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For our benefit, but at what cost?

February 14, 2008

Below is the editor's note on the series by Rick Thames.  Click here to read more.

Poultry series exposes a new, silent subclass Neglect of workers has ugly precedent in Carolinas history

Today we ask you to join us for a six-day series on the plight of Carolinas workers who put America's most popular meat on the table.

These workers -- about 28,000 of them in the Carolinas -- process chicken and turkey in all its forms. Whole birds, fillets, nuggets, slices, cubes, sausage and even hot dogs.

It may surprise you to learn that most of the workers speak Spanish. Many of them entered the country illegally.

Bridgestone's Bad Behavior Around the World

February 14, 2008

This past Tuesday (February 12th), Bridgestone announced that after an internal review, it had discovered that its hose division gave inappropriate payments (also known as bribes) to foreign agents to secure contracts.  The names and locations of the foreign agents who received the payments have not been released.  The internal review took place in connection with an ongoing investigation of Bridgestone launched by the U.S. Department of Justice, the European Commission and Japan's Fair Trade Commission.  Bridgestone said that it will stop taking new orders for its hose division.  Last May, U.S.

Valentine’s Day preparedness, Part 1: flowers whose ethics don’t stink

February 10, 2008

Only within the past couple of years have I been made aware of these
ethical considerations. Many people, I think, have no idea. And the
biggest U.S. company in the cut-flower industry, FTD, isn’t helping.

If you visit FTD.com, you’ll see that it does have an
“Eco-Friendly” product category. But it looks like nothing more than
greenwashing to me. Emblazoned across the webpage is a logo that features a recycling logo and the words “Go Green Living,” along with this meaningless copy:

Why do immigrants come to the US?

February 9, 2008

"Because in the last 15 years, Mexico's longstanding system of sustaining its huge population of poor citizens (including small self-sufficient farms, jobs in state-owned industries and subsidies for such essentials as tortillas) has been scuttled at the insistence of U.S. banks, corporations, government officials and "free market" ideologues. In the name of "modernizing" the Mexican economy, such giants as Citigroup, Wal-Mart, Tyson Foods and GE -in cahoots with the plutocrats and oligarchs of Mexico -have laid waste to that country's grass-roots economy, destroying the already-meager livelihoods of millions.

Berkeley, CA says: Stop Firestone!

January 30, 2008

Here are some responses to the Berkeley City Council resolution:

Commissioner Diana Bohn said, “I’m proud to serve in a City like Berkeley that acts locally and thinks
globally, and we hope to see other cities follow suit. This resolution has the potential for
helping Firestone finally realize it is in their interest to negotiate a fair
contract with their rubber workers."

Nunu Kidane of the Bay-Area based Priority Africa
Network said, “Plantation is the operative word in
Bridgestone’s exploitation of Liberian workers, it is modern day slavery with
pay of about $3 for some 21 hours worth of work, including child labor.”

Fashioning an Ethical Industry

January 28, 2008

Over the last year FEI has
facilitated student workshops in universities across the UK with
students from a variety of year groups and a range of different fashion courses
(design, buying, marketing, business and textiles). The impact of purchasing
practices – the way in which fashion companies do business with their suppliers
– on working conditions in the garment industry has been the focus of these
workshops. A role-play, the first in a series of educational
resources aimed specifically at fashion-related higher and further education

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