Labor is Not a Commodity

Think before you pick up that banana or pineapple

By Didier Leiton, SITRAP union organizer in Costa Rica

The Union of Workers of Agricultural Plantations (Sindicato de Trabajadores de Plantaciones Agricolas – SITRAP), through this letter, wants to inform unions, NGO’s, consumers, local governments, churches, and citizens in general of the working conditions in which bananas and pineapples are produced in Costa Rica. These are, in turn, purchased by the supermarkets in the USA, mostly through Wal-Mart.

Port Workers Take Action for Global Justice

Tim Newman, Campaigns Assistant, International Labor Rights Forum

In the past few weeks, there have been two exciting examples of global labor solidarity.  Port workers in South Africa and the U.S. have both taken action in recently to show their support for global justice. 

South Africa

In South Africa, the SA Transit and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU), refused to unload a ship carrying weapons from China to be sent to Zimbabwe.  SATAWU, with the support of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), took action to stand in solidarity with workers in Zimbabwe.  After the controversial recent election in Zimbabwe, many are concerned that Mugabe would use the weapons to crack down on activists, including trade union members.  Mozambique and other Southern African nations have also refused to unload weapons for the landlocked government of Zimbabwe. 

Randal Howard, secretary general of SATAWU said, "We have a moral obligation to provide solidarity that does not allow the Mugabe regime to continue to undermine human and trade union rights with impunity.  We are not puppets of any imperialist forces as we equally deplore imperialism that undermines the sovereignty of African nation states to determine their own destinies."

Check out this statement from COSATU for more information.

Vermont Becomes Seventh Sweatfree State

By Liana Foxvog, National Organizer, SweatFree Communities

Yesterday Vermont became the seventh “sweatfree” state in the United States when Governor Jim Douglas signed a sweatshop-free purchasing policy into law.

The Governor's signing ceremony was held at Brattleboro Union High School. Members of the student organization Child Labor Education and Action (CLEA) had initiated and led the campaign to pass the law.

Hannah Viens, a senior, said: “CLEA advocates for the human rights of child laborers and sweatshop workers. We've held conferences to educate students. Today, before the bill signing, we presented to our classmates about how the bill is a concrete way to humanize the global economy.”

Does the Pope Care about Worker’s Rights?

By Beth Myers, Executive Director of STITCH

Around Washington, D.C. this week, it’s Pope-mania with Pope Benedict XIV visiting the United States for the first time. It is an interesting time to think about the Catholic Church and worker’s rights. While the Catholic Worker movement is still going strong around the globe, does the Catholic Church still publicly take as strong of a stand in support of unions as they once did? And if they act badly towards their own workers are they putting their moral authority on this issue on the line?

No Unions for School Teachers

This week the Nation Magazine wrote about the struggle and anti-union activity that teachers in Catholic schools face when trying to organize unions in their schools. It’s a sad statement that one of the strongest supporters of unionism and worker’s rights is now trying to break the unions using company unions or just flat out not negotiating with them. Teacher’s unions are responsible for making sure that women (the majority of the members are women) are able to pass on their passion for knowledge and still make a living wage.

Read this passage from the article:

However, in recent years in other parts of the country, Catholic bishops have been busting longstanding Catholic school teachers' unions and stripping teachers of their right to unionize. In 2004, Archbishop Sean O'Malley ended thirty-six years of the Boston Archdiocese's negotiation of a single contract with the high schools by decentralizing the system and then refusing to recognize the union any longer.

Mary Chubb, a veteran Catholic school teacher, spent nearly ten years trying to gain recognition for elementary school teachers in St. Louis, Missouri.  Bishop Raymond Burke summarily killed that movement in 2004 by issuing an unequivocal written decree stating that, "Neither the Archdiocese nor individual parishes will recognize or bargain collectively with any organization as a representative of the teachers."

You can read the full article here:

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080428/bonavoglia

Bush's War on Workers

Bama Athreya, Executive Director, International Labor Rights Forum

Why, exactly, is the Bush Administration in such a huge rush to pass the US-Colombia Free Trade Agreement, and why is Speaker Pelosi getting so much flak from the news media for her delaying tactics?  It was a relief this morning to pick up my New York Times and see, finally, some careful analysis of the ongoing violence against trade unionists in Colombia, after so much media commentary suggesting this was somehow a fake issue.

The violence is real; less so the Administration's shameless use of the global security card as justification for the need for rapid passage of this agreement.

Let me raise a few points here that our readers won't get from the pages of the Wall Street Journal, or even the New York Times:

Firestone: Child Labor Continues in Liberia

Tim Newman, Campaigns Assistant, International Labor Rights Forum

As I mentioned recently on this blog, I just took a trip to Liberia to visit the Firestone rubber plantation and meet with workers there.  During my visit, I could see right through all the expensive public relations materials Firestone has produced to try to deflect criticism of their 82 year history of exploitation in Liberia.  Most notably, I saw children under the age of 18 working on their plantation with my own eyes -- a flagrant violation of their company policy.

Flower Worker Dora Acero Speaks on the Hill

Clarissa Pintado, Intern, International Labor Rights Forum

Colombian flower worker Dora Acero’s words were both eye-opening and moving at last week’s International Workers Rights Caucus Briefing, “Labor Rights in the Colombian Flower Sector.” Other speakers present were Congressman Phil Hare, Global Economic Policy Specialist Jeff Vogt of AFL-CIO and Executive Director Bama Athreya of the International Labor Rights Forum. They informed the audience of the atrocious labor and human rights violations taking place in Colombia, and explained why the Colombia Free Trade Agreement before Congress is a continuation of failed trade policy.

CIW National Petition Drive to Support Tomato Workers

By Coalition of Immokalee Workers

Sign the petition in support of tomato workers in Florida: http://fairfoodnation.mayfirst.org/petition

The CIW is launching a national petition drive to demand that Burger King and other food industry leaders work with the CIW to improve the wages and working conditions of  the workers who pick their tomatoes, and join with the CIW in an industry-wide effort to eliminate modern-day slavery and human rights abuses from Florida’s fields.  The petitions will serve as notice that those who sign are “prepared to stop patronizing Burger King now, and other food industry leaders in the future, should they fail to do so.” The campaign comes on the 200th anniversary of the US ban against the importation of slaves, and echoes key strategies of the early abolitionist movement that helped hasten the end of slavery in the 19th century.

Sign the petition in support of tomato workers in Florida: http://fairfoodnation.mayfirst.org/petition

Cargill & ADM: Supporting Slavery?

Tim Newman, Campaigns Assistant, International Labor Rights Forum

U.S.-based agricultural companies Cargill (whose CEO is Gregory Page -- photo below and right) and Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) (whose CEO is Patricia Woertz -- photo on the left) are currently aggressively lobbying members of the Senate and House Agriculture Committees to try to get them to drop Section 3105 of the Farm Bill which would establish a voluntary certification program related to imports made using forced labor and child labor.

Click here to send an e-mail to Cargill and ADM and keep reading to find out why their lobbyists are fighting to defend slavery.

Is Free Trade Worth This?

By Bill Fletcher (ILRF Board President) and Bama Athreya (ILRF Executive Director)

The March 31 Washington Post editorial "Free Colombia" minimized not only the violence faced every day by Colombia's workers but also the complicity of U.S.-based multinational corporations in that violence, often with full knowledge of the Colombian government.

Cases have been brought against Coca-Cola, the Drummond mining company and Occidental Petroleum accusing them of supporting paramilitaries that terrorize and kill union organizers. These corporations and their peers are the real beneficiaries of President Bush's proposed trade deal.