In response to the call for a global week of action during the week of January 21-26, 2008 initiated by the World Social Forum, the Labor is Not a Commodity blog will feature articles throughout the week related to the theme: "Another World is Possible: International Labor Solidarity Success Stories."
We will be sharing stories about when people around the world came together to support workers' rights and how different individuals and organizations are successfully protecting labor rights globally. Keep checking throughout the week for inspiring updates.
We also want to hear your stories! You can contribute blog entries about successful labor campaigns by sending your stories to Tim at tim.newman[at]ilrf.org -- the sooner the better!
Yet, in our willingness to expose and debate factory abuse, we have been
unwittingly overlooking
conditions at the earlier stages of the supply chain.
How often have we considered these first stages in the clothing process - the production and harvesting
of cotton in the fields - and the army of labor needed to supply Asia's and
Europe's thousands of factories with the fiber for subsequent manufacturing?
Long before cotton is processed into textile, hundreds of thousands of children
are being subjected to arduous, hazardous work in the fields where cottonseeds
are produced and plants grown.
Tim Newman, Campaigns Assistant, International Labor Rights Forum
The controversy around widespread child labor on cotton farms in Uzbekistan continues to grow (an issue we have blogged about before). Last weekend, Swedish Television (SVT) aired a new program investigating child labor in Uzbekistan which linked H&M and Marimekko to an Estonian textile factory, Krenholm, which processes cotton from Uzbekistan. Following the report, Marimekko announced that it would stop buying cotton products from Krenholm.
Most recently, Krenholm has claimed to have stopped buying cotton from Uzbekistan in response to the recent exposure. Reports say that Krenholm has asked all of its international suppliers to provide the company with a certificate guaranteeing that no child labor was used in the production of their cotton. Martti Haarajoki, CEO of Krenholm, said, "This problem applies to the entire cotton
industry. In addition to Uzbekistan, child labour may be used in a
number of other countries."
Especially as the holiday gift buying season kicks into high gear, it is important for consumers to be aware of the labor conditions under which their products are made. This latest controversy highlights the ongoing use of child labor and it is important for people to take action to remind corporations that we will not support abuses like this.
Keep reading to see a video report from the BBC on cotton in Uzbekistan!
Tim Newman, Campaigns Assistant, International Labor Rights Forum
BBC's Newsnight recently did an investigation of child labor in the cotton industry in Uzbekistan. The disturbing report shows how widespread labor rights abuses occur on farms throughout this major cotton producing country and end up in garments purchased by consumers around the world. Check out this important report here!
Tim Newman, Campaigns
Assistant, International Labor Rights Fund
June 12th is World Day Against Child Labor! Now is the perfect time to take action to stop child labor. Check out the e-mail we sent out today for updates on all our child labor campaigns and ways to take action.
We published an article today on Firestone's use of child labor on their rubber plantation in Liberia today. Check it out and forward it to friends! Keep reading this post to find out about some of our other child labor news, including a brand-new report on child labor in the cotton industry in India!
Reflections on ILRF's 20th Anniversary/Halloween Party
Bama Athreya, Executive Director, International Labor Rights Fund
Last Thursday, October 26 ILRF invited friends from far and wide to join us for a special evening to celebrate a very important moment both for reflection and for looking forward. Twenty years ago (in November, 1986), our founding Executive Director Pharis Harvey and two of his associates filed the original documents of incorporation for the International Labor Rights Fund (in those days, as some of our old friends will remember, the "International Labor Rights Education and Research Fund"). Pharis was with us for our celebration last Thursday evening, and shared with all of us his memories of how the original vision for the ILRF had come to him while he lay in a hospital bed, recuperating from a broken leg! Who could have foreseen what the next twenty years would bring?
