News & Updates

"News reports tell us that more than 500 people have now died and more than 2,500 were injured in Savar, Bangladesh, while the toll in West, Texas stands at 15 dead and over 200 injured. Behind these two disasters is a common thread of greed -- and a common need for unionized resistance."

Mushroom Clouds Over Texas, 500 Deaths in Bangladesh -- That's Why We Need Unions - Huffington Post  

"Big garment buyers like Walmart, H&M and Gap have tremendous power to improve conditions in that market." But historically, industries haven't acted to improve working conditions until hard-working people stood in solidarity to demand better improvements. If we want changes the answer is simple: increased unionization leads to improved safety, and increased wages and rights on the job for workers. 

Worker Safety in Bangladesh and Beyond - New York Times 

"According to the International Labor Organization, 21 million people were victims of forced labor in 2012 alone, and there are currently more than 200 million child laborers across the world. The clothes on our back, the gold and gems around our necks and fingers, the electronic devices in our hands — all are likely the work of one or many forced and/or child laborers."

21 Million People Were Victims Of Forced Labor in 2012 Alone - Policy Mic

The recent collapse of a garment factory in Bangladesh that killed at least 340 workers is a chilling example of how workers around the world are facing shocking abuses from their employers. “I wouldn’t call it an accident,” the government’s information minister, Hasanul Haque Inu, told Bangladeshi journalists. “I would say it’s a murder.” 

Bangladeshis Burn Factories to Protest Unsafe Conditions - New York Times 

"During the last 30 years, the U.S. has been moving millions of jobs overseas, with no end in sight as long as there is cheap labor elsewhere and American firms bear no legal responsibility for what happens in their offshore suppliers’ factories...Consumers and shareholders should be a part of the answer to this problem. But American consumers have not exercised significant bargaining power with American corporations since the successful California grape and iceberg lettuce boycotts of the 1960s." It's time we stand in solidarity with workers around the world to make changes.  

Consumers’ Role in Labor Conditions - New York Times 

These tragedies aren't only happening half way across the world. Just look at the Texas fertilizer plant explosion that left so much carnage in its wake. "Over the years, though, the media have not kept up Cronkite’s dogged reporting on workplace safety — or on workers at all. This decline in coverage has created an environment in which companies may feel as if they can get away with massive safety violations because they will face little scrutiny from the media and the public."