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Thoughts on Occupy Wall Street

November 4, 2011

Utilizing revolutionary Arab Spring tactics, people from all walks of life regardless of their color, gender, beliefs or backgrounds are welcome and encouraged to participate in the resistance movement to end the corruption and greed imposed on the 99% by the 1% of our society. Through non-violent resistance and collective decision making known as the “people’s assembly”, people are uniting through a variety of events and facilitating discussions to create change from the bottom up, the people, to cultivate and uphold social, environmental and economic justice. 

A Sweet Day

October 26, 2011

These men accepted the petitions on behalf of the CEO, saying they would pass them on.  We were unfortunately not able to engage with anyone at Hershey about the demands of the campaign, yet this was still an important step.  In addition to the stack of petitions we delivered to the CEO, we also sent a copy of the petitions to all of  of the members of Hershey’s board.  If the board members were not aware of the concerns of their customers before, they are now!

The U.S. – Colombia FTA: a bad deal for workers and labor rights

October 18, 2011

In April of 2011, the U.S. and Colombian governments announced the signing of the “Labor Action Plan,” in an effort to address concerns about impunity for labor rights violations in Colombia.   While far from a comprehensive reform plan, the Action Plan did create benchmarks in key areas, including hiring additional labor inspectors, enhanced protections for union leaders facing death threats, and closing gaps in Colombian laws that allow employers to use “labor cooperatives” to avoid the legal responsibilities of a direct employment relationship.  

The Hershey Company is a Master of Philanthropy, but Not Accountability

October 11, 2011

Mars, Cadbury and Nestle all took this message to heart and have been rolling out significant programs to invite third party monitors and certifiers onto their farms to check for child labor.  The most sustainable of these certification programs is Fairtrade’s holistic approach, which not only checks for child workers, but also works with farmers on securing a better price for their product and developing self-sustaining, democratic structures that can engender cross-farm support and create a ripple effect of farmers who now say “No!” to using child labor.

Department of Labor Releases New Reports on Child Labor

October 10, 2011
  • The List of Products Produced by Forced or Indentured Child Labor pursuant to Executive Order 13126 of 1999, which serves as a recommendation to federal procurement officers and policy makers, now identifies 29 products from 21 countries to be concerned about, and has proposed two new products and two new countries of concern. Read the full list here:http://www.dol.gov/ILAB/regs/eo13126/main.htm#List

    Can you trust the social or environmental rating given to this company or product?

    October 4, 2011

    As organizations concerned with the rights of workers in global supply chains, MSN and PODER have paid close attention to efforts to rate companies on their supply chain labour practices. Can CSR ratings help improve labour practices in global supply chains? is our contribution to the debate on the role, value and effectiveness of rating systems. 

    Although MSN and PODER are clear that none of the rating systems out there right now are perfect, some are better than others, and understanding how these systems work will help you to tell the difference. 

    Mars Inc. Joins the Fairtrade Movement

    September 28, 2011

    As a cocoa industry giant, Mars Inc.’s commitment to take Fairtrade certification requirements seriously is a great step forward in the company’s accountability to consumers and producers alike.  It is also a call to action for other major chocolate companies to follow suit.  This was reiterated by several confectionary industry representatives at the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) meeting, who took Mars’ announcement as an indication that other companies should step up to the plate and consider adopting Fairtrade certification.  Vice President of Mars Global Chocolate, Barry Parkin, explained: "This agreement is a big step towards fulfilling our shared mission to empower farmers to build vibrant, sustainable livelihoods, and we're very excited to work with Fairtrade on ways to enable com

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