We find ourselves in increasingly volatile and challenging times for human rights and labor rights globally, with hard-won protections facing new challenges every day. Now, we face a critical and systematic dismantling of worker protections: the elimination of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) programs through deliberate, far-reaching cuts. This devastating action destroys decades of progress by gutting 69 essential programs—representing more than $500 million—that fought child labor, forced labor, and other labor abuses across 40 countries.
Verite’s analysis of thousands of recent recruitment transactions between employers and labor recruiters in high-risk labor migration corridors into the Southeast Asia, Middle East, and Gulf Cooperation Council regions finds that fewer than 10% of employers are recruiting workers ethically by paying the full cost of recruitment and preventing workers from being charged for their job.
Verité’s CEO Shawn MacDonald, who has spent more than 25 years advocating for effective labor policies and practices through civil society advocacy, contributed to the Model Contract Clauses Project with the book chapter A Supply Chain Accountability Practitioner’s Perspective on the Model Contract Clauses Project. The chapter is part of the newly published American Bar Association (ABA) book Contracts for Responsible and Sustainable Supply Chains: Model Contract Clauses, Legal Analysis, and Practical Perspectives.
As part of Verité’s Supply Chain Tracing & Engagement Methodologies (STREAMS) project, Erin Klett, Director of STREAMS, led a panel discussion with STREAMS partner Better Cotton and the U.S. Department of Labor at the annual Better Cotton Conference in Amsterdam in June. Traceability and data were at the forefront of this two-day conference, which brought together 350 industry leaders from 38 countries to explore the most salient issues in sustainable cotton production.
In Mexico, sugarcane production and processing is comprised of a complex web of actors. Alongside sugar refineries, mills and farmers, the supply chain is made up of less visible actors, such as cabos or crew leaders and field leaders, who largely operate informally. The least visible and most vulnerable actors in the sugar cane supply chain are the sugarcane cutters, who are exposed to many labor risks, including severe risks to their health and safety.
