Labor is Not a Commodity

Big Tobacco in Malawi

Tim Newman, Campaigns Assistant, International Labor Rights Forum

Everyone knows that smoking cigarettes is bad for your health, but did you know that it also harms children and workers involved in growing tobacco?  A new article by Pilirani Semu-Banda published by our friends at CorpWatch focuses on the ongoing problem of child labor in tobacco fields in Malawi. 

As Semu-Banda writes,

Sickly and malnourished, Kirana Kapito began his working life on a large commercial  tobacco estate in Malawi's northern region. The farms sell their produce on the country's auction floors directly to international corporations including Limbe Leaf Tobacco, majority owned by the Swiss-registered Continental Tobacco Company and U.S.-based Alliance One Tobacco...

Rejecting Paternalism in Africa?

Tim Newman, Campaigns Assistant, International Labor Rights Forum

"Too many nations continue to follow either the paternalistic notion that treats African countries as charity cases, or a model of exploitation that seeks only to buy up their resources.  America rejects both approaches." - President George Bush at a Feb. 14, 2007 press conference

A central aspect of President Bush’s trip to Africa is the promotion of neoliberal trade policies and foreign direct investment as a path to “empowerment” and a “culture of self-reliance and opportunity.” The president has explicitly rejected “the paternalistic notion that treats African countries as charity cases, or a model of exploitation that seeks only to buy up their resources.”

But will the impact of his view of trade and investment on workers in Africa truly end this paternalism?

Small-scale farmer coffee co-operative in solidarity with landless farm workers

By Phyllis Robinson, Equal Exchange

I would like to share a highly inspiring story from Nicaragua of solidarity between unemployed farm workers and a small-scale farmer co-operative that Equal  Exchange has partnered with for over 15 years.

In the early 1990’s when the coffee crisis was at its most severe, conventional coffee companies were paying farmers as little as 45 cents/pound.  With costs of production about twice that high, plantations throughout Nicaragua were going bankrupt.  Landowners abandoned their estates and those who suffered the worst were the  scores of thousands of coffee pickers who had nowhere to work and no way to feed their families.

For our benefit, but at what cost?

Beth Myers, Executive Director, STITCH

So much of what we consume in our kitchens comes at a horrible cost to the workers who pick, pack or pluck it.  But rarely do we know the struggle of these workers.  Thankfully, sometimes, there are those that take the extra step to provide us with the information that we need to truly recognize the amount of labor and the amount of exploitation that goes into putting food on our plates.  If you ever have or ever will eat chicken, I urge you to read the series put together by the Charlotte, NC, Observer.  It is an amazing piece of journalism that everyone who cares and workers and workers' rights should read.

Keep reading to check it out.

Bridgestone's Bad Behavior Around the World

Tim Newman, Campaigns Assistant, International Labor Rights Forum

I write a lot about Firestone's labor rights abuses in Liberia on this blog, but lately Bridgestone has been getting negative attention in the press for other aspects of its business practices, too.  Let's check out the world's largest tire company's record outside of Liberia. (FYI: Bridgestone is a Japanese tire company which bought the Firestone Tire & Rubber Company in 1988.  The U.S. branch is now called Bridgestone Americas Holdings.  The Firestone Natural Rubber Company, which is responsible for the rubber plantation in Liberia, is a Bridgestone Americas subsidiary.)

A lot of people remember the infamous Bridgestone/Firestone tire recall in 2000 where the company had to recall millions of its faulty tires, but did you know that the company recently admitted that it had made improper payments to government officials to secure sales of its products?

Thoughts on the Chicago Auto Show

Tim Newman, Campaigns Assistant, International Labor Rights Forum

Last week, I had the opportunity to attend a special media preview of the Chicago Auto Show.  This annual car show is currently open to the public at McCormick Place in Chicago and is co-sponsored by Bridgestone/Firestone.  At first the huge displays were overwhelming, but eventually I was able to find Bridgestone's corner of the show (just in time for their "tailgate party").

I noticed that Bridgestone was promoting their slogan "Passion for Excellence" in their display, but judging by their 81 years of child labor and environmental abuse on their rubber plantation in Liberia, it seems to me that they have a "Passion for Exploitation."

Valentine’s Day preparedness, Part 1: flowers whose ethics don’t stink

Bronwyn Ximm, author of walletmouth.com blog

Originally posted at http://www.walletmouth.com/2008/02/this-valentines.html

What could be more romantic than a dozen roses on February 14th?

Unfortunately, that bouquet starts to smell less sweet when you consider that it was most likely grown using toxic pesticides and handled by workers who probably weren’t given adequate protection against those chemicals. Oh, and those employees could easily have been children, or women illegally required to take a pregnancy test every month (and fired if they get a positive result).

The vast majority of flowers we Americans send our sweeties on Valentine’s Day are imported from Colombia and Ecuador, where it’s common for farms engage in the less-than-fragrant practices mentioned above, plus others. (For more info, check out the International Labor Rights Forum’s Fairness in Flowers campaign. While you’re there, sign the petition telling Dole to stop union-busting at flower farm Fragrancia—the link is in the third sidebar on the right.)

Unfortunately, that bouquet starts to smell less sweet when you consider that it was most likely grown using toxic pesticides and handled by workers who probably weren’t given adequate protection against those chemicals. Oh, and those employees could easily have been children, or women illegally required to take a pregnancy test every month (and fired if they get a positive result).

The vast majority of flowers we Americans send our sweeties on Valentine’s Day are imported from Colombia and Ecuador, where it’s common for farms engage in the less-than-fragrant practices mentioned above, plus others. (For more info, check out the International Labor Rights Forum’s Fairness in Flowers campaign. While you’re there, sign the petition telling Dole to stop union-busting at flower farm Fragrancia—the link is in the third sidebar on the right.)

Why do immigrants come to the US?

Trina Tocco, Campaigns Coordinator of the International Labor Rights Forum

Immigration as we all know is one of those hot button issues and yet its so frustrating not to see a debate about why immigrants decide to make the journey to the US in the first place.  This void to me shows how the true benefactors which are the big huge companies both in the US and Mexico continue to fly below the radar screen.  I think it was John Edwards that started to bring this message to the mainstream (but don't get me started on the current elections)!

For me this debate needs to be about jobs.  The people I see in Detroit that worked for 30 years in a factory and now they are working for a contractor of the big 3 and make $8 an hour.  Its this same system that has caused workers in Mexico to see the US as an opportunity to find a better paying job since they can't support their families on the jobs left in Mexico.

I took part in the immigration marches in 2006 and have tried to learn and understand the various arguments.  However I have found it difficult to find the words I need when I have a relative say something like "those aliens are taking over our country."  Of course I start by asking when the last time was that they saw a UFO and where it is so I can check it out.  But we all know what they are referring to and a recent article written by Jim Hightower which was published in the Hightower Lowdown on February 7, 2008 helped me think of how I can respond to this anti immigrant sentiment.

This Valentine’s Day Bring Justice to Flower Workers

By Clarissa Pintado, student intern at International Labor Rights Forum

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, but for cut flower workers around the world, the holiday is not so romantic. Around this time of year, cut flower workers are forced into long overtime and high quotas. But this Valentine’s Day we can stand together in solidarity with cut flower workers by writing a letter to a Colombian businessman in the flower industry.

The disappointing truth is that behind most flowers bought in the U.S. there is a story of a flower worker in South America whose fundamental worker’s rights were violated.