Labor is Not a Commodity

Stop Playing Politics With the Department of Labor!

Beth Myers, Executive Director, STITCH

Is supporting labor rights a stance that will disqualify you from serving as the Secretary of Labor? Insanely enough, it appears that may be true.

 For the past few weeks we have heard rumblings that the Republican Party might try to stop Representative Hilda Solis’ (D-CA) nomination in an attempt to “send a message to organized labor.”  Due to Rep. Solis’ support of the Employee Free Choice Act, she has become a target of business groups who are frightened that workers might finally have a level playing field to organize unions. At a time of unprecedented job loss, it seems appalling that business groups and Republicans would be hampering the Department of Labor by playing politics.   According to an article in the Washington Post:

Workers filing for new unemployment benefits rose by 3,000 to 588,000 last week, according to the Labor Department….Worse, analysts said, the total number of workers filing claims for jobless benefits lasting more than one week soared to 4,776,000 -- a new record.

Is now the time to be stalling and trying to win points or send messages? Obviously, even the Republican who is holding up this nomination is not willing to stand behind the game playing. Rep. Solis’ nomination is being held up via an anonymous hold by a Republican Senator, a parliamentary procedure that allows a Senator to stop a confirmation by threatening to filibuster it.

Super Bowl Halftime Show Sponsor Exploits Workers

Tim Newman, Campaigns Assistant, International Labor Rights Forum

For the second year in a row, Bridgestone Firestone is the title sponsor of the NFL Super Bowl Halftime show.  Close to 100 million football fans across the country will tune in to watch Bruce Springsteen perform and will see two new 30-second commercials (estimated to cost at least $3 million each) from the world's largest tire company.

Unfortunately, the exploitation workers face on Firestone's rubber plantation in Liberia will receive much less scrutiny.  For well over 80 years, Firestone has operated the world's largest rubber plantation in Harbel, Liberia. Workers on the plantation have long faced incredibly poor living and working conditions.  Firestone rubber tappers live in crowded shacks without running water, electricity or indoor latrines and are required to meet an unreasonably high production quota in order to receive their meager pay.

TAKE ACTION HERE and keep reading for more information.

Bittersweet Chocolate This Valentine’s Day? No Thanks!

By Shanika Yapa, ILRF Intern

As a kid I was never a big fan of bittersweet chocolate because the whole concept of something being bitter and sweet was just too confusing for me to understand. I mean, think about it, why would you want your chocolate to be bitter when it could be sweet? A couple of decades later, I’m still not a fan of that particular variety. Except now, my definition of bittersweet refers to chocolate (the yummy, I can stuff my face, and not get sick of it kind) that has helped to exploit and destroy the lives of children in West Africa who are being forced to work in the cocoa industry because of the low price of cocoa.

Many of these children are victims of trafficking, and spend most of their days working in harsh conditions, for large periods of times, exposed to dangerous tools and chemicals. They are also exposed to frequent beatings and other cruel treatment.

While chocolate manufacturers made a commitment to certify their cocoa, “child labor free” by 2005, and later extended to July 2008, the results of their efforts haven’t really been effective since most companies still purchase the cheapest cocoa (cultivated and harvested by child laborers), in order to maximize profits.

Reform, Not Raids: Linking Immigration and Labor Rights

By Briana Connors, ILRF intern

Hundreds of people gathered on Wednesday at a rally outside of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) building in Washington, DC to show support for reform of immigration laws, protest the increase in immigration raids and send a message to President Obama that the raids should be stopped immediately.  The crowd marched from Benjamin Banneker Park to the ICE Headquarters building where they gathered for over an hour of cheers and chants, songs, and a press conference. Various faith leaders spoke at the rally, emphasizing all of the positive things that immigrants have brought and continue to bring to the US.  Many also talked about how Obama’s inauguration the previous day signaled renewed hope for equal rights and fair treatment of immigrants.  The crowd was diverse, with immigrants from around the world, local community members, faith leaders, and activists.

WalMart and the Employee Free Choice Act

By Liz Leicht, ILRF intern

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America details the story of Barbara Ehrenreich (Author), trying to support herself in a white collar job. She finds positions in different cities around the country waitressing, cleaning, in retail etc. One job she holds is at WalMart. While at this position she discovers that not only can she not support herself but, the people around her were trying to support their families as well on those same wages. WalMart: The High Cost of Low Prices produced by Brave New Films in 2005 presents many more examples of labor rights violations and the use of union busting techniques to keep their stores from unionizing. In Florida 12,300 WalMart workers and dependents are on Medicaid, and workers say that WalMart encourages them to use welfare programs such as WIC and Medicaid, because deductibles are so high on health insurance through WalMart. Statistics show that WalMart has cost taxpayers $1,567,000,000 to support their employees through social welfare programs.

 Along with the close to non-existent benefits the employees receive, the anti-union campaigns use coercion and intimidation. One former manager at a WalMart store describes receiving a piece of blank paper with the words “We need a union” written on it. He then called the regional manager, and later that day drove to the airport to pick up three men who basically took over the store. They taught him and the other managers how to profile their employees to determine the leader of the unionizing campaign. The managers were told to follow these people around and install cameras to watch employees more closely. There were firings and freezes on all raises (which workers were told were to make sure it didn’t look as though they were bribing certain people) which would pit pro and anti union workers against each other. Meetings with all employees and managers were held to discourage involvement in unions.  WalMart spends $7,000,000 on each rapid response teams and corporate jet that would fly these teams into stores that were starting unionizing campaigns. While there are poor working conditions in WalMart stores around the United States, abroad, in WalMart factories in Bangladesh  189,000 workers are being paid 13-17 cents per hour.

Could there be a Sweatshop in your Neighborhood?

By Briana Connors, ILRF intern

To many people, the term “sweatshop” refers to hidden factories in far away third world countries where workers have few rights and are underpaid. What many people don’t realize is that those types of factories also exist right here in the US, often closer to home than we think.  The US General Accounting Office defines a sweatshop as “a business that violates more than one federal or state law governing wages and hours, child labor, health or safety, workers’ compensation, or industry registration,” and there are a shocking number of factories that fit that definition here in the US.  In 1995 in El Monte, California, 72 Thai workers were found working in a locked apartment building surrounded by barbed wire. They were routinely threatened in order to keep them working, and were paid only 69 cents per hour.

Because of a lack of government enforcement of labor laws and the unwillingness of many corporations and producers to acknowledge factory conditions and make changes, 13 years later we are still encountering the same shocking reports.  In July, 2008, while investigating a Korean organized crime ring, police raided a small bungalow in Annandale, Virginia, expecting to find items linked to an untaxed cigarette scam two men had been running. What they found instead was a group of women crowded around industrial sewing machines making counterfeit designer clothing. Police also found crack pipes that they think were used to keep the women working and addicted.

MLK and Worker Rights

Tim Newman, Campaigns Assistant, International Labor Rights Forum

As we honor the memory of Martin Luther King Jr. today, it is a great opportunity to remember his legacy of supporting labor rights and economic justice.  Check out this excellent video below about the 1968 Memphis sanitation workers' strike which was bolstered by support from MLK.

At this time when the country is buzzing with the excitement of hope, this story shows the power of organizing and action to create real change for working people.

ILO has Launched a New Project in Baluchistan, Pakistan

By Rosemarie Treanor, ILRF intern

If a friend asks you where movements for the eradication of child labor and fair work environments recently were implemented, which country would come to mind? Chances are you wouldn’t think of Pakistan. However, there has been efforts made in Baluchistan, Pakistan in conjunction with the ILO. The International Labor Organization (ILO) will be providing valuable assistance to Baluchistan for a two year initiative to promote effective overseas employment and the eradication of child labor.

Child labor regulations have existed in Pakistan before this intervention, however there was a lack of enforcement to safeguard the children. Many children work in the agricultural sector.  The U.S. Department of Labor believes that millions of children also working on carpets and sporting good products.  It is clear that the data collection on child labor in Pakistan is not readily available to government officials and organizations, so any efforts to educate people on this problem is crucial, which demonstrates the timely nature of the International Labor Organization's involvement in Baluchistan.

More thoughts on Sec. of Labor-Designate Hilda Solis

Tim Newman, Campaigns Assistant, International Labor Rights Forum

Last Friday, the US Senate Committee on Health, Labor and Pensions held a confirmation hearing for Secretary of Labor-Designate Rep. Hilda Solis.  The Senators on the committee asked Rep. Solis questions on a wide range of labor issues and Rep. Solis also delivered a written statement (which you can read online here).  The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), the Taft-Hartley Act, job training, wages and paid leave all came up frequently and you can watch the entire hearing online here for all of Rep. Solis' answers (many of which were along the lines of, I can't give an opinion right now, but I want to work with everyone.)

Given Rep. Solis' sponsorship of EFCA, her upbringing in a union household, her 97% voting rate from the AFL-CIO, her position on the board of American Rights at Work, her support for increasing the minimum wage in California among her other pro-labor work has earned her support from the AFL-CIO.  You can also check out statements from Change to Win, UNITE-HERE, Teamsters, SEIU, CWA and NEA.  UE also has a thoughtful statement and examination of Solis' record here.

My Business Management Class and the Employee Free Choice Act

By Liz Leicht, International Labor Rights Forum intern

For someone who is interested in labor rights and unions, I have found that business classes are surprisingly not the best place for information. In a Human Resources Management last semester I saw that the very last chapter we would cover would be on unions and the labor movement. Since non-profit business and labor rights are what I am most interested in, I wanted to learn more about the process for unionizing from a business management perspective. Little did I know, but my college education on unions and the labor movement would be very different than what I expected, gaining my previous knowledge about unions from a conference with United Students Against Sweatshops.