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  Labour issues: General - Jan.-June 2001  

See also other materials on "Labour issues: General"

International Labour Organization materials Jan.-June 2001:

Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the World of Work (International Labour Organization, 22 June 2001) {···english···español···français}

Forced labour, human trafficking, slavery haunt us still: Forced labour, slavery and criminal trafficking in human beings - especially women and children - are on the rise worldwide and taking new and insidious forms. A new study by the ILO Stopping Forced Labour, say slavery, oppression and exploitation of human beings have by no means been relegated to history. (World of Work - The Magazine of the ILO, June 2001)

ILO report: Stopping Forced Labour (International Labour Organization, June 2001):

ILO Director-General visits China (Human.Rights@Work: A monthly newsletter produced by the ILO Bureau for Workers' Activities, International Labour Organization, 23 May 2001)

HIV/AIDS is a workplace issue: New [draft] ILO Code of Practice (Human.Rights@Work: A monthly newsletter produced by the ILO Bureau for Workers' Activities, International Labour Organization, 23 May 2001)

Remarks by [ILO Director-General] Juan Somavia at a Press Conference on the Occasion of the Signing of the Memorandum of Understanding for Cooperation between China and the ILO,  Beijing, 17 May 2001 (International Labour Organization, 17 May 2001)

Statement by Juan Somavia Director-General of the International Labour Office to the Third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, Brussels, 14 May 2001 (International Labour Organization, 14 May 2001)

Other materials:

Jan.-June 2001:

Corporations Feel Heat on Global Issues; Record Votes in 2001 Annual Meeting Seasons: Shareholders in record numbers want companies to adopt global labor standards to ensure fair, decent working conditions for overseas employees, according to an analysis of 2001 proxy votes by the Investor Responsibility Research Center. (Investor Responsibility Resource Center [IRRC], 29 June 2001)

Still Waiting For Nike To Respect the Right to Organize (Tim Connor, Global Exchange, on Corpwatch website, 28 June 2001)

Landmark Study Shows Mexican Maquiladora Workers Not Able to Meet Basic Needs on Sweatshop Wages: Workers in foreign-owned export assembly plants in Mexico are not able to meet a family's basic needs on sweatshop wages, according to a comprehensive study conducted in fifteen Mexican cities. (Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility / Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras / Center for Reflection, Education and Action, 28 June 2001)

Free Trade and Sweatshops: Is global trade doing more harm than good? - Perhaps the fundamental question about globalization is whether it helps or hurts workers, particularly in developing countries. Insight asked Kevin Danaher of Global Exchange and David Henderson of the Hoover Institution to engage in an e-mail debate. (San Francisco Chronicle, 24 June 2001)

FRIENDS IVORY AND SIME - Socially Responsible Investment - Fund manager Friends Ivory & Sime argues that institutional investors have a responsibility to encourage companies to improve their governance of ethical and environmental issues. Its new Responsible Engagement Overlay [REO] service enables investors to use their influence to encourage positive change...One of REO's most successful engagement programmes in the past year has been on labour standards. (Ethical Performance magazine, summer 2001)

TRANSCO - Community involvement [UK] - Transco [gas pipeline operator] has applied fresh thinking to long-standing concerns for health and safety with an initiative that has dramatically reduced accidents in the workplace, saved money and demonstrated the company's social responsibility while raising large sums for Mencap, a charity which helps people with learning disabilities (Ethical Performance magazine, summer 2001)

89th International Labour Conference To Press Forward on Decent Work Agenda - ILC Adopts First International Standard on Safety in Agriculture: In addition to the wide ranging debate on reducing the decent work deficit, delegates gave overwhelming approval to the first labour standard on agricultural safety and health ever - with the aim of protecting the world's 1.3 billion agricultural workers by a vote of 402 for, 2 against with 41 abstentions. The new International Convention on Health and Safety in Agriculture will enter into force once ratified by two ILO member States. (International Labour Organization, 21 June 2001)

World's First Guidelines Set for Safe Disposal of Obsolete Ships (Environment News Service, 20 June 2001)

Thailand: The "disappearance" of labour leader: "Ten years have passed since Tanong Pho-arn, the President of the Labour Congress of Thailand (LCT), went missing in the aftermath of the February 1991 coup d'etat, yet no progress has been made in discovering his fate or the circumstances of his 'disappearance'," Amnesty International and the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) said today. (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions and Amnesty International, 18 June 2001) 

Groups take stand on overseas labor: Working conditions scrutinized (Bruce Finley, Denver Post, 14 June 2001)

China's Prison Laborers Pay Price for Market Reforms (Philip P. Pan, Washington Post, 14 June 2001)

IUF [International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations]/COLSIBA [Latin American Coordinating Committee of Banana Workers' Unions] and Chiquita Brands International sign historic agreement on trade union rights for banana workers (International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations, 14 June 2001)

Burma Still Using Forced Labor (Human Rights Watch, 12 June 2001)

Nearly 1000 companies announce intention to join the FLA: Universities urge licensees to join (Fair Labor Association, 12 June 2001)

Oil Development in the Caspian: a critical investigation of California oil companies in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan (California Global Corporate Accountability Project, 11 June 2001)

UW [University of Wisconsin] System regents OK $8.3 million Adidas deal ["The deal also allows UW to study the company's records to make sure Adidas employees are not working in sweatshop conditions. The company will provide names and locations of all factories making Badger uniforms, and UW inspectors would be allowed to check those factories."] (Sharif Durhams, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 9 June 2001)

Myanmar Tests Resolve of I.L.O. on Enforcing Standards (Elizabeth Olson, New York Times, 5 June 2001)

The captain of a very French multinational: INTERVIEW THIERRY DESMAREST, TOTALFINAELF: "The French government is perfectly aware - and we agree - that it is not for private companies to take it upon themselves to get governments (such as Burma) to change their policies," he says. It is the kind of comment to make UK and US oil executives envy the quintessential Frenchness of TotalFinaElf. (David Buchan and Victor Mallet, Financial Times, 5 June 2001)

Three more monitors accredited by FLA [Fair Labor Association] (Fair Labor Association, 4 June 2001)

Justice delayed for a childhood in asbestos: South Africans seek belated compensation [from British company Cape PLC] for their apartheid-era exploitation (Chris McGreal, Guardian [UK], 4 June 2001) 

Spoiled Lunch: Polluters Profiting from Federal Lunch Programs - 2001 Sierra Club Report: This report outlines environmental, health, and labor law violations committed by giant slaughterhouses and meat processing plants that supply pork, chicken, and beef to our schools through the federal School Lunch Program. [USA] (Sierra Club, June 2001)

The Dark Side of Football: Child and adult labour in India's football industry and the role of FIFA (India Committee of the Netherlands, June 2000)

Private benefit from forced prison labour: Case studies on the application of ILO Convention 29 [Australia, Cameroon, China, Russia, UK, USA] (Colin Fenwick, for International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, June 2001)

Women Activists Share Experiences: On February 10-17, eight women from Asian labour rights and women’s organizations met in Nicaragua with their Latin American counterparts to exchange experiences and strategies. (Maquila Solidarity Network, June 2001) 

Custom Trim Workers Vindicated: But will they be compensated?  On April 6, two weeks before heads of state gathered in Quebec City to discuss the extension of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to the rest of the hemisphere, the US National Administrative Office (NAO) released a report documenting the failure of the NAFTA labour side agreement to ensure enforcement of even existing labour legislation. The NAO report confirms allegations of workers at two formerly Canadian-owned maquila autoparts factories in Matamoros and Valle Hermoso, Mexico of exposure to dangerous chemicals and other workplace hazards. It also documents the failure of Mexican government agencies to enforce their own health and safety regulations. (Maquila Solidarity Network, June 2001)

LABOUR: Workers' problems 'ignored' [Thailand] (Bangkok Post, 30 May 2001)

Senate panel [in Thailand] set up to assist mistreated Thais: Letters say twenty labourers have died in Taiwan (Kosol Satithamajit, Bangkok Post, 28 May 2001)

OSHA [U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration] cites garment manufacturer in American Samoa for safety and health violations (U.S. Department of Labor, 25 May 2001)

U.S. Senate, Human Rights Groups, and Labor Unions Fight Forced Labor in Burma: In Response to Unprecedented ILO call, Senators Introduce Import Ban Bill (Free Burma Coalition, 25 May 2001)

U.S. Manufacturers Bring High Labor, Environmental Standards to Overseas Operations, New Study Finds: Joint Survey by NAM [National Association of Manufacturers] and Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI Finds ‘Race to Top,’ Not Bottom (National Association of Manufacturers, 24 May 2001)

Global Union welcomes recognition of workers’ rights in achieving development of the Least Developed Countries: Outcome of the Third UN Conference on LDC’s [Third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, Brussels, 14-20 May 2001] (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 21 May 2001)

AFL-CIO and ICEM [International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions] Protest Unocal's Burma Joint Venture at Shareholders Meeting - CalPERS Supports Shareholder Resolutions (AFL-CIO and ICEM, 21 May 2001) 

Facing Global Power: Strategies for Global Unionism [including Part 1: Corporate Power and the World Social Economy] (Vic Thorpe and Professor Jeffrey Harrod,  ICEM [ International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine & General Workers' Unions] SECOND WORLD CONGRESS, 18 May 2001)

Labour organisations condemn forced labour in South Asia: In a major development trade unions and labour support organisations from Nepal, Pakistan and India have joined hands to eradicate of all forms of bonded labour and forced labour in the countries of South Asia (press release by GEFONT [a trade union centre in Nepal], in Labour File, 17 May 2001)

Kukdong - Independent Union Leader Beaten by CROC supporters [Mexico] (Campaign for Labor Rights, 17 May 2001)

LABOUR: Work standards to improve [Thailand] (Bangkok Post, 17 May 2001)

Fighting Back in Botswana: Nearly 36 percent of adults in Botswana are believed to have HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Elizabeth Farnsworth reports on how Botswana's government is trying to tackle the crisis, in part three of a four-part series. "Diamonds from mines like this are crucial to Botswana's economy, and as more and more workers ended up sick, Debswana decided to act. In early March, it announced that company doctors like Kobus Erasmus would begin to provide the full package of life-saving drugs called anti-retrovirals which have saved millions of lives in developed countries. The mining company would pay 90% of patients' costs."..."A high tech laboratory is under construction in Gabarone, which will have the capacity to analyze how patients on anti-retrovirals are doing. It's funded by the government and Harvard with help from Bristol Myers Squibb." (NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, PBS, 16 May 2001)

On third anniversary of Knight speech, Nike reviews challenges and successes of corporate responsibility initiatives in a complex global economy: New partnerships, increased resources, engagement with NGOs have made Nike "a better company," says Chairman Phil Knight (Nike, 15 May 2001)

Costa Rica pressured to improve labour rights situation urgently (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 14 May 2001)

Chentex accord signed - An Update on this Unprecedented, Anti-sweatshop Victory [Nicaragua] (Campaign for Labor Rights, 11 May 2001)

Industrial accidents: Job safety promise to boost global sales - Lax protection law could cost exports [Thailand] (Penchan Charoensuthiphan, Bangkok Post, 11 May 2001)

ILO focusing on garment industry, EPZ [export processing zones] for enforcing conventions: Workshop participants find indifference [among governments] to implementing workers' rights (The Independent [Dhaka, Bangladesh], 15 May 2001)

Nordstrom Challenged by Domini Social Investments On Sweatshop Issue (Business Wire, 14 May 2001)

Official Salvadoran report says its factories are brutal: Some sweatshops make clothes for U.S. retailers (Eric Brazil, San Francisco Chronicle, 11 May 2001)

Group calls foul on NBA [National Basketball Association] 'sweatshops' (Richard Wilner, NYPost.com [New York], 11 May 2001)

No to Global Sweatshops: New York's City Council is about to open a promising new front in the global struggle against sweatshop exploitation--a city procurement ordinance that requires decent wages and factory conditions for the apparel workers who make uniforms for New York's finest. (William Greider, The Nation, 7 May 2001)

UK joins fight against 'chocolate slavery': The UK has joined efforts to fight child labour and poverty on west African cocoa plantations. (BBC News, 4 May 2001)

Citigroup Shareowner Resolutions Yield Mixed Results (Mark Thomsen, SocialFunds.com, 4 May 2001)

University acts to cut ties with some apparel firms: The University of Iowa has canceled 176 licenses with apparel companies that either failed to disclose the location of their factories or sign the school's code of conduct. (Chicago Tribune, 3 May 2001)

Colombia: Mayday for trade unionists (Amnesty International, 1 May 2001)

Making it work: Labour activist Wilaiwan Sae Tia insists that an independent institute to protect health, safety and environment in workplaces, along with unemployment insurance, are both necessary if we are to properly celebrate Labour Day (today) and the upcoming National Safety Day on May 10 [Thailand] (Atiya Achakulwisut and Vasana Chinvarakorn, Bangkok Post, 1 May 2001)

Overview of Recent Developments on Monitoring and Verification in the Garment and Sportswear Industry in Europe - Second edition (Nina Ascoly, Joris Oldenziel & Ineke Zeldenrust, SOMO-Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations and Clean Clothes Campaign, May 2001)

Worker Rights in the Americas [El Salvador]? A Rare Inside Glimpse: Suppressed USAID-funded investigation documents systematic denial of rights and "abject poverty" wages of eighty-five thousand maquila workers, mostly young women sewing garments for Nike, Jordan, Adidas, Gap, Ohio State, Duke, University of Michigan, Georgetown, Kohl's, Wal-Mart and Elderwear school uniforms. (National Labor Committee, May 2001)

Still Waiting For Nike To Do It: Nike's Labor Practices in the Three Years Since CEO Phil Knight's Speech to the National Press Club (Tim Connor, Global Exchange, May 2001)

The Politics and Law of Worker Rights [USA]: An Interview with William Gould [Professor of Law at Stanford Law School, chair of the National Labor Relations Board during the Clinton Administration] (Multinational Monitor, May 2001)

Defending Contractor Irresponsibility [Bush administration issued notice that it intended to rescind the contractor responsibility rule issued at the end of the Clinton administration] (Robert Weissman, Multinational Monitor, May 2001)

Rollback: A Corporate Feeding Frenzy During Bush’s Honeymoon [USA] (Multinational Monitor, May 2001)

Protecting Human Rights is a Strategic Business Issue (Ford Motor Company, in 2000 Corporate Citizenship Report, May 2001)

Letter to over 30 U.S. garment/apparel companies selling goods that were made in Burma [demanding that they cease all sourcing from Burma] (from Free Burma Coalition, labour organisations and other NGOs, May 2001)

U.S.: Monetary Penalties on Labor Rights Backed: U.S. Must Keep Labor Rights in Trade Pacts (Human Rights Watch, 27 Apr. 2001)

Cut-throat transport is killing workers and the environment (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 27 Apr. 2001)

Labor Leaders Joining Forces in Opposition to Trade Plan [Free Trade Area of the Americas] (Steven Greenhouse, New York Times, 26 Apr. 2001)

Canada's Military Exports: Fuelling wars and abusing international human/labor rights (The Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade [COAT], 25 Apr. 2001)

Home workers law [Thailand] (Bangkok Post, 25 Apr. 2001)

Labor Standards Clash With Global Reality [report on the limitations of monitoring of El Salvador factory supplying Gap, the clothing retailer; Gap says companies cannot substitute for governments indifferent to enforcing laws] (Leslie Kaufman and David Gonzalez, New York Times, 24 Apr. 2001)

Focus on the Corporation - Gould ideas: William Gould says civil rights include rights of workers [USA] (Russel Mokhiber and Robert Weissman, San Francisco Bay Guardian, 24 Apr. 2001)

Slavery: the chocolate companies have their say (Simon Jeffery and Ben Stafford, Guardian [UK], 19 Apr. 2001)

Families of killed strikers want justice [Indonesia] (Jakarta Post,19 Apr. 2001)

Inquiry into Corporate Behavior in the Americas - Executive Summary: On April 19th, 2001, the United Steelworkers hosted a special inquiry into corporate conduct in the Americas, as part of the Peoples’ Summit in Quebec City. Four Commissioners were invited to participate in the inquiry by six organizations representing working people throughout the western hemisphere. (United Steelworkers Humanity Fund [Canada], 19 Apr. 2001)

Wal-Mart Booted Out of the Domini 400 [Domini 400 Social Index]: KLD cites lack of leadership on labor controversies among reasons for removal (Mark Thomsen, SocialFunds.com, 17 Apr. 2001)

Time to investigate: 'U' should look in to labor code allegations [at apparel company in USA] (Michigan Daily [University of Michigan], 17Apr. 2001)

Trading Away Rights: The Unfulfilled Promise of NAFTA's Labor Side Agreement (report, Human Rights Watch, 16 Apr. 2001)

NAFTA Labor Accord Ineffective: Future Trade Pacts Must Avoid Pitfalls (press release, Human Rights Watch, 16 Apr. 2001)

Government calls for labor unions' independence [Indonesia] (Jakarta Post, 14 Apr. 2001)

The terms of global trade [Wal-Mart/ASDA letter to Guardian responding to 9 Apr. 2001 article concerning allegations of child labour at textile suppliers in Bangladesh] (letter from Christine Watts, Corporate affairs director, ASDA, Guardian [UK], 14 Apr. 2001)

Concerns Regarding Changes to US-Jordan Trade Agreement: Letter from LCHR [Lawyers Committee for Human Rights] to US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick regarding negotiations to "modify" the recent US-Jordan Free Trade Agreement (Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, 12 Apr. 2001)

FLA [Fair Labor Association] denounces ELF [Earth Liberation Front] actions [advocating violence against Nike stores] (Nike, 11 Apr. 2001)

Apparel Makers Fund New Labor Group To Inspect Factories, Screen for Sweatshops [Fair Labor Association] (Joseph Pereira, Wall Street Journal, 10 Apr. 2001)

Textile workers build solidarity in Bangladesh (Seumas Milne, Guardian [UK], 9 Apr. 2001)

Public Report of Review of NAO Submission No. 2000-01 [Custom Trim case, Mexico]: Submission 2000-01 raises concerns about occupational safety and health and compensation in cases of occupational injuries and illnesses at Auto Trim of Mexico in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, and at Custom Trim/Breed Mexicana in Valle Hermoso, Tamaulipas.  The failure of the Government of Mexico to communicate to the workers about its efforts undertaken in response to the 1998 petition, the lack of records on the 1999 petitions, and the failure to respond to workers’ inquiries about the petitions are inconsistent with the Government of Mexico’s obligations under the NAALC [North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation], which obligate the government to require record keeping; to give due consideration to any request for an investigation of suspected violations of labor law; to ensure that persons have appropriate access to administrative proceedings for the enforcement of labor law; to ensure that proceedings are transparent; to provide for procedural guarantees in those proceedings; and to promote public awareness of labor law. (U.S. National Administrative Office, Bureau of International Labor Affairs, U.S. Department of Labor, 6 April 2001)

Stanford Refuses to Cut Ties to Nike - Despite 3-year protest, huge contract a go (Bill Workman, San Francisco Chronicle, 6 Apr. 2001)

Faculty and students question Nike contract (letters to the editor, Stanford Daily [Stanford University, California], 5 Apr. 2001)

Healthy Working: This issue of ALU [Asian Labour Update] looks at OSH [occupational safety and health] in Asia Pacific where we find companies unwilling to protect workers’ wellbeing. (Ed Shepherd, Asian Labour Update, Apr.-June 2001)

Transnational Corporations Today: Too much power, too little accountability - We have chosen to focus our Inquiry on four companies - Alcan, Dana, Noranda and Cominco/Teck (United Steelworkers Humanity Fund [Canada], Apr. 2001)

Enslaved to Fashion: Corporations, Consumers, and the Campaign for Worker Rights in the Global Economy - A review of Levi's Children: Coming to Terms with Human Rights in the Global Marketplace by Karl Schoenberger (George DeMartino, Human Rights & Human Welfare, Apr. 2001)

Mayor Giuliani vetoes bill amending city's administrative code in relation to city's procurement of apparel and textile services: Remarks by Mayor Giuliani at Public Hearing on Local Laws (New York City press release, 30 Mar. 2001)

Lollipops, Homer Simpson and monkfish livers on the move: Glimpses of a Shrinking World [regarding factories doing contract work for Nike in Vietnam] (excerpt, from Ted Anthony, Associated Press, 28 Mar. 2001)

Real allies in the Global Alliance [Thailand] (Junya Yimprasert, Co-ordinator, Thai Labour Campaign, and Christopher Candland, Professor of Political Science, Wellesley College, undated)

22 Convicted of Harassing Workers: The verdicts were hailed as a sign that Guatemala's history of violence against labor leaders is easing (Frances Robles, Miami Herald, 24 Mar. 2001) 

Economists Spar Over Sweatshop Protests (Anya Schiffrin, The Standard, 23 Mar. 2001)

Kuk Dong Workers Establish an Independent Union [Mexico] (Campaign for Labor Rights and US/LEAP, 22 Mar. 2001)

"Principles for Private Sector Investment in Cuba" [principles include respect for internationally-recognised rights of workers] (National Policy Association's Cuba Working Group, in Cuba Today: Best Business Practices and Labor Rights, Spring 2001)

Independent verification – myth or reality?

Articles about Nike in Human Rights & Business Matters, newsletter of Amnesty International UK Business Group, spring/summer 2001:

Trade Dilemma: Should Trade Agreements Champion Workers' Rights?  (panel discussion, Peter Morici [Professor of International Business at the University of Maryland and Senior Fellow at the Economic Strategy Institute], Sam W. Brown Jr. [Executive Director of the Fair Labor Association], Michael Moore [writer and film director], P.J. O'Rourke [Foreign Affairs Editor for Rolling Stone], Reuters Forum, at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, 21 Mar. 2001)

Arbitration Law Upheld by Divided Supreme Court [USA] (Reuters, 21 Mar. 2001)

Court: Employers can require workers to forfeit right to sue [USA] (Margaret Steen, SiliconValley.com, 21 Mar. 2001)

Firm's secret to success lies in treating workers right (Gerry Bellett, Vancouver Sun, 21 Mar. 2001)

Labor Organizer in China Jailed for Fighting for Workers' Rights (Agence France Press, 16 Mar. 2001)

New Statoil Agreement Boosts Global Worker Rights (ICEM [International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions], 15 Mar. 2001)

UNITE Statement Regarding Groundbreaking New York City Council Anti-Sweatshop Procurement Bill (UNITE, 14 Mar. 2001)

Cities Against Sweatshops: New York, NY (UNITE, 14 Mar. 2001)

City Council Votes to Stamp Out Sweatshops (New York City Council, 14 Mar. 2001)

Nike develops remediation plan for Kukdong [factory in Mexico] based on recently completed independent audit (Nike, 14 Mar. 2001)

Third World Sailors 'Treated Like Slaves' - Tens of thousands of sailors on commercial ships are being treated like slaves and live in fear of being thrown overboard if they complain about exploitation and mistreatment, says a report by an independent industry body. The report Ships, Slaves and Competition, found that on 10 to 15 per cent of vessels, sailors from developing countries such as the Philippines and Indonesia were being subjected to poor safety conditions, excessive hours, unpaid wages, starvation diets, rapes and beatings. The report said crews told stories of sailors disappearing after complaining to officers and of being blacklisted if they dared to seek union help to collect unpaid wages. (Reuters, in The East African [Kenya], 12 Mar. 2001)

USA: 'Union-Free' Wal-Mart (Harry Kelber, LaborTalk, 12 Mar. 2001)

Guatemalan Rights Probe Tied To Trade (Jane Bussey, Miami Herald, 10 Mar. 2001)

Triumph [Triumph International, lingerie company] accused of double-speak over refusal to quit Burma (International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers' Federation, 9 Mar. 2001)

Raising Awareness of Core Labour Standards in the Glass and Brass industries in India [workshop on homeware sourcing from India] (International Business Leaders Forum and Save the Children, 8 March 2001)

Union women take the lead in fight for women's rights (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 8 Mar. 2001)

Second negotiation-attempt with Adidas failed. Pilot-project with the German Clean Clothes Campaign refused. (Clean Clothes Campaign, 8 May 2001)

Burma Violates Own Ban in Use of Forced Labor (Human Rights Watch, 7 Mar. 2001)

Sweating it out: Nicaraguan women try to organize in a free trade zone (Megan Rowling, InTheseTimes.com, 5 Mar. 2001)

Students from 56 Universities Launch Fast, Calling for End to U.S. Corporate Support for Burma's Regime: Protest After Release of U.S. State Department Cable (5 Mar. 2001)

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson today welcomed China's decision to ratify the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights...expressed disappointment at reports that the ratification was subject to a reservation in relation to paragraph 1(a), article 8, of the Covenant dealing with trade union rights (United Nations Press Release, 2 Mar. 2001)

Consultation with Footwear Workers: Report of a Pilot Study [Vietnam] - This report details the process and resulting lessons from a pilot survey in a footwear factory carried out by ActionAid as part of the Vietnam Business Links Initiative (Juliet Edington, Mar. 2001)

Overview of Recent Developments on Monitoring and Verification in the Garment and Sportswear Industry in Europe (Nina Ascoly, Joris Oldenziel, Ineke Zeldenrust, SOMO - Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations, Mar. 2001)

China: Workers' Rights Lag Behind U.N. Standards: Ratifying U.N. Treaty Is Not Enough, Says Rights Group (Human Rights Watch, 28 Feb. 2001)

China: Economic, social and cultural rights treaty must become a reality (Amnesty International, 28 Feb. 2001)

Shareholder Resolutions Successful in Changing Employment Policies (SocialFunds.com, 26 Feb. 2001)

Globalisation poses threats for workers in Bangladesh's textile industry (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 21 Feb. 2001)

Cheap labour, ruined lives (Charlotte Denny, Guardian Unlimited, 16 Feb. 2001)

Profits Raise Pressures on U.S.-Owned Factories in Mexican Border Zone (Sam Dillon, New York Times, 14 Feb. 2001)

Labor Leaders to Publicize ILO's Worker Rights List (WorldExploitation.com, 14 Feb. 2001)

New Economy, Old Politics: Do We Need New Rules to Ensure Fair Growth? (panel discussion, Pete Engardio [acting Asian Edition for Business Week], Thomas M. T. Niles [President, United States Council for International Business], John G. Ruggie [U.N. Assistant Secretary-General and Chief Adviser for strategic planning to Secretary-General Kofi Annan], Joseph E. Stiglitz [Senior Fellow in the Economic Studies Program at the Brookings Institution and Professor of Economics at Stanford University], Lori Wallach [Director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch], Reuters Forum, at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, 14 Feb. 2001)

Human rights activists speak out against Nike: ... Keady and Kretzu spent last August living in solidarity with Nike factory workers in Indonesia and living on their wages. They spoke Friday at Allen Hall about sweatshops and the exploitation of workers in developing countries. "Our goal was to humanize the sweatshop issue," Kretzu said. "Nike is undermining human dignity for a profit. You may survive on $1.25 a day, but you can not live and maintain your dignity." (Tom Polansek, The Daily Illini [University of Illinois], 12 Feb. 2001) 

Chasing Mexico's Dream Into Squalor (Ginger Thompson, 11 Feb. 2001)

The bitter taste of oranges [Haiti] (Owen Bowcott, Guardian Unlimited, 8 Feb. 2001)

KUKDONG: Sweatshop conditions indicative of problems facing global workers - The recent attention focused on a Mexican factory producing Nike and Reebok sweatshirts has once again highlighted the problems of sweatshop conditions in apparel factories around the world (Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, 6 Feb. 2001)

ILRF [International Labor Rights Fund] Commissions Investigation of Mexican Factory (International Labor Rights Fund, 1 Feb. 2001)

Update Regarding Kukdong Mexico Factory (Nike, 1 Feb. 2001)

Realizing Labor Standards: How transparency, competition, and sanctions could improve working conditions worldwide. (Archon Fung, Dara O'Rourke, and Charles Sabel, Boston Review, Feb./Mar. 2001)

Explanation of 1 February 2001 decision to remove Wal-Mart from Domini 400 Social Index (Kinder, Lydenberg, Domini & Co., Feb. 2001)

Breaking Boundaries, Building Alliances: A Latin America / Asia Women's Exchange for women organizers and advocates - On February 10-17, eight women from Asian labour rights and women’s organizations met in Nicaragua with their Latin American counterparts to exchange experiences and strategies. (Maquila Solidarity Network, Feb. 2001)

Haiti's Thirst for Justice (Charles Arthur, Multinational Monitor, Jan./Feb. 2001)

Students Against Sweatshops (Stew Harris, Multinational Monitor, Jan./Feb. 2001)

Promoting International Rights of Workers [Lawyers Committee for Human Rights Recommendations to the Bush Administration for Promoting Workers Rights] (Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, 31 Jan. 2001)

Major Canadian Retailers Receive Resolutions on Sweatshops: Shareholders ask for verifiable commitment to better working conditions for supplier and subcontractor employees (SocialFunds.com, 29 Jan. 2001)

Investigators' Report on Nike Contractor in Mexico Calls for Immediate Action to Enable Illegally Fired Workers to Return to Work: University fact-finders cite "substantial evidence of severe on-going violations of worker rights" (Worker Rights Consortium, 25 Jan. 2001)

Fair Labor Association approves seven companies for participation in FLA's Monitoring Program; Accredits first Independent Monitor (Fair Labor Association, 24 Jan. 2001)

Groups Urge Unocal's New CEO to Call for End to Human Rights and Environmental Abuses in Burma: Earth Day Network, Sierra Club and Amnesty International Hold Unocal Accountable for Yadana Natural Gas Pipeline Project (Earth Day Network, 24 Jan. 2001)

Global unions to push social agenda in Davos (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 24 Jan. 2001)

Nike Letter to Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) [regarding labour dispute at Kukdong factory in Mexico] (Associated Press, 21 Jan. 2001)

Update on Labor Dispute at Kukdong Apparel Factory - Mexico City (Nike, 16 Jan. 2001)

Police Raid Strike at Nike Factory in Mexico (Global Exchange, 14 Jan. 2001) 

Letters - Fair Pay: 'It is the role of the Cambodian government, multinationals and their consumers to ensure that the wages of parents working in the factory are sufficient to educate their children.' - Lawyers Committee for Human Rights (Vanessa Lesnie and Justine Nolan, Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, letter to the editor, Asiaweek, 12 Jan. 2001)

Social environment and standards at the work place in the garment industry in Bulgaria - Results from a preliminarily research carried out within a Clean Clothes Campaign international project (Bulgarian Gender Research Foundation, 2001)

The effects of core workers rights on labour costs and foreign direct investment: Evaluating the "conventional wisdom" (David Kucera, International Institute for Labour Studies discussion paper, 2001)

Monitoring Mattel in China (Stephen Frost and May Wong, Asia Monitor Resource Center, 2001)

Bangladesh: Fire Kills 46, Seriously Injures Over 100 (Saiful Huq, BALU, Jan. 2001)

Multinationality and corporate ethics: codes of conduct in the sporting goods industry -...Six companies (Nike, Reebok, Puma, Mizuno, Asics, Adidas and Mizuno, of which only the first four have a code), three business support groups (AAMA, AFA, AIP), three social interest groups (CEPAA, CCC, AHRC) and three international organisations (ILO, WFSGI, FIFA) are analysed. (Ans Kolk & Rob van Tulder, Journal of International Business Studies, 2001)

Code of Practice on Safety and Health in the Non-ferrous Metals Industries (International Labour Organization, 2001)

Nike & Global Labour Practices (David F. Murphy & David Mathew, New Academy of Business Innovation Network for Socially Responsible Business, 2001)