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Offside!: labour rights and sportswear production in Asia

This report considers 12 international sports brands - Adidas, ASICS, FILA, Kappa, Lotto, Mizuno, New Balance, Nike, Puma, Reebok, Speedo and Umbro - and examines the steps they take to ensure their suppliers in Asia allow workers to organise trade unions and bargain collectively for better wages and conditions. It gives a detailed description of each of the companies corporate social responsibility approaches and behaviour. (T Connor, K Dent, Oxfam, 2006)

http://www.oxfam.org.uk/what_we_do/issues/trade/downloads/offside_sportswear.pdf

(Added: Thu Jun 22 2006   Modified: Thu Jan 18 2007   Hits: 260)

How we shop until Chinese workers drop

In this column in the Independent, English journalist Johann Hari reports on the stifling of nascent worker protection laws in China. The culprits in this being western business groups who successfully lobbied the Chinese communist party to drop legislation designed to aid workers rights.

http://johannhari.com/archive/article.php?id=1107

(Added: Mon May 07 2007   Hits: 211)

Made by Women: gender, the global garment industry and the movement for women workers' rights

This 67 page report draws attention to the importance of women in the garment industry, and the fact that gender plays an important role in determining working conditions, worker's rights, and wages. It highlights a number of gender concerns within this industry, by providing a series of profiles on women workers, activists, and organisations. It also addresses current changes in the discourse of gender in the garment industry, including migrant workers, worker's health, codes of conduct and trade unions. It includes recomendations to campaigners and other actors in the struggle for workers' rights. (Clean Clothes Campaign, September 2006)

http://www.cleanclothes.org/ftp/made_by_women.pdf

(Added: Fri Sep 29 2006   Hits: 209)

Watershed Anti-sweatshop Legislation Introduced in the U.S. Congress

For the first time, anti-sweatshop legislation has been introduced in the U.S. Congress which will prohibit the import, export or sale of sweatshop goods in the U.S. Up to this point, it has been the companies that have demanded and won all sorts of enforceable laws -intellectual property and copyright laws backed up by sanctions - to defend their corporate trademarks, labels and products. On Thursday, June 8, in what some believe will be looked back upon as a watershed moment Senator Byron Dorgan introduced Senate Bill 3485, "The Decent Working Conditions and Fair Competition Act" which will, for the first time, hold corporations legally accountable to respect the core International Labor Organization worker rights standards - no child labor, no forced labor, freedom of association, right to organize and bargain collectively and to decent working conditions. (NLC, 2006)

http://www.nlcnet.org/live/article.php?id=35

(Added: Tue Jun 13 2006   Modified: Thu Jan 18 2007   Hits: 227)

A Global Alliance Against Forced Labour [PDF] 1372.01 KB

International Labour Conference, 2005. The ILO suggests that to achieve a fair globalization it is imperative to eradicate forced labour. This report gives a dynamic global picture of contemporary patterns of forced labour and of action against it. It also reviews ILO's assistance to member States towarads the removal of this violation of human rights

http://www.ilo.org/dyn/declaris/DECLARATIONWEB.DOWNLOAD_BLOB?Var_DocumentID=5059

(Added: Mon Jul 18 2005   Hits: 116)

A New Revolution? Chinese Working Classes Confront the Globalized Economy

The number of protests in China today, the vast majority of them by the working classes, is quite extraordinary. According to the Chinese government, "mass incidents, or demonstrations and riots," rose to 74,000 in 2004, up from just 10,000 a decade ago, and 58,000 in 2003. (Rob Weil, Oakland Institute, Summer 2006)

http://www.oaklandinstitute.org/?q=node/view/371

(Added: Tue Oct 17 2006   Modified: Thu Jan 18 2007   Hits: 311)

African migration: from tensions to solutions

While industrial countries are promoting easier flows of capital, goods and services, they are at the same time restricting the movement of labour, which comes mainly from developing countries. Developing countries view this as a double standard, especially since labour is an important factor in the production of goods and services. (Africa Renewal, U.N. Department of Public Information, January 2006)

http://www.un.org/ecosocdev/geninfo/afrec/vol19no4/194migration.html

(Added: Mon Apr 03 2006   Modified: Thu Jan 18 2007   Hits: 140)

Asia Monitor Resource Centre

Asia Monitor Resource Centre (AMRC) is an independent non-government organization (NGO) which focuses on Asian labour concerns. Founded in 1976, AMRC has been leading the way in promoting workers' rights and democratic labour movements in Asia and the Pacific for over 25 years now. The Centre supports a democratic and independent labour movement promoting the principles of labour rights, gender consciousness, and active workers' participation. AMRC provides information, consultation, publications, documentation, and internships, and conducts research, training, advocacy, campaigns, labour networking, and related services to trade unions, pro-labour groups, related NGOs, academics, researchers, and professionals on labour issues.

http://www.amrc.org.hk/

(Added: Wed Oct 13 2004   Modified: Thu Jan 18 2007   Hits: 249)

Attention Immigrants: Thanks for Your Hard Work. Now Leave.

What Could Be Better For Business Than A Workforce That Toils For Next To Nothing, Drives Down Wages For Everyone Else, Can't Protest or Unionize, Then Goes Away When You're Done With Them? Your Guide To The Guest Worker Program. (James Ridgeway, Common Dreams, 26 May 2007)

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/05/26/1470/

(Added: Fri Jun 01 2007   Hits: 120)

BehindTheLabel.org

BehindTheLabel.org is a multimedia news magazine and on-line community covering the stories and people of the global clothing industry - the hidden stories of the millions of workers around the world who make our clothes, the people who care how their clothes are made and the multinational corporations behind the labels

http://www.behindthelabel.org/

(Added: Tue Feb 19 2002   Modified: Thu Feb 15 2007   Hits: 251)

Bolivian Community in Buenos Aires Divided Over Sweatshops

The Buenos Aires city government's new offensive against slave labour has resulted in the closure of 30 clandestine textile sweatshops in the Argentine capital. But it has also caused divisions in the Bolivian immigrant community: some denounce the exploitative labour conditions, while others desperately want to keep their jobs, however precarious. (6 April 2006)

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=32800

(Added: Mon May 01 2006   Modified: Thu Jan 18 2007   Hits: 147)

Campaign for Labor Rights

Campaign for Labor Rights is a labor organization which specializes in the struggles of workers in sweatshops. We provide labor updates on Nike, Disney, Guess, Child Labor, Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, United States (esp. Farm Workers and Poultry Processing Workers), Youth and Campus Activism, various Policy Issues and more.

http://www.clrlabor.org/local_com.html

(Added: Tue Aug 06 2002   Modified: Tue Dec 06 2005   Hits: 208)

Campaign to stop Killer Coke

A campaign to stop murders, kidnappings and torture of SINALTRAINAL (National Union of Food Industry Workers) union leaders and organisers in Columbian Coke bottling plants.

http://www.killercoke.org/

(Added: Wed Jan 05 2005   Modified: Thu Mar 10 2005   Hits: 403)

Challenging the IFIs: Practical information and strategies for trade union engagement with international financial institutions

Trade imbalances between the North and the South continue to pauperize many developing countries, while austerity measures in the North coupled with the rigid application of market-driven policies have undermined social solidarity. All around the world, unions are facing difficult times, compounded by restrictive legislation introduced by governments to curtail the rights of workers' organizations, who see them as an obstacle to gaining a foothold in the global market. It is still not easy to challenge the IFIs that direct these changes, but it is essential. This 57 page report looks at the problems of economic globalisation and how trade unions can take action. (International Conference of Free Trace Unions (ICFTU, 2006)

http://www.icftu.org/www/PDF/IFIEN.pdf

(Added: Fri Jun 23 2006   Modified: Tue Aug 15 2006   Hits: 301)

Coca-Cola and Anti-Union Death Squads in Colombia

Violations of human rights are rampant in Colombia due to lawless activities of both the right wing paramilitaries and leftist guerillas. The paramilitaries in Colombia are particularly well known for murdering, abducting and torturing trade union leaders. Specifically, much of the violence against trade unionists in Colombia is directed at leaders of unions at multinational firms, including the Coca-Cola company.

http://lrights.igc.org/projects/corporate/coke/index.html

(Added: Thu May 15 2003   Modified: Thu Jan 18 2007   Hits: 212)

Contract farming in India : impact on women and children

International Institute for Environment and Development Natural Resources Group and Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Livelihoods Programme (2003). Written by Sukhpal Singh. This paper draws on case studies of hybrid cottonseed production in Andhra Pradesh and vegetable farming in Punjab to examine the labour conditions in contract farming in India. It discusses how workers employed by contract producers tend to experience poor terms and conditions, especially women workers, and there is an increasing incidence of child labour. The author argues for the need to take a gender perspective to address the whole question of a changing agrarian production structure under contract farming, especially issues associated with transfer of skills, choice of technology, organisation of labour, working conditions and terms of work.

http://www.iied.org/NR/agbioliv/gatekeepers/documents/GK111.pdf#search=%22Contract%20farming%20in%20India%20%3A%20impact%20on%20women%20and%20children%22

(Added: Mon Jul 25 2005   Modified: Fri Mar 28 2008   Hits: 185)

Corporate Social Responsibility in Latin America: Chiquita, women banana workers and structural inequalities

Chiquita has a comprehensive policy on Coporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and it is making some important visible efforts in this area. Yet, as this report shows, Nicaraguan women banana workers find this is not making much of a difference on the ground and give us some recommendations. The paper argues that a major factor preventing the CSR practices of Chiquita from more fully benefiting workers is the existence of 'hidden' structural problems in the political economy of the banana industry and its gendered nature. If managers in companies are seeking to improve the effectiveness of their CSR policies and practices, they would benefit from the following: learning from the good practices of Chiquita, listening and learning from female and male workers and taking actions to tackle the structural inequalities of the banana industry. (M Prieto-Carron, Siyanda, 2004)

http://www.siyanda.org/docs/CSR_latin_america_prieto_carron.pdf

(Added: Thu Oct 05 2006   Modified: Thu Jan 18 2007   Hits: 110)

Freedom From Debt Bondage in Sight

For 17 years Pakistan's brick kiln owners have defied Supreme Court orders and legislation banning the practice of 'peshgi' (debt bondage) that mean workers are slaves with no rights. However, an eight day strike of two million brick workers has brought about compromises from brick kiln owners and promises from the government that observers hope will lead to better working standards. (Zofeen T. Ebrahim, IPS News, 28 April 2006)

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=33062

(Added: Mon May 01 2006   Modified: Thu Jan 18 2007   Hits: 144)

Gildan Activewear: Taking Sweatshops to new depths in Haiti

The closing of Gildan Activewear's assembly plant in Honduras brings up issues surrounding the American corporation's persistent disregard of human rights in its sweatshops. Its decision to relocate to Haiti and Nicaragua, where labour standards are even more poorly enforced, illustrates the problematic nature of the wandering corporation, and, this article argues, corporate involvement in the subversion of Haitian democracy. (Anthony Fenton, Znet, 24 July 2004

http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=55&ItemID=5927

(Added: Thu Jun 22 2006   Modified: Thu Jan 18 2007   Hits: 153)

Globalisation: Who's To Blame For Negative Impacts?

By Judith Achieng' NAIROBI, Sep 7 (IPS) - Globalisation would not have produced much negative impact in Africa if governments consulted with trade unions to ensure that economic programmes meet social requirements like the workers welfare, according to trade union officials here.

http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/30/068.html

(Added: Mon Oct 21 2002   Modified: Thu Oct 05 2006   Hits: 416)

Human rights policies of Chinese companies: results from a survey

This report documents the human rights policies of 25 Chinese firms in a variety of sectors. The report assesses the existence of policies recognise labour and non-labour human rights when compared with the policies of other companies around the world as documented in the business recognition report (John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, September 2007).

http://www.business-humanrights.org/Documents/Ruggie-China-survey-Sep-2007.pdf

(Added: Wed Oct 03 2007   Modified: Thu Oct 04 2007   Hits: 112)

ICFTU Burma Campaign

The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) Website on Burma and Forced Labour within Burma.

http://www.icftu.org/focus.asp?Issue=Burma&Language=EN

(Added: Thu Feb 26 2004   Modified: Fri Dec 16 2005   Hits: 259)

International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU)

The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), was set up in 1949 and has 225 affiliated organisations in 148 countries and territories on all five continents, with a membership of 157 million. It has three major regional organisations, APRO for Asia and the Pacific, AFRO for Africa, and ORIT for the Americas. It also maintains close links with the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) (which includes all ICFTU European affiliates) and Global Union Federations, which link together national unions from a particular trade or industry at international level.

http://www.icftu.org/

(Added: Fri Aug 30 2002   Modified: Tue Dec 06 2005   Hits: 151)

International Development Matters

The online monthly newsletter of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), which comments on workers' rights in developing countries.

http://www.tuc.org.uk/international/tuc-12494-f0.cfm#tuc-12494-19

(Added: Wed Oct 04 2006   Hits: 99)

International Labour Organisation

The International Labour Organization is the UN specialized agency which seeks the promotion of social justice and internationally recognized human and labour rights. The ILO formulates international labour standards in the form of Conventions and Recommendations setting minimum standards of basic labour rights: freedom of association, the right to organize, collective bargaining, abolition of forced labour, equality of opportunity and treatment, and other standards regulating conditions across the entire spectrum of work related issues. It promotes the development of independent employers' and workers' organizations and provides training and advisory services to those organizations. Within the UN system, the ILO has a unique tripartite structure with workers and employers participating as equal partners with governments in the work of its governing organs.

http://www.ilo.org/public/english/

(Added: Tue Aug 06 2002   Modified: Tue Dec 06 2005   Hits: 166)

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