The U.S. Department of State’s 2015 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report has received more than the usual scrutiny due to ongoing negotiations around the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) involving the U.S. and 11 Pacific Rim nations, and Malaysia’s changing rank on the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) compliance list, compiled by the State Department.
On August 11, the U.S. announced that it would not reinstate Bangladesh to a list of developing countries that receive trade preferences for lower or zero-duty tariffs due to labor rights and workplace safety issues.
Kathleen Bond, a Maryknoll lay missioner who serves in Brazil, wrote the following reflection which was published in A Maryknoll Liturgical Year: Reflections on the Readings for Year B, available from Orbis Books.
Sr. Luise Ahrens, MM, who served in Cambodia, wrote the following reflection which was published in A Maryknoll Liturgical Year: Reflections on the Readings for Year B, available from Orbis Books.
During the months of May and June, trade was the primary issue on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.
Opportunities for Cambodian workers to share in the prosperity of that country's garment industry come at the price of exploitation and abuse.
Two policy proposals offer an excellent opportunity to unite labor and environment to achieve important changes that will be essential to both worker security and environmental sustainability in the future.
The following article, published in the September-October 2014 NewsNotes, was prepared by Cathy Rowan, who is the Corporate Responsibility Coordinator for the Maryknoll Sisters.
The following article was published in the January-February 2014 NewsNotes.
In light of a series of calamities in Bangladeshi apparel manufacturing plants that resulted in an overwhelming loss of life, over 200 institutional investors (including the Maryknoll Sisters and the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers), representing over $2 trillion in assets under management, issued a statement on May 16, calling on apparel industry leaders to implement systemic reforms that will ensure worker safety and welfare, and to adopt "zero tolerance" polices on global supply chain issues.
In most of the world, May 1 is the day to celebrate workers. This year’s commemoration included memorials for the at least 1,127* people who were killed in the terrible collapse on April 24 of a factory in Bangladesh, a disaster that could have been avoided had the building’s owners not shirked their responsibility to provide a safe environment for workers. *Death toll updated from printed version.
To adequately address the climate crisis, a vast global mobilization is needed to urgently and radically reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
