Labor is Not a Commodity

Corporate America Feasts from the African Bread Basket

Stuart Coffey, Intern, International Labor Rights Forum

In a recent article  in  Food First, the US Working Group on the Food Crisis argues that “we should focus on helping African farmers maintain control over their land and seeds, earn a living wage, and enhance – not degrade – the quality of their land and water… We have found GE technology to be disastrous for small farmers and rural communities…farmers lose their land and with it, the ability to feed themselves and their families.”

On Tuesday April 21, 2009, Washington DC was enlightened with the candor and charisma of Josphat Ngonyo, Kenyan activist and founder of the Africa Network for Animal Welfare. Ngonyo is also currently aligned with the Kenya Biodiversity Coalition. Hosted by Food and Water Watch, Ngonyo presented a talk at the popular Busboys and Poets hangout, titled “Africa Bullied into Submission by Multinational Corporations; Kenyan Perspective of GE Technology, GMOs and Bio-safety legislation.”

Far from Equal Pay

by Yu-Lan Duggan, Communications Officer, ILRF

In 1963, Congress passed the Equal Pay Act, which prohibited employers from discriminating against an employee based on his/her gender and stipulated that an employee should be paid the same amount in wages for the same work performed by an employee of the opposite sex.  While the Equal Pay Act seemed like a huge step forward in women’s rights at the time, forty-six years later, female workers are still fighting to achieve true equality in the workplace on national Equal Pay Day.

Workers and Earth Day

Tim Newman, Campaigns Assistant, International Labor Rights Forum

People around the world are celebrating Earth Day today.  The labor movement and the environmental movement have not always worked together productively.  As the demand for eco-friendly products increases, many businesses are introducing products that are meant to be less destructive to the environment, but these products are often made by exploited workers.  For example, NPR did a recent story about a new line of "green" footwear at Payless ShoeSource that is likely produced in sweatshops in China.  Policy Matters Ohio also did an excellent report about how a supplier for GE's compact fluorescent lightbulbs (that are being promoted as an earth-friendly alternative) in China violates worker rights and breaks Chinese labor law.

At the same time, there is now an increasing amount of positive collaboration between the labor and environmental movement.

Beyond ‘Buy American’: Sorting Allies and Enemies

by Judy Ancel, Director, Institute for Labor Studies

NOTE: originally posted on Labor Notes.

A union rep discussing the possible strike at AT&T said the work of his members came and went from locations all over the world. The production chain was so extensive that the union couldn’t track it. He then said, sadly, “In this time of high unemployment, the company could be a leader and bring those jobs back here and be patriotic.”

AT&T patriotic? They dropped “American” from their name a long time ago.

A UAW local president explained that buying American cars meant buying cars from the Big 3 automakers, because the transplants shipped their profits overseas, so we should shun even union-made cars of Toyota and Mitsubishi.

Does that mean that if Fiat buys Chrysler, we shouldn’t buy their cars anymore?

On April 7, Steelworkers in Granite City, Illinois, held a Rally to Restore American Manufacturing, to protest the use of pipe from India on a mammoth oil pipeline from Alberta to Illinois. Two thousand workers at U.S. Steel’s Granite City plant, which could make the hot-rolled steel for such pipes, are laid off. The rally was sponsored by the union and the Alliance for American Manufacturing, a partnership between the Steelworkers, U.S. Steel, and Allegheny Technologies.

But U.S. Steel and Allegheny Technologies also produce metals in England, Canada, China, Mexico, Slovakia, Serbia, and Brazil.

This “us or them” approach to jobs is happening everywhere. The rampage of job-killing is creating desperation among workers and their unions. They are being seduced by “Buy American” and steering toward economic nationalism—the doctrine that we will prosper by taking care of the American economy first and exclusively.

BUY AMERICAN?

But Buy American is a giant distraction. It targets consumers rather than the corporations and governments who’ve made the decisions that are killing our jobs.

Workers Responding to Crisis #1: Updates from France, Central Europe, NYC, DC, Boston & More!

Tim Newman, Campaigns Assistant, International Labor Rights Forum

This the first in an occasional blog series highlighting how workers and unions around the world are analyzing the global economic crisis and fighting for economic justice.

In this post, find out more about French workers holding their bosses hostage, rubber unions joining together in Central Europe, global unions building strategies for recovery, exciting events taking place in New York City, Washington DC and Boston and an online course about the global economic crisis!

France

In addition to organizing major strikes, some workers in France are taking the action a step further in their workplaces.  Some workers facing layoffs have started to hold top company executives hostage to call for fair negotiations and better severance packages.  The Washington Post ran an article yesterday about 40 workers at a Caterpillar factory who locked themselves in an office with five company executives for 24 hours to discuss their concerns about a plant closure.  Similar actions have been reported in France with workers for Hewlett-Packard, 3M, Sony and other companies.  The hostage-taking strategy is popular among people in France and has led to some demands being met.  Recently, NPR's Morning Edition also had an interesting piece about how student unions in France are joining other sectors of organized labor and taking action around the economic crisis.

Tim Newman, Campaigns Assistant, International Labor Rights Forum

This the first in an occasional blog series highlighting how workers and unions around the world are analyzing the global economic crisis and fighting for economic justice.

In this post, find out more about French workers holding their bosses hostage, rubber unions joining together in Central Europe, global unions building strategies for recovery, exciting events taking place in New York City, Washington DC and Boston and an online course about the global economic crisis!

France

In addition to organizing major strikes, some workers in France are taking the action a step further in their workplaces.  Some workers facing layoffs have started to hold top company executives hostage to call for fair negotiations and better severance packages.  The Washington Post ran an article yesterday about 40 workers at a Caterpillar factory who locked themselves in an office with five company executives for 24 hours to discuss their concerns about a plant closure.  Similar actions have been reported in France with workers for Hewlett-Packard, 3M, Sony and other companies.  The hostage-taking strategy is popular among people in France and has led to some demands being met.  Recently, NPR's Morning Edition also had an interesting piece about how student unions in France are joining other sectors of organized labor and taking action around the economic crisis.

Tax Dollars for Sweatshops?

Bjorn Claeson, Executive Director, SweatFree Communities

On Wednesday April 15 many Americans will file their taxes thinking about what we can no longer afford and how our government spends our money.  As we look to rebuild our economy, there are many large spending items that illicit disagreement, but one thing most Americans will agree is that we should not spend our tax dollars on products made in sweatshops.

Yet, a new report by SweatFree Communities shows that each year governments, unwittingly, send billions of our tax dollars to sweatshops to make uniforms and related equipment for public employees such as police officers and fire fighters. Workers face poverty wages, forced and unpaid overtime, abuse, and dangerous conditions. Sometimes these workers are far too young to be working. Subsidizing Sweatshops II is based on more than 100 in-depth interviews with workers in eight factories spanning five countries on three continents.

Sweatfree DC Campaign Launch Today

By Stuart Coffey, Intern, International Labor Rights Forum

Today, Wednesday April 15, 2009 is “Tax Day” in the United States and many people, including Washingtonians may assume that our taxes are ethically spent. However, our DC TAX DOLLARS are being spent on inhumane sweatshops. As if Taxation without Representation was not enough. The US government (federal and state levels) spends approximately $4.4 billion annually on apparel for things like employee uniforms and often these products are manufactured in sweatshops.  The Sweatfree DC Campaign organized by the International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF) is calling on Mayor Fenty and local elected officials to join the Sweatfree Purchasing Consortium and pass a strong sweatshop-free purchasing policy to end tax dollar support for sweatshops.

EFCA Would Aid Exploited Workers

Tim Newman, Campaigns Assistant, International Labor Rights Forum

I wrote a post today for the Change.org "End Human Trafficking" blog explaining why those concerned about trafficking and labor exploitation should support the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA).  Check it out here.  Change.org is a great social networking website for those concerned about social issues and activism.  Check it out and considering signing up!

G-20 London Summit: The Future of Workers Worldwide

Matias Mangas, Intern, International Labor Rights Forum

Following up with Tim Newman’s March 26th blog, and post-G20 London Summit, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (TUAC) have on Tuesday April 7 released a detailed evaluation of the Statement from the last G-20 meeting.

On Monday March 21st of this year, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) released a “London Declaration” that focused on five key policy recommendations for the G-20:

• a coordinated international recovery and sustainable growth plan to create jobs and ensure public investment;
• nationalization of insolvent banks and new financial regulations;
• action to combat the risk of wage deflation and reverse decades of increasing inequality;
• far-reaching action on climate change;
• a new international legal framework to regulate the global economy along with reform of the global financial and economic institutions (IMF, World Bank, OECD, WTO).

Responding to Mars, Inc.'s Sustainability Announcement

Tim Newman, Campaigns Assistant, International Labor Rights Forum

Last month, Cadbury made an important commitment to sustainable cocoa production by announcing that it would seek Fair Trade certification for its Dairy Milk bar by the end of the summer -- the top selling chocolate bar in the UK market.  This week, Mars (the company that makes M&Ms and many other popular chocolate candy) announced a commitment to sourcing 100,000 tons of cocoa per year certified by Rainforest Alliance for use in Mars products.  The first Mars product to be made using Rainforest Alliance certified cocoa will be the Galaxy Bar in the UK and Ireland in 2010.

While Mars calls the announcement a "milestone" and portrays themselves as leaders in sustainability in the cocoa sector, major US companies like Kraft have been using Rainforest Alliance certified cocoa for years.  Additionally, Rainforest Alliance is not the strongest certification program available to ensure that worker rights and the environment are protected.  Companies like Divine Chocolate, Equal Exchange and Sweet Earth Organic Chocolates have been leading the way in ensuring that their cocoa is produced ethically for years.  Sixty organizations and companies have also endorsed a joint statement that sets a higher bar for cocoa production called the "Commitment to Ethical Cocoa Sourcing."  ILRF has a scorecard that ranks some companies on their commitment to protecting worker rights and ending child labor which you can check out here.  Fair Trade and Organic certification are a much bigger step in terms of sustainability and Mars should embrace these certification systems.  You can check out the Fairtrade Foundation's response to Mars' announcement here.