A group of human rights, labor, and investor organizations, including GLJ-ILRF filed a formal petition with U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), urging it to issue a regional withhold release order (WRO) on all cotton-made goods linked to the Xinjiang region of China based on evidence of widespread forced labor. You can read the press release here and the petition that was filed here.
Dear John,
Labor Day was born amid rising unrest over oppressive working conditions— with labor unions pressing and activists sacrificing to gain recognition of both the contributions and the mistreatment of workers at the time. Today, the current pandemic and public health crisis continues to show us that ALL working people are essential and deserve dignity, respect, protection and justice. This is a pivotal moment for workers' rights that will impact millions of everyday people. Labor justice is inseparable from racial, immigrant, gender and climate justice and how we respond in this current moment has the power to manifest future visions of equity where everyone can truly thrive.
NPR spoke with one of our partners -- Jobs with Justice's executive director, Erica Smiley -- about the state of the American worker amid a global pandemic, please take a listen to her interview here.
Chilean Casino Workers To Launch Public Fight in Santiago on Tuesday, September 8th
Due to the pandemic, casino workers in Chile have been laid off since March and have had their public assistance slowly reduced and cut off leaving many people with little resources to survive. Now as the Chilean shutdown orders expire and casinos will be reopening their employers have refused to guarantee that they will rehire the union workers which threatens not just their jobs but also their organization. GLJ-ILRF has been supporting UNI affiliated union federations FENASICAJH (Federación Nacional de Sindicatos de Casinos de Juegos y Hoteles en Chile) and CONA RACOPS (Confederación Nacional de Trabajadores Del Comercio, Servicios, Call Center y Casinos de Juegos) to push back. They've met with Casino owners twice and are getting the run-around so they have decided to go public on Tuesday, September 8th, holding a press conference with allied elected leaders and launching a video where nearly 1,000 casino workers will show their faces to demand that they are rehired when the casinos re-open.
Please join us for a virtual press conference and twitter storm this Tuesday, September 8th from 12-2pm ET.
Sample Tweets:
- Las empresas de Casinos y Hoteles en #Chile SI pueden proteger los puestos de trabajo de las y los trabajadores. #Solidaridad con @fenasicajh
- Yo apoyo a las y los trabajadores de Casinos y Hoteles en #Chile luchando para sus puestos de trabajo y condiciones seguro en el trabajo. #SinTrabajoNoHayJuego @fenasicajh
The fight to win job security is fundamental to economic justice and it can only happen when we all stand together and defend unionization from corporations that use crises to drive anti-worker agendas.
Human Rights Groups Call on US for Regional Ban on Imports from China Made with Uyghur Forced Labor
GLJ-ILRF in the News:
Groups Seek Blanket Ban on Xinjiang Cotton Goods — Just Style — September 1st, 2020
Cotton-Made Xinjiang Goods Under Fire From Human-Rights Groups — Sourcing Journal — August 31st, 2020
2020 Online GLJ-ILRF Labor Rights Defenders Awards Ceremony
For the last eleven years, the Labor Rights Defenders Awards ceremony has brought together leaders and activists from the labor movement along with allies from the women's, migrant, human rights and social movements. Together and stronger than ever as Global Labor Justice - International Labor Rights Forum (GLJ-ILRF), we are looking forward to the 2020 GLJ-ILRF Online Labor Rights Defenders Awards Ceremony on October 1st from 6-8pm ET where we will honor and uplift those on the front lines of transforming the global economy and fight for labor justice globally.
Our four honorees in 2020 are:
- Sharan Burrow, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), for her visionary leadership of the ITUC including the passage of the groundbreaking ILO Convention on the elimination of gender-based violence and harassment and the advancement of a social contract for all workers.
- Lorretta Johnson, Secretary-Treasurer of the American Federation of Teachers, for her leadership of the American Federation of Teachers and her lifetime dedication to advancing the rights of educators and children in the U.S. and globally.
- The Chicago Teachers Union for leading a movement of students, families, and workers in our school communities to create change across our city and guide the future and for showing us how to fight and win.
- The General Agricultural Workers Union of Ghana (GAWU) for their work to end child labor and organize and advocate for decent work in the cocoa sector.
We can't for you to join us in celebrating these incredible leaders and organizations!
You can register to attend the event and support it if you are able to here.
Announcing our new Deputy Director for Strategy and Partnerships!
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Bobbie Sta. Maria joins GLJ-ILRF as Deputy Director for Strategy and Partnerships, bringing with her fifteen years of work in corporate accountability and human rights, centered on using law and international advocacy to harness the power of local communities. She draws inspiration from the peasant, urban poor, and feminist movements in the Philippines, where she got her start in social justice work as a new lawyer. As staff attorney at the NGO Saligan, she worked with communities in shaping more just policies and adjudication. She counts as highlight being co-counsel of farmers from Sumilao (Bukidnon, Philippines) in their historic and victorious 1,500-km march to claim back their land and demand agrarian reform. She then found her way to Thailand, working with EarthRights International to build trans-national legal strategies to protect the environment and people’s rights against big development in the Mekong region; then Myanmar working with the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre to address the human rights impacts of companies in Southeast Asia. She most recently served as Director for Labour Rights and Asia at the Resource Centre, where she grew and led a labor rights team, orienting the work towards stronger support, collaboration, and solidarity with workers, coalitions, and peer organizations.
According to Bobbie, “It is a privilege to be able to build on what ILRF and GLJ have started, and help form a new organization that diversifies the field for international advocacy, and honors the struggles of grassroots movements. I am excited to immerse myself in collaborations that recognize and harness the strength and leadership of local movement builders – my heroes and idols – and to boldly explore transnational strategies to expand organizing and build power.”
We are excited to have Bobbie join us and bring her expertise and invaluable experience to the GLJ-ILRF team!
In Solidarity,
Jennifer (JJ) Rosenbaum
Executive Director, GLJ-ILRF
1634 I St NW, Suite 1000, Washington, DC 20006, USA | +1 (202) 347-4100
www.globallaborjustice.org | www.laborrights.org
