Current Actions

• Adidas: Pay PT Kizone workers legally mandated severance

  In January 2011, the owner of PT Kizone factory fled Indonesia, and 2,800 workers and their families found themselves without the nearly half a year’s wages worth of legally-owed severance pay.  adidas is the only major buyer from the factory that has refused to accept responsibility and contribute towards what the workers are owed under Indonesian law.  Nearly $1.8 million is still owed to the workers, who are struggling to keep children in school and put food on the table. Join us in calling on adidas to uphold its commitment to social responsibility.

• Bangladesh: Investigate Aminul's Murder

  Aminul Islam was found murdered a few days ago. His body bore signs of brutal torture. All evidence points to the likelihood of action by Bangladeshi security forces in retaliation for his support of garment workers' right to organize. Join us in demanding a thorough and impartial investigation.

• Cadbury and Hershey: Remove Forced Child Labor as an Ingredient in Your Products

  At this time of year, there is arguably no more popular product than Cadbury Chocolate Easter Eggs.
  
  Unfortunately, the Hershey Company refuses to take any Cadbury chocolates Fair Trade even though hundreds of thousands of US consumers have called on Hershey to raise the bar and remove forced child labor as an ingredient in its products.

• Encourage Apparel Companies Producing Clothing in Bangladesh to Join Agreement for Fire and Building Safety

  PVH -- whose brands include Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Van Heusen, IZOD, ARROW and Bass -- has just announced it's new agreement to fire and building safety in its supplier factories in Bangladesh. Now is the time for other major apparel companies to join with PVH in ensuring that no more workers' lives are put at risk when sewing clothing for export. Show your support for the health and safety of garment workers in Bangladesh by signing this petition, which we plan to deliver to dozens of apparel companies to urge them to do their part to help end the series of tragic deaths in the Bangladesh garment industry.

• On Women's Day: Call for Justice for Women on Melon Plantations in Honduras

  Join COSIBAH, a Honduran agricultural trade union, by standing up for women workers in Honduras who are facing labor rights and human rights violations when growing melons for export. Use the tool below to send your message to the Honduran Ministry of Labor, the Honduran Social Security Institute, and to melon companies Suragro and Fyffes!

• Call on Dole to Stop Supporting Military Propaganda Campaigns Against Legitimate Worker Organizations

  For six years Dole has been engaged in a concerted effort to undermine and unilaterally displace the democratically-elected union of its pineapple workers in the Philippines. Help show Dole that the union has a wide range of supporters who will not stand for the ongoing labor and human rights violations perpetuated by Dole and the Philippine military. Send a letter to Dole now!

• Until Fired Workers Are Reinstated: Boycott Philippine Airlines and Air Philippines

  Once workers in Philippine Airlines ground crew protested the planned outsourcing of their work, they faced violent repression by police. 2,600 workers were locked-out and fired from their jobs. ILRF is joining the boycott of PAL and AirPhil (both owned by Lucio Tan) in solidarity with members of the Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA). Sign your name here to join the boycott and to call on Philippine Airlines and the Philippine Government to ensure that the workers are immediately reinstated.

• Call for an End Forced Labor in Vietnam

  In detention centers all over Vietnam, some 40,000 men, women, and children are being held against their will and forced to labor for the Vietnamese government. The victims are held without a hearing or a trial in a court of law in drug detention centers on suspicion of using illegal drugs. Most detainees are picked up in “street sweeps” or on the basis of a single positive urine test.  Even those who enter the centers voluntarily in the hopes of getting help for addictions are not allowed to leave.  Many are held for up to five years of forced labor, often to produce goods for private companies.  Before rewarding Vietnam with the benefits of joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership [Free Trade] Agreement, we call on the USTR to join with Human Rights Watch, the World Medical Association and various United Nations bodies to denounce compulsory drug detention, and to demand that Vietnam permanently close the forced labor centers.
  © Julian Wainwright photography

• Tell Hershey to Raise the Bar: Call Today!

  Youth are joining human rights, fair trade, labor, and faith based organizations in a rally in front of the Hershey store in New York City telling this iconic candy company to “raise the bar” for cocoa growing communities and to start sourcing Fair Trade Certified cocoa! Will you call Hershey right now to stand with those in NYC today?

  Here are instructions and a sample script for your call:
  

  Call: +1-800-468-1714, Option "0" Back-up number: 717-534-4200. 

  Suggested Call-in Script: 

  "Hi, my name is ___ and I’m calling from ___. I am a huge fan of [insert your favorite HERSHEY candy here]. I’m calling today because I want Hershey to raise the bar for responsible cocoa sourcing and commit to begin using Fair Trade Certified cocoa for my favorite chocolate. Ten years after Hershey committed to ending child labor, forced labor and trafficking in its cocoa, the abuses continue and Hershey needs to do more to end this exploitation. I support the demands of the Raise the Bar Hershey campaign. Thank you for your time!"

  Let us know how your call went! Tell us about it here.
• Walmart: Stand Up Against Torture of Labor Leaders

  As the largest buyer of Bangladeshi garments, Walmart must ensure Bangladeshi garment workers do not need to fear retaliation for speaking up for their rights. Scroll down to send a message to Walmart to stand up against the imprisonment and torture of labor advocates!

• New York City: Join the Sweatfree Purchasing Consortium
• Support Sweatshop-Free Government Procurement for New York State
• Justice for Workers in Bangladesh

  Help us send a loud and clear message to Walmart, other major companies, and the Bangladeshi government.  Retailers, Bangladeshi factories, and the Bangladeshi government all need to take responsibility for ensuring garment workers receive a living wage and are free to organize.

• Ask ProFlowers to Ensure Workers' Rights are Protected

  The cut flowers that large florists like ProFlowers sell often come from countries in Central and South America and Africa where worker rights aren't always respected.  In Colombia and Ecuador, which are the main countries that supply the U.S. flower market, over half of female workers have been sexually harassed or assaulted on the job, and the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that 20% of the 60,000 Ecuadorian flower workers are children.  Ask ProFlowers to follow the growing industry standards in ensuring flower arrangements are ethically sourced by improving supply chain transparency and implementing third party independent monitoring of labor standards on its suppliers’ farms.

  
  

• Endorse the Jobs Through Procurement Act

  Your business, organization, association, church, union, club, or other group can endorse the Jobs Through Procurement Act here.

• Ask Your Congressperson to Cosponsor the Jobs Through Procurement Act

  Please send a letter to your Member of Congress to ask them to cosponsor the Jobs Through Procurement Act.

• Protect the Right to Organize!

  Workers are able to improve their living and working conditions when they are able to organize and bargain collectively. That is why these rights are protected by the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

  However, workers around the world face systematic barriers to organizing, from being fired or blacklisted for union organizing to egregious acts of violence and intimidation. Corporations play a crucial role in violating the right of workers to organize unions.  The International Labor Rights Forum, through our Freedom at Work campaign, protects the right of workers to organize and bargain collectively.  Our Freedom at Work toolkit outlines the importance of worker organizing, how freedom of association is violated and what you can do about it.

  Please tell the companies highlighted for violating the freedom of association in our toolkit that you support worker rights!

• End the hunt: Where has your chocolate been?

  Many of us love chocolate, but have you ever tried to track where in the world your chocolate comes from? 

  From cocoa fields in West Africa, to processing facilities in Europe to manufacturing plants in Latin America, chances are that your favorite chocolate bars have been passed through the hands of many workers before they reach you.  Click here to find out more.

  Along the way, some bitter working conditions such as trafficking, forced labor, child labor and violations of workers’ right to organize for their rights were probably experiences by the workers who made your chocolate.   Hershey specifically has lagged behind its competitors in agreeing to trace the path its products have taken around the world and ensuring that the workers who produce its products were treated fairly.

  Let’s tell Hershey to start being more transparent and respectful of worker rights!  Consumers don't want to be in the dark any longer.
  

• Sweatfree DC Campaign

  The DC Sweatfree campaign is calling on Mayor Fenty and our local elected officials to join the Sweatfree Purchasing Consortium and pass a strong sweatfree purchasing policy to end tax dollar support for sweatshops.  DC spends $6 billion a year on police uniforms and other clothing articles for city employees yet its nearly impossible to determine whether sweatshops were used in the process of production. 

  You can also see more information about the campaign here if you are interested. 

  It's time for DC to be a leader and we need your help.  Send an email NOW to Mayor Fenty.

• Hershey: Have a Heart for Workers

  Nine years after major chocolate companies committed to ending labor rights abuses in the production of cocoa, child labor, forced labor and trafficking continue on cocoa farms in West Africa.  Hershey is one of the largest chocolate companies in the US and it has not agreed to institute any certification programs to ensure that these labor rights abuses do not occur in the production of the cocoa it uses.

  Here in the US, Hershey has been shifting production away from unionized facilities.  Recently, a worker died at a Hershey supplier in Pennsylvania due to unsafe conditions and a lack of appropriate training.

  Given all of these labor problems, please join us this Valentine's Day in asking Hershey a simple question: How does Hershey monitor its global supply chain to ensure that worker rights are protected?

  You can find out more about recent efforts by chocolate companies to eliminate child labor in ILRF's newly released report.  You can also find out how your favorite chocolate companies rate on their policies to end forced and child labor on Free2Work.org here.  Find out even more about the latest updates in the cocoa industry on ILRF's blog here!

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• I Called Hershey

  Unlike other chocolate companies, Hershey has not agreed to participate in any certification programs to track its global supply chain and institute labor standards for its cocoa suppliers.  Additionally, the company has been restructuring its global manufacturing leading to fewer jobs for unionized workers.
  
  It is time for Hershey to take responsibility for worker rights from bean to bar!  Join activists across the country in calling Hershey NOW!
  
  CALL HERSHEY AT 1-800-468-1714 (Dial “0” to reach an operator – if you have any trouble, try 717-534-4200).  The sample script is listed below.

  Fill out the form below so we can make sure your call is counted!

• Stop State Tax Dollars from Supporting Sweatshops

  Today our tax dollars subsidize worker abuse when states buy apparel and other products. Stand up for workers' rights by taking action now to urge your state to join the Sweatfree Purchasing Consortium.