Labor is Not a Commodity

Sweatfree in the New Economy

Bjorn Claeson, Executive Director, SweatFree Communities

In a time of economic crisis and shifting paradigm the sweatfree movement faces an apparent dilemma. Cash-strapped states and cities appear to have fewer resources at their disposal to ensure they do not buy products made in sweatshop conditions, but increasing numbers of public officials seem morally and perhaps politically inclined to look more closely at the origins of the products they buy.  The dilemma can be resolved by recognizing that ethical public procurement is not just a moral imperative, but also a strong economic stimulus measure.  An investment in sweatfree purchasing is an investment in an economy with less sweat.

The habitual reaction to economic downturn – to buy cheap – will be difficult to break. That is why Wal-Mart, which promotes its “price leadership,” appears as a lone “bright spot” in a dismal retail climate despite its questionable labor practices.  But our public institutions have a greater responsibility than individuals to treat purchasing as a tool of social policy that can advance a more sound economy that reflects citizens’ values and meets the needs of working people.  By searching out the lowest price, without regard for the workers who make the product, large institutional buyers accelerate the race-to-the-bottom.  Weakening labor standards will only deepen the economic crisis.   A stronger economy requires more economic justice.  Our public institutions should help to build economic strength by considering more than the price of the products they buy.   They should ask about the workers who made the products:   Are they paid a decent wage?  Do they have reasonable working hours?  Are they free to speak up about injustices in the workplace?  Ultimately, workers who are better off will create wealth for everyone.  Wealth does not “trickle down;” it springs up from a foundation of justice.

Building a Local Economy that Works for All

Liana Foxvog, National Organizer, SweatFree Communities

Fifty people from an array of community organizations in Western Massachusetts gathered November 20-21 at a workshop organized and led by Class Action and United for a Fair Economy to discuss the state of the economy, build skills in bridging the class divide, and strategize on how to build a sustainable, local economy in the Pioneer Valley and beyond.

Visions for a sustainable, local economy included: a trolley system connecting rural communities, small towns, and cities, living wage ordinances, community reinvestment by businesses, living wage ordinances, a time bank where you can exchange hours you worked for goods and services provided by others, banking with Common Good Bank, worker-owned local businesses, broader application of prevailing wage laws, and more. One theme that was met with nodding heads was that one hour of work doing one type of task should be worth the same as one hour of work doing another type of task, regardless of what the job is. The idea that bankers would not need to hire janitors because the bankers would do the janitorial work received applause. But if janitors weren't hired then what would they do? Well, they would be gaining job training and working in jobs where they have balanced job complexes -- maybe they could be the bankers.

Union Busting and Precarious Work Is not the Answer to Sustainable Development

By Eva Seidelman, ILRF Program Assistant

As large investment banks and finance corporations in the US receive billions of dollars in bailout money, workers around the world are getting murdered while their employment situations are becoming increasingly precarious. 

The International Trade Union Federation (ITUC) issued its 2008 survey of trade union rights violations around the world.  The survey found that a worldwide total of 91 trade unionists were murdered for defending workers' rights, with Colombia, where 39 lost their lives, by far the worst offender yet
again.  It also noted a disturbing upsurge in trade union violence in Guatemala with four unionists (a liberal estimate) murdered and a worsening climate of threats and harassment.

The report shows the trend of national and multinational employers, often facilitated by legislative provisions, to replace full-time and permanent jobs with precarious jobs, by forcing workers into temporary, casual and part-time employment situations, reducing their incomes, removing job security and making it harder for them to plan for the futures.  Many companies have moved in this direction by replacing regular workers with "contract labor", thus avoiding duties and responsibilities which they would otherwise have to meet.

ALL Workers Have Rights on the Job in the US

Beth Myers, STITCH

One of the biggest misperceptions about immigrant workers who are working with out legal documentation is that they have no right to complain about being mistreated or underpaid. And that they are not protected on the job. U.S. labor laws actually apply to all workers, no matter their immigration status. The Associated Press reports today workers at the New Bedford, RI leather plant, which was raided in March of 2007, will finally receive justice—and the back wages that they earned.

According to the article:

Michael Bianco Inc. will pay more than $600,000 to 764 former employees for unpaid wages and overtime to settle the lawsuit filed in May 2007. The remaining money will go for such things as legal fees and contributions to community groups that work with immigrants.

"This agreement should send a message to other companies that they have to follow labor laws regardless of workers' immigration status," said Audrey Richardson, an attorney at Greater Boston Legal Services, which filed the lawsuit.

Elizabeth Garcia Carrillo speaks at the CRLN Luncheon

By Carol Hansen, USLEAP

On Thursday, November 6, I had the pleasure of attending the Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America (CRLN) Luncheon. The luncheon featured Elizabeth Garcia Carrillo, a Colombian human rights activist and attorney, who addressed the issues of violence and injustice in Colombia. She discussed how Afro-Colombians are defending their territorial, cultural and human rights. She spoke of the constant state of warfare within the rural areas of Colombia and the issue of crop fumigations and the American war on drugs. In Carrillo's response to violence due to the growing of coca, she cleverly stated, "Coca is not cocaine just like a grape is not wine." Carrillo works to spread the voices of those that live the war in Colombia, to end the military strategy of silence.

Carrillo reported that since the beginning of the indigenous protests in September, 40 indigenous activists have been murdered, military officials are responsible for 300 murders of indigenous youth, and that the protesters were to march to Bogotá on November 10th to speak with Colombia's president, Uribe. Carrillo concluded that the indigenous and Afro-Colombian populations of Colombia resist oppression not with violence, but with love, solidarity, hope and dreams.

“Save Money, Live Better”: Wal-Mart’s Sourcing Paradox in China

By Cindy Shuck, ILRF intern

This afternoon, Beth Keck, the Senior Director of International Sustainability and Strategy at Wal-Mart, spoke at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies about Wal-Mart’s new sustainability initiatives targeting their retail stores and suppliers, specifically in China. Mrs. Keck recently returned from Wal-Mart’s Sustainability Summit that was held in Beijing on October 21, where she met with Chinese Wal-Mart executives and other government officials to talk about the corporation’s new goals for responsible sourcing and how best to implement them.[1] Though the bulk of her presentation was focused on environmental sustainability efforts, she also mentioned the company’s social sustainability goals, which were quite interesting to hear considering Wal-Mart’s record since their opening in China in 1996.[2]

She started out by presenting Wal-Mart’s new and ambitious goals to use 100% renewable energy, produce zero waste, and sell products that sustain resources. Though Mrs. Keck admitted their loftiness, she contended that these goals are a great place for the company to start. She pointed out that Wal-Mart can make a large difference by making simple changes such as minimizing products’ packaging materials, recycling more efficiently, and reducing the use of plastic bags in retail stores, all initiatives that the company has recently implemented. She emphasized that energy efficiency and water conservation are also main concerns, and the company is working to build prototype sustainable factories that may serve as a model for new retail locations.

Philippine government using abusive prosecutions to silence labor activists

Brian Campbell, International Labor Rights Forum

On October 23, 2008, while the ILRF was in the middle of proceedings at the United States Trade Representative concerning the Philippine military campaign against the members of the Kilusang Mayo Uno-affiliated union at Dole Foods’ plantation in Mindanao, the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) arrested one of the attorneys for the union representing Dole’s workers, Remigio Saladero. Atty. Saladero now sits in jail in Mindoro, a province far from his home and his work, as yet another victim of the Philippine government (GRP) expanding government offensive to dismantle progressive trade unions, political parties, and NGOs. As its weapon, the GRP is using politically motivated prosecutions and abusing the justice system to silence its critics.

Atty. Saladero is not alone. In the past few weeks, the GRP has charged 71 other people along with him, a virtual who’s who list of labor and political activists from trade unions, progressive political parties, and human rights groups in CALABARZON, with myriad charges stemming from the same two incidents, the burning of a cell phone tower allegedly by the New People’s Army (NPA) and an attack by the NPA on government troops in a different province in March 2006.  Apparently, the GRP is alleging that each of the 72 people named in the arrest warrants were responsible for the NPA’s attacks, presumably because, the GRP argues, each are members of progressive organizations that are allegedly “front” organizations for the New People’s Army. In short, the GRP is alleging that members of these progressive organizations, like the KMU and its 300,000 strong membership, are all terrorists.

People's Summit vs. G20 Summit

Tim Newman, Campaigns Assistant, International Labor Rights Forum

As the global financial crisis continues to grow, President Bush is holding a G20 Summit in Washington, DC this Saturday.  Originally billed as a "new Bretton Woods" the summit will bring together world leaders to discuss how to reconstruct the global financial system.  While many expectations for this event are less grand than what came out of Bretton Woods, the actions taken by G20 leaders will certainly have a major impact on working people globally.

Yesterday, the International Trade Union Confederation released a program of action called the "Washington Declaration" which, among other things, calls for a Green New Deal, an end to unequal income distribution and changes to the policies promoted by international financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.  There are also two global statements outlining new principles for an economic system that would benefit people and the planet online here.  ILRF has signed on to both statements.

In the last few months, there has been no shortage of exciting ideas for a "Main Street" recovery plan proposed by working families and organizations focused on their issues.  The problem is that so far it seems that those making the decisions are not listening and carefully considering these ideas.  So, while Bush hosts his summit, there will be a parallel People's Summit in DC.  From today until Sunday, a broad range of organizations facilitated by an organizing group called Global Justice Action is planning protests, celebrations, popular education workshops and strategy sessions to develop alternative visions for the global economy and to work toward implementing these ideas.  If you are in the DC area, we hope that you will participate in these events! If you are interested in discussing ideas and strategies with some exciting global activists, check out the People's Forum.

This Duck is So Lame

By Charity Ryerson, USLEAP

The fight to stop the Colombia Free Trade Agreement is making many of us a little seasick.  There’s going to be a vote, no there’s not, yes there is… to the point that we’re eyeing the daily ins and outs of the tide with a mixture of suspicion and nausea.  But maybe that’s just me.

The most recent (dare I say it—by the time this is posted there will something even more recent) scare came a couple of days ago around the auto industry bailout.  Just when we thought there probably wouldn’t even be a lame duck session (thereby destroying any chance of approving the FTA under President Bush) because the Bush administration and the Democrats could not come to a deal on Economic Stimulus II, the auto industry announced that it was failing.  And it needs a bailout before January.

Update on Possible Lame Duck Vote on the Colombia FTA

Special thanks to Jessica Walker Beaumont and Natalia Cardona from the American Friends Service Committee and Tom Loudon and Jenny Atlee from the Quixote Center and Alliance for Responsible Trade

We write in celebration of a new political moment in U.S.-Colombia relations.  President-elect Obama clearly stated his opposition to a U.S. - Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) as recently as the last presidential debate in October.  “The history in Colombia right now is that labor leaders have been targeted for assassination on a fairly consistent basis and there have not been prosecutions,” Obama said. “I think that the important point is we’ve got to have a president who understands the benefits of free trade but also ... is going to stand up to other countries.”

Unfortunately, President Bush considers passing a Colombia FTA such an important part of his legacy that he urged Mr. Obama to reconsider his stance in their first face-to-face meeting at the White House.  As Congress considers reconvening for a lame duck session to pass urgently needed economic recovery measures, President Bush indicated to Mr. Obama his strong interest in also having the Colombia FTA passed.