,600 employees by May 31, 2010. The jobs were to be outsourced to contracting firms who would presumably hire back the fired workers. PALEA members then started mass actions in protest. Facing a united workforce, PAL management took the highly unusual step of lobbying the Philippine Department of Labor to use its powers to prevent the workers from taking collective action by “assuming jurisdiction” over the labor dispute and requiring the union to submit to compulsory arbitration.

On April 26, by order of the then Secretary of Labor, the Philippine Government sided with PAL management and ordered the union into compulsory arbitration, enjoining any further collective action. In June, then acting Secretary of Labor Romeo Lagman issued a decision that allowed PAL management to forgo the collective bargaining process and proceed with its outsourcing scheme. With the stroke of a pen, the Secretary of Labor destroyed 65 years of hard won gains by airline workers, not to mention a history of strong labor management cooperation.

Stunned by the decision, which set the precedent that companies in the Philippines can justify violating both a collective bargaining agreement and the Philippine law regulating the use of labor contracting as a valid “management prerogative”, the union appealed the decision to the Philippine courts, where the case remains unresolved. Both the International Labor Organization and the US Government have raised questions about the legality of the Philippine government’s “compulsory” arbitration process.

With the Department of Labor fully in management’s camp, workers appealed to Philippine President
Benigno Aquino to protect their right to freedom of association. Despite having campaigned on promises of a new agenda for strengthening workers’ rights, President Aquino sided with PAL management and approved the company’s request to fire more than 2,600 workers. With the President’s stamp of approval, PAL management fired all 2,600 employees on October 1,
2011.

Despite facing overwhelming collusion by powerful government and corporate elites, fired PAL workers refuse to give up. In September, PALEA workers launched a sit-down protest to protect their jobs, initially resulting in the cancellation of nearly 100 flights across the Philippines. In response PAL management began hiring scabs and using violent strike breakers that have injured several striking workers. Additionally, PAL and the government have continued their collaboration by aggressively pursuing unfounded criminal charges against workers in an effort to overwhelm the union with litigation.

Now that Philippine Airlines’ true colors are shining through, PAL workers have called on the international community to support their seminal struggle for trade union rights. Support PAL’s locked-out workers by boycotting the Philippine Airlines and its sister lowcost carrier, Air Philippines.

Here's the January 11, 2012 press release from PALEA with the very latest update:

“PALEA 300” seeks dismissal of violation of CAAP law case

In a hearing yesterday at the Pasay Hall of Justice, members of the Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) asked the city prosecutors to dismiss the violation of Civil Aviation Authority (CAAP) law case filed by the management against them in the aftermath of the September 27, 2011 protest that crippled the operations of Philippine Airlines (PAL). In an allusion to the mythical Spartans, PALEA President Gerry Rivera declared that “The respondents to the case, the PALEA 300 are brave men and women who will die fighting instead of surrendering to tyranny by PAL.”

The PAL management alleged in its complaints that PALEA members caused the destruction of some airline equipments during their September 27 protest, a charge vehemently denied by the union. The actual respondents to the case are 258 but PAL in previous press releases has claimed that some 300 PALEA members joined the September 27 protest.

In a picket to coincide with the hearing, PALEA insisted that the case was part of the many harassment cases thrown at PALEA members after the union strongly opposed PAL’s outsourcing plan. The next hearings are scheduled for February 2 and 9.

“We eat PAL harassment cases for breakfast, lunch and dinner,” stated Rivera. He claimed that “PAL is blindly shooting nuisance cases at PALEA members in a desperate bid to force them to accept the separation package and sign up for the illegal labor contractors Sky Logistics and Sky Kitchen. Some of the 258 named respondents were active participants in protests before and after September 27 but were on day off that fateful day.”

The union asserts that no company equipment was ever damaged during the September 27 protest. Instead the union knows that it was the improper use of an airstep by an inexperienced and unskilled scab that caused an accident where an Airbus A340 with aircraft ID 3430 plane door was dented.

Rivera asserts further that PAL services deteriorated sharply after September not because of damaged equipments but due to lack of skilled and experienced manpower after PALEA members, in opposition to contractualization / outsourcing, refused to transfer to assigned service providers.

“Up to now, more than three months after the outsourcing, passenger complaints of faulty services by contractual scabs working at PAL are piling up. It is therefore not the equipments but the flag carrier’s reputation that is being badly damaged,” declared Rivera.

PALEA insists that PAL’s waning reputation and deteriorating quality service can only be saved by getting its regular workers back. Supporters of PALEA are calling for a boycott of PAL and its sister company Air Philippines until the laid off workers are reinstated to their regular jobs.

Labor, Sweatshops and CAFTA in Nicaragua

2012-01-10T11:41:30-05:00

By Steve Watrous

As I walked through the big room of a clothing factory in Managua’s free trade zone, where about 800 workers were busy sewing and ironing black Wrangler jeans, the heat was horrible for a visitor from the north. I saw the notices that the employees were supposed to wear dust masks, but they mostly weren’t, and neither was I until a kind woman offered me one.

The dilemma is that once you put on the mask, those ceiling fans no longer cool half your face, and that factory seems ten degrees hotter. Fortunately, the dust was light enough that I could clearly see the far corner of the room, maybe 300 feet away.

This building used to contain Chentex, a viciously anti-union company that made clothing for Kohl’s Department Stores and other U.S. vendors. About 11 years ago fair traders in Milwaukee and many other cities made a fuss about Kohl’s Nicaraguan sweatshops. When I last visited Nicaragua, 10 years ago, Chentex had defeated the unionizing effort.

But Chentex and some of the worst exploiters left the country when Daniel Ortega, the leftist leader of the 1979 Sandinista revolution, regained the presidency in 2007. Most of those abandoned factories have new businesses, wages have gone up 36 % since 2008, and workers get somewhat more respect now, said Pedro Ortega [not related to Daniel], head of the FESITEX textile workers union.

President Ortega, a socialist, didn’t confiscate any factories but his government stepped up enforcement of the labor laws. Despite rhetoric against the U.S., the Sandinistas have an uneasy peace with foreign investors.

So now 60% of the workers in the largest free trade zone are unionized, according to Pedro Ortega. That means they have a contract, rights and representation, and the union can arrange for a gringo visitor to tour a factory. The minimum wage law calls for a tri-partite commission [government, labor, owners] to adjust factory salaries every six months, and wages went up 15% last year. That’s the good news.

The bad news is that textile work in Nicaragua pays about $130 per month, according to Pedro Ortega.

That’s the lowest in Central America, where Nicaragua is the poorest country. Ortega noted that the canasta basica, or market basket of goods for a family of six, costs $450 per month.

I talked to one woman worker with 17 years seniority making about $200 per month. As one U.S. labor activist in Nicaragua noted, no employer there pays a living wage. And the harsh conditions in non-union plants make them sweatshops.

Yet foreign investment, exports and factory employment are up. Poverty is down. The Central American Free Trade Agreement [CAFTA] with the U.S., started in 2005, has worked well for Nicaragua’s garment industry, according to both Ortegas and several economic analysts.

What’s really new is “Better Work,” a program of the International Labor Organization, supported by the government, unions, the U.S. Dept. of Labor, the AFL-CIO Solidarity Center, and by some U.S. companies. It’s supposed to improve productivity and conditions of work.

Gap, Target, Levis, Wal-Mart and VF signed on, said Pedro Ortega, but Kohl’s refused. Some 50,000 textile workers could benefit from this program, which got rolling in 2010 and is the first such effort in the Americas.

On the other side of Managua, the capital, is the anti-sweatshop: Nueva Vida. Started in 1998 partly by women workers from the garment industry, this co-op factory is a more pleasant place to work and it tries to pay better. Wages are $290 per month when the work is good, according to Maria Elena Medina Vallejos, the marketing director. They got official “free trade zone” status to help with import and export rules.

Alas, their T-shirts, camisoles and baby clothes are only being produced at 30% of capacity, so the small plant was pretty quiet when I strolled though in June. They sell organic cotton shirts to the U.S. through the Presbyterian Church and would like to sell a lot more. The co-op members, mostly women, consider it the only free trade zone in the world owned by workers.

Steve Watrous teaches sociology at Milwaukee Area Technical College and is a member of AFT Local 212. He recently spent a month in Nicaragua. This article was originally published by Labor Press.

A Top Blog for Future Leaders

2012-01-05T17:10:46-05:00

By Liana Foxvog, International Labor Rights Forum

A shout out to OnlineColleges.net, for including this blog, Labor Is Not a Commodity, in the list of The 50 Best Blogs for Future Leaders.

Here's what OnlineColleges.net says about the purpose of the list: "The old adage purports that the best leaders come hurtling headfirst into the world instead of eventually learning the necessary skill sets. Maybe. Maybe not. Even the natural-born mobilizers and motivators out there could benefit from a few shots of nurture to get the ol’ noggin a-flooded with ideas. Whether prepping themselves for the soapbox or boardroom, these future leaders need to educate themselves about the world and how to best sharpen the personal tools needed for lasting success and influence. Surprise, surprise: the Internet abides."

We're thrilled to be included in the human rights, social justice and ethics category. About our blog OnlineColleges.net says: "Business, social and political leaders should consult this resource when learning more about unsafe working conditions and wages, child labor and other worker’s and human rights injustices."

This Year’s Worst Companies to Work for if You Want the Right to Join a Union

2011-12-20T21:51:46-05:00

By Liana Foxvog and Sean Rudolph, International Labor Rights Forum

Today we published our list of this year's Scrooges for workers' right to unionize. The companies that topped our list are Dole, Hershey's, Philippine Airlines, and Wal-Mart. These corporations use intimidation and sometimes violence, either in the U.S. or in their supply chains abroad, to violate workers’ internationally recognized right to organize.

Among other rights related to freedom of association, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) states that “everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests” (Article 23, Section 4).

Despite the labor rights protections in the UDHR and national labor laws, workers continue to see their rights trampled on a daily basis. In its most recent survey of violations of trade union rights, the International Trade Union Confederation reports at least 90 unionists were killed, 2,083 were injured, and 4,599 were illegally fired last year as a result of their union activities. Additionally, as the employment crisis continues to grow, many labor rights advocates fear that companies are using the crisis to attack union workers and institute employment schemes that reduce the number of workers guaranteed union protections.

The 2011 Scrooge corporations’ violations include intimidating workers with severe threats, standing by while suppliers aggressively suppress worker organizing, collaborating with military forces to undermine democratically elected union leaders, illegally firing thousands of workers, exploiting foreign exchange students, and turning a blind eye to forced child labor in the supply chain.

The right to freedom of association is typically violated through the use of bullying tactics and the spread of anti-union propaganda but this year’s Scrooges have taken violating workers’ rights to new lows. As we celebrate the holiday season, consumers and labor advocates can support workers by telling these Scrooge companies that they need to respect workers rights.

As we celebrate the holiday season, you can support workers by calling on the Scrooges to respect workers' rights:

Click here to read more about these companies in our Working for Scrooge report.

One year after fire, more workers die on the job in Bangladesh

2011-12-15T18:16:34-05:00

By Liana Foxvog and Judy Gearhart, International Labor Rights Forum

We solemnly remember the twenty-nine Bangladeshi workers who lost their lives in the That’s It Sportswear factory fire, which occurred one year ago yesterday. We also remember the more than four hundred other workers who have lost their lives in the past six years due to unsafe garment factories in Bangladesh. Sadly, just last week, two more workers perished and eleven were seriously injured in a stampede triggered by panic after a boiler explosion.

On December 14, 2010, a fire broke out due to a short-circuit in the unsafe, ten-story sweatshop. Key exits were blocked and constructions on the roof prevented helicopter landing. Twenty-nine workers were killed: most burned alive, others died by suffocation, and some jumped to their death. Nine more were seriously injured.

As a result of the tens of thousands of emails that we generated on the International Labor Rights Forum's website and at Change.org, and the ongoing advocacy of unions and labor rights groups, JC Penney, VF Corporation, Gap, Carters, Philips Van Heusen, Abercrombie & Fitch, Target, and Kohl's have all contributed to the fund for compensating injured workers and the families of the deceased.

But that’s only a start. Building safety is a tremendous concern in Bangladesh garment factories, and the Bangladeshi factories producing for these brands and many others continue to lack safety measures to prevent future fires or building collapses. Bangladesh is one of the largest and fastest growing exporters of garments, which makes the trend of workplace deaths even more concerning. As part of the solution, US and European apparel brands that have their garments sewn in Bangladesh should adopt a truly meaningful building safety program that includes thorough, independent, well-funded and publicly-transparent safety inspections of all multi-story supplier factories in their Bangladesh supply chains.

The tragedy last week could also have been prevented through improved building-safety measures. At least two of the same Hameem brands were sourcing from this factory, Eurotex. The factory management has provided the families of each of the deceased workers with TK20,000 (US$259), but that sum falls far short of the TK1.7million (US$22,000) per family that worker organizations are demanding.

ILRF has communicated our concern with the brands that are sourcing from Eurotex, and we will call for further consumer action if it becomes necessary. We’ll also continue to push for a comprehensive building safety program in Bangladesh to establish more transparent and effective prevention initiatives. Nothing less than workers’ lives are at stake.

Newt Gingrich: This Year’s Grinch

2011-12-13T15:56:56-05:00

By Judy Gearhart and Adeline Zensius, International Labor Rights Forum

Last month, Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich offered his solution for the endemic poverty in many areas of our nation: replacing school janitors with child laborers.

In a speech given to Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, Mr. Gingrich argued, “It’s tragic what we do in the poorest neighborhoods, entrapping children, in, first of all, child laws, which are truly stupid.” His proposal for reforming child labor laws include replacing unionized janitors with one “master janitor” and several local students to clean their own schools.

Mr. Gingrich’s comments, made in a seemingly offhanded manner that then required additional clarification, indicate how little appreciation he has for child welfare policy – not to mention international norms. Strong child labor laws are critical for safeguarding children’s time and energy for school and learning. Public schools contracting youth as janitors would both create serious health risks and further stigmatize those kids who cannot afford to spend time in extracurricular activities, such as sports, clubs, and student leadership. Contracting poor students to work in jobs that provide very little vocational training for future employment ignores the growing problem of class warfare in our country. These programs have the potential to exacerbate this problem, polarizing our schools into groups of “wealthy” and “poor” students.

US child labor laws are the product of hard won gains in this country’s economic development. Current child labor laws around the world are the product of decades of hard work by venerable organizations such as UNICEF and the International Labour Organization’s IPEC program to eradicate child labor. These organizations and others have extensively documented how child laborers lose opportunities twice over: they lose educational opportunities as children and they lose opportunities to prosper as adults. The US Department of Labor has likewise played a critical role in supporting programs to end child labor worldwide, and has identified how often child labor goes hand in hand with forced labor.

These efforts stand in stark contrast to Mr. Gingrich’s proposed programs. How can the United States remain a beacon of hope and a champion of children around the world if the progress we have made at home is reversed? How can we continue to fight child labor in the cotton fields of Uzbekistan, or the cocoa plantations of West Africa, if we ignore our children at home?

In response to Mr. Gingrich’s comments, representatives from the fashion industry, including the American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA), and the National Retail Federation, as well as labor and human rights advocates, have upheld their support for US child labor laws and international norms. Kevin Burke, president and CEO of the AAFA remarked, “We as an industry are sensitive to child labor and other industries are as well. We try to set an example in the U.S. for partners around the world to follow their own laws. When you have a candidate for president advocating relaxation in those laws, it calls into question the commitment.”

Ignoring any argument about the immorality of child labor, taking jobs away from adults who desperately need them and giving them to children is not a way to help boost the U.S. economy. Instead of proposing strategies to get our country’s children into the workforce, Mr. Gingrich should be offering solutions for the 13 million currently unemployed adults in the United States.

From Dhaka to DC: Global Solidarity for Striking UK Workers

2011-12-01T16:12:24-05:00

By Eric Gottwald, International Labor Rights Forum

ILRF staff joined with National Nurses United (NNU), the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Service Employees International United (SEIU), the AFL-CIO and other unions to demonstrate in front of the British embassy yesterday in solidarity with UK Public Sector Workers' General strike. Over 2 million British workers participated in a 24 hour strike yesterday, the largest in a generation, against proposed deep cuts in their pensions.

National Nurses United led demonstrations in 6 cities across the US -- turning out in force in their signature red apparel. Several speakers highlighted the need for international trade union solidarity in opposition to efforts to exploit the financial crisis – caused by the reckless behavior of the international banks and financiers – to weaken public sector unions and social safety net programs.

Meanwhile, half a world away in Dhaka, Bangladesh, the National Garment Workers Federation led a rally in support of striking U.K. workers. Several hundred garment workers marched through the streets of the capital in a lively demonstration of South to North trade union solidarity.

Thoughts on Occupy Wall Street

2011-11-04T18:30:03-04:00

By Tiffany Finck-Haynes, International Labor Rights Forum

Car horns honking to demonstrate their support of marchers chanting, “The people united will never be divided” walking along 16^th Street, rhythmic sounds of drumming in Malcolm X Park coined by a chorus of, “we are the 99%” and the call and response of the people’s mike, are all moments that illustrate my involvement in Occupy DC over the past few weeks. Talking and collaborating with others in McPherson Square, united by mutual frustration with the current state of the global economy, leaves me hopeful that as we continue to act on our mutual frustration, through education and collective action, we will make positive and forward reaching changes in our global system.

The initial occupy movement began on September 17^th, 2011 as a small encampment in Liberty Square in Manhattan’s Financial District. Similar to New York, the initial encampment of Occupy DC, marked by sleeping bags and bikes, has grown to encompass a large gathering of tents and sleepers. The growth of Occupy DC is only an example of the growth of the larger movement. Thousands of occupations have been initiated throughout the United States and across the world. As my friends from Colombia, Bolivia, Italy and Japan write to me in support of the movement and encampments in their own countries, I’m moved and my faith growths that global dissatisfaction with our unfair global economy, controlled by major banks, multinational corporations and elites, will be stopped as the underrepresented: the students, the parents, the teachers, the unemployed, the underpaid, the professionals, the voters and all who encompass the inadequately served of our society, the 99%, unite to collectively ensure that the balance of power between corruption and democracy is restored.

Utilizing revolutionary Arab Spring tactics, people from all walks of life regardless of their color, gender, beliefs or backgrounds are welcome and encouraged to participate in the resistance movement to end the corruption and greed imposed on the 99% by the 1% of our society. Through non-violent resistance and collective decision making known as the “people’s assembly”, people are uniting through a variety of events and facilitating discussions to create change from the bottom up, the people, to cultivate and uphold social, environmental and economic justice.

Larger than a single issue, occupations throughout the world are serving as the foundation for communities to address any and all issues that are called upon for discussion. I’m moved by Occupy DC as each member of the encampment brings their own backgrounds and personal reasons for participating to the movement, striving to create a better city, nation and world. Through collaboration, important connections are being drawn between our own specific issues and the crimes on Wall Street while bridging larger interconnections with our society’s largest problems.

I have a number of personal reasons for participating in the Occupy movement. One of my primary reasons is due to my frustrations with the injustice present in the system of our global market supply chain. I view this injustice as a result of our globalized economy, where corporations from developed countries exploit workers and disregard environmental protections, often, in developing countries, to produce consumer goods with the goal of maximizing profits. I believe corporate-controlled globalization is responsible for the unjust and oppressive conditions in our labor industry where workers, including young children, work long hours for poverty wages under unsafe working conditions, where basic, if any labor law is enforced and workers are discouraged from organizing to protect their basic human rights.

It is imperative that advocacy and protections for these workers is achieved to ensure an end to inhumane working conditions. Workers should not have to fight for the right to a safe working environment where they are treated with dignity and respect and where they can organize freely to defend and promote their basic human rights and interests. To achieve these working conditions, it is important that our current oppressive, corporate-controlled workplaces are transformed into an industry that no longer reflects only the interests of the 1%, but reflects in a more significant way the values and beliefs of the working people and communities themselves, the 99%.

Putting an end to the powerlessness and submission that corporate globalization is designed to foster can be achieved when ordinary people unite through local action and grassroots efforts to demand a global economy built on justice and equity. I view the occupy movement as a new opportunity for us to collectively end corporate greed and a labor industry that reflects corporate interests. The occupy movement can serve as an opportunity for us to work together, to shift power away from the 1% and back into the hands of workers in our global economy.