Blog: September 2007

Murderers of Colombian Trade Unionists Rarely Brought to Justice

You can read USLEAP's full report on impunity under Uribe here.  You can also check out other blog posts on violence against trade unions in Colombia here.  USLEAP's findings are also supported by the recent Annual Survey of Violations of Trade Union Rights by International Trade Union Confederation and you can read more about that report here.

Here is the full press release from USLEAP:

For Release at 12:01 am
September 27, 2007

Take Action to Defend Union Organizers in Guatemala

SITRABI is the oldest union
in Guatemala and arguably
one of the strongest and the largest private sector union in Guatemala. This
is not the first attempt to intimidate workers.

  • In 1999, in a case that brought international attention to violence against unionists in Guatemala, seven members of SITRABI were violently attacked and forced to flee to the United States. Their case became the key test on impunity for workers rights advocates and the U.S. government who put Guatemala’s trade benefits on probation until Guatemalan courts convicted the criminals.

Fashion Victims

The International Labor Rights Forum has been working to stop child labor in the cotton industry for years.  To find out more about labor and environmental abuses in Uzbekistan's cotton industry, check out this report titled White Gold: The Trust Cost of Cotton by EJF.  The video below covers the wide range of issues addressed in the report. 

Remember to ask companies you buy from where they get their cotton and how they ensure that workers' rights are protected!

Ethical Consumption: USLEAP Views on Fair Trade, Other Certification Programs, and Consumer Power

U.S. consumers have grown more concerned about and aware of the conditions under which the goods they purchase are produced. This increased consciousness has lead to new models of production and consumption and a variety of alternative product labels with respect to environmental issues (e.g. Shade-Grown coffee), health (e.g. Organic bananas), animal treatment (e.g. Free-Range Chickens), and so on. Labels are intended to provide an easy way for consumers to know what products they can buy that reflect their values.

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