Blog: Palm Oil

Time to Unleash the Power of the U.S National Contact Point

September 26, 2017

One of the many items in the packed agenda at the UN General Assembly in New York last week was the establishment of more concrete standards for companies seeking to do business sustainably in pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals. More and more top business leaders are seeking guidance on how to ensure good corporate behavior. But the UN standards are not the only resource to CEOs that want to make environmental and social protection part of their business model.

TPP Ignores Workers' Needs and Fails to Address Weaknesses from Past Trade Agreements

November 12, 2015

The text of the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) finally became accessible to workers and the public last week, though insiders from more than 500 major companies have had access to the negotiation and writing process for years. The result predictably values the rights of corporations over the needs of workers and fails to address the most glaring weakness of past trade deals: the utter failure of the parties to uphold their commitments to respect workers' rights.

Obama Administration grants unwarranted TIP Upgrades

July 30, 2015

The State Department’s Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP Report) is a potent annual assessment of governments’ efforts to combat human trafficking that subjects the worst offenders to sanctions. At its best, it provides human rights organizations, unions, and others committed to the fight against human trafficking with a tool to hold governments accountable for their efforts to prevent this egregious crime, protect its victims and prosecute the offenders. It is designed to be a balanced standard against which all governments, including the United States, can be judged on their progress on this one issue of vital importance to humankind. The 2015 TIP Report released Monday fell far short of those expectations.

Workers Give Message to RSPO: Don’t Certify Abuse!

November 14, 2013

Medan, Indonesia—This week hundreds of oil palm workers and their allies crashed the 11th annual meeting of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), a multi-stakeholder organization that promotes “sustainable” palm oil, to protest the organization’s failure to uphold its own labor standards. 

Arriving in colorful rain jackets on motorbikes and small pick-ups, the protesters braved a torrential downpour to deliver a blunt message to the RSPO: Stop certifying worker exploitation.

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