Corporate Social Responsibility

On Nov 27 a labour court in Bangkok gave Body Fashion Thailand, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Triumph International, the green light in its effort to dismiss union president Jitra Kotshadej.

Please find below a new e-action asking the Co-op to support the supermarket watchdog Action Aid and others have been campaigning for. Please do send it yourself and pass on to others who would do the same.

A threadbare defence
Primark answered critics over its use of child labour by closing factories in India. But its PR worries aren't over yet
Ewa Jasiewicz

Five months after the Panorama child labour exposé, Primark has been caught with its trousers down – this time over a protest against the clothing company's participation in a major PR event.

British fast fashion giant PRIMARK was due to present on how it weathered the Panorama scandal which exposed the use of child labour in its' supply chains this summer. Unfortunately for them their boasts of having made the outcry go away were premature!

According to the Wall Street Journal, Walmart is telling its Chinese suppliers they have to repsect workers' rigths, including the right to organsie. Shame they don't do this in their own stores. Oh, and there's still the little question of who will pay for better wages and conditions. Walmart seem to think it must be someone else.

By Ann Zimmerman and Mei Fong, 23 October 2008, The Wall Street Journal Europe

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is hitting its Chinese suppliers with a slate of stringent environmental and safety mandates, just as the manufacturers face rising costs and dwindling demand for their products.

The following is a love letter, penned by Clodagh Hartley for the Sun newspaper, to ASDA. Apparenly the UK arm of WalMart is selling school uniforms for £4.

The Scum thinks this is marvelous news for children and parents alike, and someone called Joyce Daly, from something called the Schoolwear Association, agrees. Presumably the kids and parents this is such great news for aren't the same kids and parents who make these clothes.

Given that ASDA have to pay the production, material, shipping and other costs, and still make a profit that keeps the directors in fancy cars, you don't need a maths degree to work out that the workers are getting screwed. Then again Sun journalists don't even have journalism degrees, let alone maths ones. Read on if you dare...

During a state visit to India of the Dutch Queen and several ministers and companies, the Indian Minister of Economic affairs, Shri Kamal Nath, confronted the Dutch delegation with misleading information on the work of the Clean Clothes Campaign and the India Committee of the Netherlands, in relation to the factory FFI in Bangalore. The CCC sent out a pres statement (see below) to rectify the information in the Dutch press.

Discussion about workers' rights and consumer responsibility:

http://society.guardian.co.uk/aid/story/0,,2196863,00.html

Are you going to the Anarchist bookfair? (Queen Mary's College, Mile End, east London, Saturday 27 October)
Fancy helping No Sweat run our stall and meeting?
Please give Jay a ring: 07754 088 989

Joint IWW/No Sweat forum
"The fight against Starbucks and the battle to unionise Starbucks workers"
12.00 - 1.00
Sklep Lecture room, QMC

Flyer to download is here:

The big oil multinationals thought the prize was theirs under new production-sharing agreements in the war-torn country. But the 'Iraqi wealth for the Iraqi people' movement is growing amid internecine conflicts and trade union resistance. Ewa Jasiewicz reports

The Clean Clothes Campaign reports that on March 13th a new Resolution, regulating CSR activities, was passed in the European Parliament.