In the News

Coalition hits Hershey with questions about ethically sourced cocoa products

The Patriot-News
08/24/2012

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Saying child labor is still rampant on cocoa farms in Ivory Coast, 41 grocer cooperatives and natural-food retailers on Thursday demanded that The Hershey Co. commit to ethically sourced cocoa produced under fair-labor standards.

The letter, unveiled in an advertisement on PennLive.com, imitates the iconic brown Hershey bar wrapper, but with the word “Heresy” instead of “Hershey.”

El Lado Oscuro y Amargo del Chocolate

Voces de Nuestro Mundo
10/26/2011

According to the International Labor Organization, around 215 million children worldwide are forced to work under terrible conditions. These kids work in different types of industries. On this edition of Voces, we examine how while the chocolate industry earns record profits, children face abusive labor conditions in cocoa production farms. Here with us to talk about child labor is Judy Gearhart, Executive Director with the International Labor Rights Forum.

Vietnam: Torture, Forced Labor in Drug Detention

Human Rights Watch
09/07/2011

Companies, Donors Should Press Government to Close Centers

(Bangkok) ­– People detained by the police in Vietnam for using drugs are held without due process for years, forced to work for little or no pay, and suffer torture and physical violence, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Government-run drug detention centers, mandated to “treat” and ”rehabilitate” drug users, are little more than forced labor camps where drug users work six days a week processing cashews, sewing garments, or manufacturing other items.

Truth Tour Shines Light On Walmart Worker Conditions

Progress Illinois
04/20/2011

As Walmart looks to continue its expansion in Chicago, a worker truth tour makes a stop in Chicago to shed light on how the retailer treats some of its employees along various stops on the supply chain.

 

"I was complaining about roaches and the smell. But when I heard her story, I was like 'what am I complaining about?'" said Robert J. Hines, Jr., a former Walmart factory employee at yesterday's media event for the kick off of the "Sweatshop, Warehouse, Walmart: A Worker Truth Tour."

NYU's Oxfam advocates against Wal-Mart with employee speaker tour

Washington Square News
04/03/2011

 

In a room bound by silence, the voice of one woman in NYU's philosophy building reached a stunned audience with the help of an interpreter.

"My name is Aleya. I come from Bangladesh," said Aleya Akter, a sewing machine operator in a Bangladeshi factory. "I've been working for Wal-Mart since 1994. When I started I used to get $7 per month for 208-hour work and now I get about $80 a month for 26 days a month. I was working 14 hours in a row and sometimes up to 3 a.m. shifts."

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