Dept. of Labor Releases List of Slave-Made Goods

[Triana]

After receiving over 5,400 letters from Change.org community members, the Department of Labor released their long-awaited report on goods produced by child labor and forced labor today. Thank you all for urging DOL to release this important tool for consumers!

This list was mandated by anti-trafficking legislation back in 2005, but the Bush administration dragged their feet for years. Now, thanks to your voices and the hard work of NGOs like Polaris Project and the International Labor Rights Forum, it's finally here. This list is a huge boon for consumers who want to choose slave-free products. With this list, we as consumers can finally hold companies and countries accountable for the slavery they use in making the goods we buy, and we can decisively take action to prevent slavery in the production of consumer goods. Today, we as consumers are more powerful to end slavery than ever before. And you, through Change.org, helped make that happen.

The report tops out at a daunting 194 pages, and can be read in it's entirety http://www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ocft/PDF/2009TVPRA.pdf">here. But let's face it -- no one wants to read 194 page government report, no matter how useful it may be. So here are some of the highlights I've found in my initial read-through:

* The most common goods which have significant incidence of forced and/or child labor are cotton, sugarcane, tobacco, coffee, rice, and cocoa in agriculture; bricks, garments, carpets, and footwear in manufacturing; and gold and coal in mined or quarried goods.

* 122 goods in 58 countries are produced with a significant incidence of forced labor, child labor, or both.

* More goods were found to be made with child labor than forced labor.


MORE...

http://humantrafficking.change.org/blog/view/department_of_labor_releases_list_of_slave-made_goods

[CousinIT]

1. "the bu$h administration dragged their feet for years"

That explains the delay.

[bvar22]

3. Can't blame Bush entirely for this one.

It was The "Centrist" Democrats under Bill Clinton who opened the door for this.

[Toucano]

2. Useless without names of companies.

How is the consumer supposed to *choose* when the report simply says FOOTWEAR? Or GARMETS?

[mamaleah]

4. Yup.

Footwear made in China.....that would be....everything?

[Triana]

6. Yes it is. I went through the entire PDF - NO mention of company names.

Pfft!

[abumbyanyothername]

10. Barefoot and Nekkid.

ha ha.

But seriously, if you simply focus on cutting down your consumption of products, choosing instead natural, locally grown or made alternatives, you will solve a lot of your moral issues surrounding your own consumption.

In other words, stop consuming according to the capitalist economists' model, price first, and instead apply a morality first standard to your consumption and all will be fine. And when in doubt, don't consume. It's not that hard and over a billion people on the planet get by on less than a dollar a day in purchasing power.

[Toucano]

13. Please!

My kids need shoes.

I go to the shop. 90 percent of the products available for me to choose are manufactured in Indonesia, China, the Philipines, or Bangladesh. All countries on the list.

You tell me how to avoid the "capitalists' model"! I am not talking about a fucking ipod. I am talking about SHOES. I can't CHOOSE to not shod my children, por favor!

And as for the billions with less than a dollar per day purchasing power. They ALSO need to buy their children shoes. So, how do you suggest they "choose" to avoid forced labor manufactures products when that is all they have to choose from?

[abumbyanyothername]

14. Trust me. They are not buying their kids shoes. And the kids are fine.

Your ideas of entitlement (need) are just colored by the society in which you live. You can find , by Americans with American inputs . . . and if enough people demand them, they may even become available at Payless.

[Toucano]

15. Ridiculous!

I don't live in your society, so my "entitlement" is not what you have assumed.

And you have completely ignored the challenge, by the way.


If I am living on less than a dollar a day, how am I supposed to buy "American Made" shoes?

[abumbyanyothername]

16. They can simply choose to make shoes out of

whatever is available to them.

Commerce is an option, and one that is becoming increasingly unsatisfactory for both worker and consumer.

At least that's my observation.

Dropping out is an option.

[Toucano]

18. Oh, thanks!

So, my child can go in the fields and pick fucking coffee beans for the Starbuck's swilling millions wearing shoes I fashion out of banana leafs.

Or better yet, I can just DROP OUT and watch them starve.

I wouldn't want to be "caught up" in the ideas of capitalism.

[csziggy]

17. I do that anyway and always have

I was brought up to make my own, to buy used when possible, and to make everything I own last as long as possible - and when it wears out for the original purpose, try to repurpose it for another life.

I spend less that $50 most years on clothes. It's easy when you don't have to "dress for success". My biggest fashion choice is whether to wear a T-shirt with or without a pocket. Days I "dress up" I wear a T-shirt with a neat image on it.

[Brickbat]

5. Sorry, but looking at the "made in" tag is a lot more useful than this list. So nice try, but let's

name names next time, m'kay? Thenks!

[Omaha Steve]

7. Marta and I try to buy fair trade products

There is one brand of coffee that won't ever have child or forced labor. And it is grown in the USA!

http://www.usacoffeecompany.com/

[Triana]

8. Thanks! There was a link to a website that listed green and fair-trade companies a while back...

..prolly a few of them. I wish someone would post it again? I didn't bookmark it last time, apparently.

[abumbyanyothername]

11. Just google fair trade nt

[JNelson6563]

9. List of stuff

Bolivia: nuts, cattle, corn, and sugar
Burma: bamboo, beans, bricks, jade, nuts, rice rubber, rubies, sesame, shrimp, sugarcane, sunflowers, and teak
China: artificial flowers, bricks, Christmas decorations, coal, cotton, electronics, garments, footwear, fireworks, nails, and toys
India: bricks, carpets, cottonseed, textiles, and garments
Nepal: bricks, carpets, textiles, and stones
North Korea: bricks, cement, coal, gold, iron, and textiles
Pakistan: bricks, carpet, coal, cotton, sugar, and wheat

[abumbyanyothername]

12. I have a better idea . . .

Let's boycott all products from all these countries.

Your best bet on morality in consumption is to know your producer by first name.

[JNelson6563]

19. I agree!

If everyone supported their own local community as much as possible things would improve in a hurry.

Julie