Today’s newsletter highlights our efforts to expand labor rights and new forms of bargaining on global supply chains, capital markets, and international labor migration corridors including:
Indian Union Leader Thivya Rakini Inspires APALA Convention with Lessons of Organizing on Global Supply Chains from the South and Calls for Global Solidarity with Garment Workers in Honor of Jeyasre Kathiravel Indian Union Leader Thivya Rakini, President of the Tamil Nadu Textile and Common Labour Union (TTCU) addressed the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance’s 16th Biennial Convention. Thivya shared the legacy of Jeyasre Kathiravel, a young Dalit woman and union member who was organizing for better conditions at her workplace and was killed by her supervisor inspiring the Justice for Jeyasre campaign to honor her legacy and demand serious long term changes including an end to gender-based violence and harassment and freedom of association for garment workers in Tamil Nadu and beyond. Thivya inspired APALA Convention attendees with the energy and spirit of TTCU’s women members as they organize to transform conditions on the global supply chains of major fashion brands. She also shared their transformative vision of dignified work and life for those who sew the clothes that many of the convention members wear every day. You can read more here. GLJ-ILRF Mourns the Passing of AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and Honors His Legacy Promoting International Labor Solidarity Global Labor Justice-International Labor Rights Forum (GLJ-IRLF), our staff, and our allied unions and community organizations around the globe mourn the loss of AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. As a third-generation miner and son of immigrant parents, President Trumka often publicly called on that experience as he defended important positions for working people and unions in the U.S. and around the world. We send our deepest condolences to his family and friends as we honor President Trumka’s powerful legacy—he fought hard battles and left the world a better place for unions and working people. We also send our solidarity to the leaders at the AFL-CIO who carry forward the work at this critical time. You can read our full statement here. GLJ-ILRF and IUF Issue Joint Report Highlighting ILO Convention 11 and One Hundred Years of Advancing Freedom of Association for Farmworkers GLJ-ILRF and IUF launched a new report marking the 100th anniversary of ILO Convention 11 and its importance in addressing the pervasive and ongoing exclusion of agricultural workers from exercising their fundamental right to freedom of association and collective bargaining. You can read the forward by IUF General Secretary Sue Longley and GLJ-ILRF Executive Director and the full report here. GLJ-ILRF Organizer Yoel Featured in Labor Notes on Labor's High Hopes as Chilean's Rewrite the Anti-Labor Constitution GLJ-ILRF organizer Yoel Bitran published a piece in Labor Notes outlining the potential power of a new constitution for Chilean workers that could open the door for a radical transformation of the labor movement and increased bargaining power for Chile’s working class. You can read the full piece here. GLJ-ILRF Executive Director Testifies before the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee on Forded Labor in Global Supply Chains On Wednesday, July 21st, 2021 GLJ-ILRF’s Executive Director, JJ Rosenbaum testified at the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee hearing to discuss innovative approaches to combat forced labor in global supply chains and how the U.S. government can strengthen enforcement and protect workers. Her testimony highlighted GLJ-ILRF’s work on forced labor on the supply chains of U.S. Corporations in the seafood sector, cotton in Central Asia and the Uyghur Region, and Palm Oil Products. You can read her statement to the subcommittee here and her written submission here. The Seafood Working Group’s GLJ-ILRF's Advocacy Wins TIP Report Downgrade for Thailand Based on Forced Labor of Migrant Workers in the Seafood and Other Sectors On July 8th, GLJ-ILRF and the Seafood Working Group issued a statement calling out the U.S. State Department’s failure to downgrade Taiwan in its 2021 Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP) ranking based on well documented forced labor in the fishing sector. In April, GLJ-ILRF and Greenpeace, as part of the Seafood Working Group, submitted comments to the U.S. Department of State recommending that Taiwan be downgraded to Tier 2. The working group noted that Taiwan had not met the minimum standards set forth in the U.S. Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000. Even though Taiwan’s distant water fishing industry has been implicated in numerous investigations and reports for labor trafficking and the government has failed to sufficiently address this problem, the 2021 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report issued on July 1, 2021, maintained Taiwan at Tier 1 (the highest ranking for anti-trafficking efforts) for the twelfth consecutive year. You can read the full statement here and watch a panel discussion here. The Seafood Working Group’s Advocacy Leads to TIP Report Downgrade for Thailand Based on Forced Labor of Migrant Workers In April, GLJ-ILRF as part of the Seafood Working Group -- a global coalition of 30 labor, human rights, and environmental organizations -- submitted comments to the U.S. Department of State recommending that Thailand be downgraded to Tier 2 Watch List. The working group noted that Thailand had not met the minimum standards set forth in the U.S. Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000. On July 1st, the U.S. Department of State released its 2021 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report downgrading Thailand to Tier 2 Watch List. The report found the Thai government did not demonstrate overall increasing efforts to address trafficking compared to the previous year nor has it effectively addressed the forced labor of migrant workers. Numerous reports and investigations have implicated Thailand in labor abuses and trafficking of migrant workers, particularly in the fishing, seafood and garment sectors. Thailand was listed as Tier 2 for the three years prior and this decision to downgrade gives important recognition that the government has failed to sufficiently address this problem. You can read the full statement here. GLJ-ILRF and NYU School of Law U.S.-Asia Law Institute Release Joint Report on Gender-Based Violence and Harassment in China On the second anniversary of ILO Convention C190, GLJ-ILRF and NYU’s U.S.-Asia Law Institute published a report examining the Chinese Government’s actions to end gender-based violence and harassment at work. The report analyzes how the Chinese government can concretely align its domestic law and practice with ILO Convention C190 and what Chinese employers, Chinese workers’ organizations and global brands can do to address gender-based violence and harassment in the Chinese workplace. The full report is available here. GLJ-IRLF Sends Letter in Support of SITRATALSA Trade Union Leader Santos Celestina Carranza Ruiz GLJ-ILRF sent a letter asking the Ministry of Labor of Peru to intervene in the unjust firing and persecution of Peruvian trade union leader Santos Celestina Carranza Ruiz by the agribusiness company Tal SA. The company has accused workers of criminal and labor rights offenses in order to destroy the union and intimidate workers from speaking out and defending workers’ rights. GLJ-ILRF is demanding the reinstatement of SITRATALSA Trade Union Leader Santos Celestina Carranza Rui and asking TalSa to respect the rights of workers to organize and for the anti-union culture that exists at TalSA to stop. You can read the letter here. The Seafood Working Group Calls on the U.S. State Department to Urge Thailand to Withdraw Proposed Law that Threatens Organizations Combatting Human Trafficking In June, GLJ-ILRF together with dozens of worker rights and human rights organizations participating in the Seafood Working Group released a letter expressing deep concern regarding Thailand’s draft Act on the Operation of Not-for-Profit Organizations. If enacted, this Council of State drafted law would pose serious threats to the functioning of Thai civil society as well as have a deeply damaging impact on both donors and international non-governmental organizations working to address human trafficking and improve labor rights in Thailand. For this reason, the signatories called on the U.S. State Department, and in particular the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, to strongly advocate for the Thai government to withdraw this bill. You can read the letter here. GLJ-ILRF in the News Human Rights Groups Decry Taiwan’s Tier 1 Human Trafficking Rating by U.S. UNDERCURRENT NEWS | JUL 8, 2021 Thailand Disappointed with Downgrade in Latest US Human Trafficking Report SEAFOOD SOURCE | JUL 7, 2021 U.S. Customs and Border Protection Monitors Imports to Curb Products Made by Forced Labor THE WORLD/PRI | APR 30, 2021 Inadequacy of U.S. Screening System for IUU Risks Laid Bare in Trade Study SEAFOOD SOURCE | APR 7, 2021 As Boohoo Comes Under US Customs' Microscope, What Companies Need to Know About Their Supply Chains THE FASHION LAW | MAR 3, 2021 In Solidarity, GLJ-ILRF |
.png)
