In the News

Coalition hits Hershey with questions about ethically sourced cocoa products

The Patriot-News
08/24/2012

» See the original article

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."

Labor leader from Bangladesh brings case to Providence

The Providence Journal
04/03/2011

PROVIDENCE — A small group of workers’-rights advocates chomped on pizza and engaged in lively conversation Saturday afternoon, just before a 38-year-old Bangladeshi labor leader attracted their attention.

The organizer, Babul Akhter, had the ashen expression of a man who faces a death sentence.

His story was about his own plight and also about the suffering of Bangladeshi garment workers, including hundreds who have been burned alive in factory fires over the past four years....

Pages