Labor is Not a Commodity

Human Rights Defender, Charles Hector, Sued Over Blog Exposing Labour Abuse

By Allison Richina, Intern, International Labor Rights Forum

Lawyer, Activist, Human Rights Defender, and Blogger, Charles Hector, is currently facing a three-million defamation lawsuit carried out by Asahi Kosei, a factory in Malaysia. There has been information shared by the Good Electronics Network, and Clean Clothes Campaign, on the legal action for libel and demand for damages commenced by the Japanese electronics company Asahi Kosei against Malaysian labour activist Charles Hector, for publishing information about alleged labor rights violation committees company on his blog and via twitter. The International Labor Rights Forum shares Mr. Hector’s concerns about the way in which it appears that Asahi Kosei has failed to take responsibility for the thirty-one Burmese migrant workers in its Malaysian production site.

The company’s main argument is that the thirty-one workers are not considered apart of their working staff, rather workers supplied by an ‘outsourcing agent’. The company says that these workers are not on their direct payroll, hence they are not responsible for these workers, nor are they responsible for anything that happens to them. The company claims no knowledge of any termination or attempted deportation, or any new agreement that may have been made. Charles Hector’s argument is that once the workers are supplied to the company, then automatically an employment relationship arises between the workers and the company. He has continued to write about worker and migrant rights (throughout his blog http://charleshector.blogspot.com/) in order to find justice for the many misrepresented people in the workplace.

The Goals and Mechanism to Achieving Stability, Democracy and Peace among Workers in the Ivory Coast

By Allison Richina, Intern, International Labor Rights Forum 

The discussion “Ivory Coast at a Crossroads? The Role of Workers’ Organizations in Reconstruction and Democracy Building,” held at the AFL-CIO headquarters, included a set of vibrant and scholastic set of speakers. Speakers included Marc Bayard, Regional Program Director, Africa, Solidarity Center; Kabe Clement Nabo, Former General Secretary, National Printing House Employees’ Trade Union, Cote d’Ivoire; and Emira Woods, Co-Director of Foreign Policy in Focus at the Institute for Policy Studies. The panel of speakers discussed the complex history of the Ivory Coast and the ongoing battles of the country and its people. The future of the workers was also discussed, along with different policies and solutions that would further assist unions in becoming independent as well as training tactics and awareness of workers rights.

Return Our Mural

By Lee Sharkey

I’d like to tell you a story based on characters in three panels of Judy Taylor’s Maine labor history mural. You’ve probably had stories of your own surface when looking at it, either where it welcomed people near the entrance to the Dept. of Labor or in images spread far and wide across the media.
A week ago today, hundreds of us gathered around the mural at the DoL. It was the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, which took the lives of 146 garment workers, most of them young immigrant women working 14-hour shifts for starvation wages in crowded workrooms lit by open-flame gas lamps. In Maine, women were working under similarly stressful conditions in the mills and garment factories. They are depicted in the mural’s third panel. One of the Triangle workers was Rosie Weiner, a 20-year-old Russian Jewish immigrant who’d come to the US nine years earlier, about the time my father’s father came here with his family from Russia. They had the same last name; perhaps she was a relative. Rosie took hold of her friend Tessie Wisner’s hand and together they jumped out the window to their deaths.

NAFTA, Labor, and Immigration: A Package Deal

By Rebecca Van Horn, Program Coordinator, USLEAP

As the number of undocumented Mexican immigrants in the United States nears 12 million and xenophobia continues to drive state and federal policy, it is time to take an honest look at the effects of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on worker rights and immigration. The agreement has liberalized the markets while clamping down on the movement of labor, and the one trade-based mechanism designed to hold participating countries accountable for worker rights violations, the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation (NAALC), has become almost obsolete. The result: labor rights violations abound, an immigration system remains broken, and the link between the welfare of workers abroad and workers at home goes unexamined.

NAFTA and NAALC

On January 1, 1994, Mexico, the United States and Canada implemented the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), an accord that removed all non-tariff barriers to trade and agreed to phase out tariffs over a period of 15 years, lifting many restrictions on foreign investment. The same day, the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation (NAALC), the “side agreement” of NAFTA designed to protect worker rights, also went into effect.

Free2Work Featured on CNN - and Free Phone Apps Now Available!

Tim Newman, Campaigns Director, International Labor Rights Forum

Have you ever found yourself in a grocery store aisle or roaming around the mall wonder which products could have been produced under exploitative labor conditions or what different companies are actually doing to address abuses like forced labor, trafficking and child labor? ILRF's project with the Not for Sale Campaign, Free2Work, rates companies based on their policies to address these abuses in their supply chains.

In addition to a resource on the web, Free2Work now has free iPhone and Android apps ready for you to download so that you can get information about companies and products while you shop. The apps are getting a lot of attention as they offer a unique tool for consumers concerned with the "story behind the barcode."

This week, CNN presented a feature on Free2Work as part of its ongoing Freedom Project which aims to "shine a spotlight on the horrors of modern-day slavery, amplify the voices of the victims, highlight success stories and help unravel the complicated tangle of criminal enterprises trading in human life." Check out the video!

Bangladesh Fire Safety Strategy Continues

Submitted by the Clean Clothes Campaign

Final compensation payments scheduled for next week, Stakeholders come together to discuss safety action

April 11 is day we remember the 64 workers who were killed and the 80 who injured when the Spectrum factory in Bangladesh collapsed in 2005. Since then at least 200 more Bangladeshi garment workers died as a result of factory fires, and many more were injured, while producing garments for major European or the US brands.

Yesterday, the National Garment Workers Federation NGWF organized a “Garment Workers Condolence and Remembering Rally” reminding people that a safe workplace is a fundamental right.

On December 14 last year the Hameem factory fire killed 29 workers who were having lunch at the 11th floor. The Hameem Group is one of the most prominent garment manufacturers in the country, producing for huge brands like Target, JC Penney, Abercrombie & Fitch and Gap.
Earlier that year the Garib and Garib fire shocked the world by killing 21 producing for H&M and Teddy.

“We Are One” rally recognizes Domestic and International struggle for Workers Rights

By Jacqueline Starr, Intern, International Labor Rights Forum 

Monday, April 4, 2011 marked the anniversary of the assassination of one of the greatest leaders in our country’s history. The death of Martin Luther King, on April 4, 1968, marked the end of his life, but not the fight he led for civil and worker rights. This week’s nationwide effort to stand in solidarity in the fight for labor rights, namely the right to bargain collectively, was in many respects a tribute to King’s dream to instill equality in all aspects of our communities, by sending a message to governors across the country, and by supporting the fight for corporate social responsibility.

While the present struggle in the United States to retain workers rights is an important battle, it is critical to recognize that it is a fight international workers have been waging for a long time. As the 100-year anniversary of the Triangle Fire recently passed, a powerful parallel was drawn between the precarious working conditions of New York City’s factories in the early 20^th century, and the dangerously similar conditions that persist today in factories abroad.

UFCW Local 1994 “We Are One” Event

By Ed Mattos, Intern, International Labor Rights Forum

As part of the "We Are One" national action day April 4, United Food and Commercial Workers [UFCW] Local 1994 held an indoor rally. Local 1994, known as the Municipal and County Government Employees Organization [MCGEO], represents public workers in Montgomery County, MD.  MCGEO has been protesting budget cuts proposed by County Executive Isiah "Ike" Leggett. The event took place at the National Labor College, which is located in Montgomery County, and was chaired by MCGEO Secretary-Treasurer Yvette Cuffie.

Mexican Congress Rushes to Pass Regressive Labor Law

By Rebecca Van Horn, Program Coordinator, USLEAP

The Mexican Congress is moving quickly to consider regressive labor law changes that would further undermine rights for workers. The proposal is on a fast-track and could be voted on before the end of April.

Among other issues, the proposed changes fail to address long-standing weaknesses in Mexican labor law, including the use of protection contracts and gender and youth issues in the workplace. Approval of the proposal would represent the first significant change in Mexican labor law since the passage of NAFTA, taking a marked backwards step in the rights for workers. The debate comes on the heels of the February Global Days of Action, during which 50,000 activists from more than 40 countries came out to protest the systemic violation of labor rights in Mexico and inadequate labor laws.

According to the International Metalworkers Federation, the global union federation that represents 25 million metalworkers around the world, the proposal would grant employers more power to:

Sweatshop, Warehouse, Walmart: A Worker Truth Tour

By Aria DiSalvo

Walmart was in the news headlines again this week. We read the latest about the ongoing gender discrimination case- the one Walmart lawyers argue shouldn’t even be heard. For the last 10 years, no judge has had the opportunity to listen to these women’s stories. Odds are that the Supreme Court will side as usual with big corporations, forever ending the chance we will all hear these stories of women who face discrimination working at Walmart.

But these women’s stories are not the only ones being denied exposure. Workers in all facets of the numerous Walmart supply chains remain voiceless in the face of abusive treatment. Walmart’s owners, the Waltons, enjoy status as one of the world’s wealthiest families while denying basic rights to millions of employees and subcontracted workers. 

Fortunately, some workers are speaking out beyond Walmart- these workers have found support with each other, unions, and NGOs fighting for labor rights through the Sweatshop, Warehouse, Walmart Worker True Tour. The solidarity wells up when they tell their stories to attentive audiences across major cities.

At Tufts University in Boston last Tuesday evening students, staff, labor unions, and nonprofit organizers listened to the voices of Walmart workers. Kalpona Akter, Aleya Akter, Robert J. Hines, Jr., Cynthia Murray, and Babul Akhter talked about Walmart’s labor violations, discrimination, and abuse.