In the News

Cross Stitches

The Hindu
01/01/2006

By Anuja Mirchandaney

My sister in the US recently bought a smartly embroidered top for $35, and was amused to find a `Made in India' tag. Had she known that only $1.8 of the retail price went for labour, she would have been shocked. While the Indian garment sector earns high export revenues, the flip side is that the substantial profit accruing to foreign retailers and, to a lesser extent, Indian manufacturers, is not reflected in the garment workers' wages.

Proagro to provide lower interest credits to farmers

Business Standard
12/30/2005

Move aimed at eradicating child labour in cottonseed production

Ch Prashanth Reddy / Hyderabad

Proagro-Bayer CropScience has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the State Bank of India to arrange lower interest credits to cottonseed growers as a part of its initiative to improve productivity and profitability under its Harvest of Happiness project to eradicate child labour.

Bonded for Life

newindpress.com
12/23/2005

By Vimala Ramachandran

In the course of my work as a researcher on elementary education I have come across many situations that leave me numb. Like in a recent field visit to Andhra Pradesh, where I was informed that young prepubescent girls are taken out of school so they can pollinate cottonseed farms.

Make-TIAA-CREF Ethical Coalition Makes Its Voice Heard

Sarbanes-Oxley
12/21/2005

The Make-TIAA-CREF Ethical coalition, comprised of worldwide organizations* dedicated to social responsibility, recently met with the powerful teachers' pension fund TIAA-CREF and asked them to take the following actions....

• Drop its stock in Philip Morris/Altria, the world's largest tobacco corporation;

• Pressure Nike and Wal-Mart to end sweatshop abuses worldwide; urge Wal- Mart to stop its destructive impact on local economies and close its Teotihuacan, Mexico store -- or divest from those companies if changes are not made;

Holiday Gifts from Chinese Sweatshops

Epoch Times International
12/20/2005

Human rights groups urge holiday shoppers to steer clear of Wal-Mart.

By Benjamin Youngquest

NEW YORK — Many New York area holiday shoppers may be headed to Wal-Mart this holiday season in search of affordable gifts for their friends and relatives. And why not? Wal-Mart has an enormous selection at prices that just cannot be found elsewhere. But have bargain seekers asked themselves how this is accomplished? Just how does Wal-Mart keep their prices so much lower than their competitors?

Holiday Gifts from Chinese Sweatshops

Epoch Times International
12/20/2005

Human rights groups urge holiday shoppers to steer clear of Wal-Mart.

By Benjamin Youngquest

NEW YORK — Many New York area holiday shoppers may be headed to Wal-Mart this holiday season in search of affordable gifts for their friends and relatives. And why not? Wal-Mart has an enormous selection at prices that just cannot be found elsewhere. But have bargain seekers asked themselves how this is accomplished? Just how does Wal-Mart keep their prices so much lower than their competitors?

Getting Smart at Being Good - Are Companies Better off for it?

Time Magazine
12/19/2005

- T.J. Rodgers may be many things--tough taskmaster, Green Bay Packers fan--but reticent he is not. And if anything gets the pugnacious founder and CEO of Cypress Semiconductor talking, it's the notion that corporations ought to exist for more than the pursuit of profit. In the simplest terms, that idea--called corporate social responsibility, or CSR--invites companies to consider their impact on people and the planet on a par with their traditional quest for profit. Rodgers considers that bunk. Not that he opposes conscientious corporate conduct or occasional acts of charity.

LIBERIA: Rubber Workers Charge Slave-Like Conditions

Inter Press Service
12/15/2005

By Elisabeth Schreinemacher

When Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was elected Africa's first female head of state and Liberia's 23rd president in October, she pledged to fight corruption, create jobs and restore electricity and water supplies.

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 15 (IPS) - In her acceptance speech, Johnson-Sirleaf announced that her transitional team had begun working toward a new administration that will reflect the cultural, political and ethnic diversity of Liberia. Her inauguration is set for Jan. 16, 2006.

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