Labor is Not a Commodity

Thoughts from Kenya: It is time for a workers bailout!

By Steve O. Akoth, Labour Awareness and Resource Centre

When reports appeared in the media two years ago detailing failure in mortgage repayments in the United States, the government of Kenya alongside many others in Africa, claimed that that was a US affair.  The treasury bureaucrats and politicians were quick to reassure Kenyans that our economy was safe.  In fact, new projections of 2% annual growth were given.  But this was nothing more than the usual political talk show and regular political performance that is not uncommon in Kenya.

Our government, rather than deceive us, should appreciate that Kenyan workers know that they are part of a huge interconnected web.  When a small scale farmer in Tigoni plants runner beans to sell to Homegrown for instance, she knows that the beans shall end up in the supermarket of Mars and Spencer in the United Kingdom.  For that reason, the farmer is interested and is affected by the purchasing power of a consumer in the UK.  Similarly, a worker on the stitching line in an Export Processing Zone (EPZ) in Ruaraka, knows that the garment shall be sold off through Wal-Mart's shelves.  The workers are therefore invested in the purchasing power of the average American who wants to buy a "cheap" designer garment from Wal-Mart.  So the shrinking global market and the resulting economic nationalism in the northern countries in the name of bailout is an important subject for the worker in Kenya and trade unions engaged in Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) discussions in Kenya.  In the long run, it is the working poor who experience the recession most, it does not matter whether it starts in China or the US.

Impunity in Colombia: One Woman's Story with Yessika Hoyos Morales

Carol Hansen, USLEAP

Another great USLEAP speaker tour is coming to a city near you, if you live near Chicago, IL or Madison, WI on September 28-30.

Yessika Hoyos Morales, Human Rights Activist and Attorney, will speak about the systemic violations of human and labor rights that plague Colombia. Colombia is the most dangerous place in the world to be a trade unionist with more than 2,700 assassinated union members in two decades and an impunity rate of 95%.

Colombia is also home to Latin America’s longest running armed internal conflict with 4 million people internally displaced.  Today, various Colombian government departments, members of military, politicians, and members of Congress are under investigation for their links to illegal armed groups.  The Colombian government’s chief intelligence and security service has once again been implicated in illegal activity against trade unionists and human rights leaders, illegally gathering intelligence information from these organizations, including the law firm where Ms. Hoyos works.  The Colombian military and police forces receive nearly $700 million in aid each year from the United States. 

Discrimination Still Exists

by Yu-Lan Duggan, International Labor Rights Forum

In 1971, in a joint resolution introduced by Congresswoman Bella Abzug, the United States Congress designated August 26th as Women's Equality Day to celebrate the passage of the 19th amendment, which gave women the right to vote, and to call attention to the fact that more efforts still need to be made in order for women to achieve full equality.   While equality for women in the US has improved slightly over the last 38 years (we as a society are still far from having achieved complete equality), equality for working women internationally is in desperate need of progress.   

Slighted at Every Age

By Yu-Lan Duggan, ILRF Communications Officer
Photo Credit: Robin Romano

In many countries across the world, it is a well-known fact that women are often assigned to the lowest paying jobs and singled out to perform the most labor-intensive tasks.  However, while most people recognize that discriminatory practices are conducted against adult female laborers, few understand that such bias are often rooted in the decisions made by the families of women workers during the women’s childhood.

In its report, Give Girls a Chance: Tackling child labour, a key to the future, the International Labour Organization (ILO) points out how when facing financial hardship, many families will often choose to send their sons to school instead of their daughters.  The report also details how girls are then forced to work at an earlier age and expected to take care of household chores from which the boys are exempt once they come home from work as well.  The paying jobs undertaken by such young girls are also often invisible to the public eye, since they tend to work in professions such as domestic helpers inside someone’s house, which leave them vulnerable to potential dangers and abuses.

So what does this all mean? 

Stuff to Think About

Stuart Coffey, Intern, ILRF

The latest buzz in many classrooms and newspapers is about The Story of Stuff. This is a 20 minute video cautioning people about the dangers of the United States' consumption, and has attracted over 6 million viewers around the world. It has sparked much controversy within the US. The video was created by Annie Leonard, a former Greenpeace employee and an independent lecturer who paints a picture of how US consumer habits backed by corporations and advertising result in the destruction of human rights and the environment. A recent article in the New York Times argues that the video makes stark facts which are very political at times.

The New York Times article, "A Cautionary Video About America's 'Stuff,'" or material goods, debates that although the video is a "cheerful but brutal assessment of how much Americans waste" it has gone straight to the hearts of many children who are now scared that their toys are going to destroy the earth. Critics argue that the video terrorizes children into rejecting the prosperity that will allow them to live to an old age. There have also been complaints by parents that the video is anti-capitalist. In a backlash broadcast on Fox News, Ms. Leonard is accused of being "community college Marxism in a ponytail." Critics argue that the video is one sided and misleading and it is not the way that children should be learning about the topic of consumption and environmental degradation. The images can make kids depressed and it does not give one the tools to deal with the issue.

However, we need to focus on the bigger picture here. US consumerism is a major problem and it needs to be more widely thought about and addressed. In her video, Annie Leonard illustrates the five stages of the Materials Economy, which are Extraction, Production, Distribution, Consumption and Disposal. Ms. Leonard argues that this linear system is more complex than it looks. From a labor perspective, the first three stages are critical contexts for the analysis of the labor rights abuses we deal with at ILRF.

Amanda Camacho: Organized a Union to Defend Her Rights!

THIS STORY IS PART OF ILRF'S WORKING MOTHERS' STORIES SERIES. EVERY DAY BEFORE MOTHER'S DAY, ILRF FEATURED A DIFFERENT WORKING MOTHER AROUND THE WORLD. AMANDA SHARED HER EMPOWERING STORY WITH AUDIENCES ACROSS THE COUNTRY AS PART OF HER MOTHER'S DAY SPEAKING TOUR.

My name is Amanda Camacho, I’m a single mother and I have two adolescent boys. I have been working in the Colombian flower sector for 17 years, and I started when I was 17 years old.  I’ve been at the Agricola Papagayo company for 14 years. I work in the greenhouse maintaining and cutting carnations.

We decided to form our union, Asopapagayo, an affiliate with the independent union, Untraflores, because we were tired of being disrespected and exploited by our employer. The union began on February 14, 2008, which is also Valentine’s Day and the International Day for Flower Workers, because the company were taking drastic measure to fire many of its formal, contracted workers.  The company replaced many of the formal workers who had worked at the company for over ten years with temporary workers from cooperatives or other agencies who have no rights.  They also gave the employees who remained more work to make up for those that got fired.  They exploit the temporary workers more because they don’t have signed contracts and they don’t pay them for overtime, vacation days, or the right to medical coverage. The temporary workers are also prohibited from organizing themselves to become union members.

3 Pakistani Womens' Stories: Income doesn't cover basic costs

THIS STORY IS PART OF ILRF'S MOTHERS' STORIES SERIES. EVERY DAY BEFORE MOTHER'S DAY, A WORKING MOTHER AROUND THE WORLD WILL BE HIGHLIGHTED. To read other stories, click here.

Babra
My name is Babra, I am 26 years old and I am married with 2 children. I work at US Apparel & Textile (Pvt) Ltd. US Apparel export garment products to Europe and the USA. In the USA, they export to the Levis brand and F&S stockers. My job description is a Trimmer. I have worked here for the past two years. I am paid an average of 6500 Rupee per month ($80 USD) which is based on production. This does not meet my family’s monthly expenses. Women are not paid equally to men and men have different jobs. I work 8 hours a day, all year round. I get up at 5:00 am, start work at 9:00am, and end work at 6:00 pm. We are entitled to unpaid maternity and sick leave. If I were to change two things at the workplace they would be the establishment of educational and health benefits. These things would be able to improve our lives.

Jolene, South African Mother: Long workdays, unsafe working conditions

THIS STORY IS PART OF ILRF'S MOTHERS' STORIES SERIES. EVERY DAY BEFORE MOTHER'S DAY, A WORKING MOTHER AROUND THE WORLD WILL BE HIGHLIGHTED. To read other stories, click here.

My name is Jolene, I am 39 years old and I have 3 children. I work on a farm, which is located in the Elgin farming community in Grabouw, Western Cape, South Africa. I operate a machine on a dried fruit production line. I’ve worked here for 25 years. I started working to help my parents with their expenses. This is the reason why I left school. I get paid R95.60 per day ($10 USD), about R956.00 ($100 USD) a fortnight which results in about R1 912.00 per month ($211 USD). I think I get paid minimum wage because my wage is not based on production or piecework, but I’m really not sure. The managers don’t explain these things to us.

Men get paid far less than us, because they do less work. We work with machines, and we work all day, whereas the men finish between 11:00am and 12:00am. I work very long hours. I start at 7:30am and finish at 5:30pm. I work all year, from January to December. On an average day, I get up at 5:00am, then I start to clean the house, get the children ready, make breakfast, make sure they’ve all eaten, and that they’re ready to go, then I go to work. When work is over I come back home and start to cook the food, then I wash the children, make tomorrow’s lunch and then I can go to sleep. The next morning it starts all over again.

Colombian Flower Workers on Strike as Mother's Day Arrives

Lupita Aguila, Program Coordinator, USLEAP

This week, flower workers from two distinct plantations in Colombia went on strike after their companies failed to pay their wages and benefits. On May 6, 2009, workers from Camino Real and Degaflores had no other choice than to declare an official work stoppage when both companies did not meet an April 30 payment agreement of backwages from the month before. According to UNTRAFLORES, a Colombian organization of flower worker unions, workers had no other choice than to go on strike.

In fact, violations like wage theft are very common within the Colombian flower sector. With Mother's Day ahead flower workers are forced to 12-16 hours of tedious labor, exposed to high levels of pesticide intoxication, and repressed their right to freedom of association.  Over 60% of the cut-flowers sold in the U.S. are from Colombia.  As part of a national tour sponsored by the U.S. Labor Education in the Americas Project (USLEAP), the International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF), and Jobs with Justice South Florida (JwJ), Amanda Camacho, a flower worker from Colombia and member of UNTRAFLORES, will be speaking on National Public Radio's Worldview on Friday, May 8, 2009 at 12PM (CST) to discuss the ongoing issues and struggles in the flower industry. 

Elvira, Filipino Mother: Unfair workloads and resistance to union organizing

THIS STORY IS PART OF ILRF'S MOTHERS' STORIES SERIES. EVERY DAY BEFORE MOTHER'S DAY, A WORKING MOTHER AROUND THE WORLD WILL BE HIGHLIGHTED. To read other stories, click here.

(The ILRF has has been active in combating trade union repression in the Philippines. Click here to read more.)

My Name is Elvira Panis and I am 40 years old. I am married with 5 children. I work at a garment factory as called Tigerways Facilities and Resources Company in Caloocan City, Philippines. I work as a sewer for 10-12 hours a day, depending on the demand from buyers. I work this job because sewing is the only thing I know how to do. My salary is paid weekly and is based on rate of production. On an average day I get up at 4:00am and prepare breakfast for my family and get my children ready for school. Breakfast is at 6:00am. After the meal, I prepare for work, with my husband. At 6:30am I leave for work. I start work at 7:00am and finish at 6:00pm. At 6:00pm I go to the market to buy food for dinner. From 7:00-9:00pm I help my children with their homework and do their laundry for school the next day. At 10:00pm I go to sleep.