News
Verité News From our Vision Newsletter
Webinar: Traceability for Supply Chain Due Diligence and Sustainability in the Garment Sector
Save the date for Complimentary Webinar “Traceability for Supply Chain Due Diligence and Sustainability in the Garment Sector” on February 13th, 2023 at 12 PM – 1 PM (EST).
Webinar: Is Human Trafficking Hidden in Your Facilities Management Supply Chain
Save the date for Complimentary Webinar “Is Human Trafficking Hidden in Your Facilities Management Supply Chain?” on January 31st, 2023 at 10 AM – 11 AM (EST).
2022 A Year in Review
The end of the year provides a welcome opportunity to share a recap of some of Verité’s latest accomplishments. As is demonstrated by the selection of projects and accomplishments highlighted below, Verité’s work is characterized by deep knowledge and expertise across many issues and supply chains, and by our commitment to collaboration with a wide range of stakeholders, including governments, companies, unions, workers, producer organizations, civil society groups, and investors, among others.
Living Income and Living Wage Study for the Colombian Coffee Sector
On October 6 and 7, 2022, Verité, in partnership with the Anker Research Institute and with support from, RGC Coffee, organized two online sessions to present the results and recommendations of the “Living Income and Living Wage Report” for rural areas and small towns of coffee-growing regions in central Colombia.
When Coffee Farmers Face Crises, Farmworkers Suffer Most
Labor is the single largest component of most coffee farmers’ costs of production. In Latin America, for example, labor accounts for the majority of production costs.
How to Conduct Effective Forced Labor Due Diligence at Scale?
Social audits have proven to be ineffective in detecting and preventing debt bonded labor, the most pervasive and entrenched form of forced labor in global supply chains today. While deep dive, focused, worker-centric investigations of the type conducted by Verité and like-minded organizations, are the gold standard to detect and remedy these abuses, it is neither practical nor cost effective for buyers, investors, and other stakeholders to use this approach at every workplace in high-risk countries, sectors, supply chain tiers, or migration corridors.
Reflections on Workers’ Rights to Safe and Decent Conditions
Dhaka Principle 7 – Working conditions are safe and decent – the vital principle to ensure migrant workers enjoy safe and decent conditions of work, free from harassment, any form of intimidation or inhuman treatment. They should receive adequate health and safety provision and training in relevant languages.
Employer Pays Verification
Debt bondage, due to the imposition of recruitment fees and costs on foreign migrant workers, remains the most pervasive and entrenched form of forced labor in global supply chains today. Reimbursement is an important remedy but, on its own, it is not a solution to the underlying root causes of this ongoing labor abuse.
Work Behind Bars
The U.S. prison system has been under increasing scrutiny in recent years for issues such as systematic racism, inhumane conditions, overcrowding, and sexual violence. While these issues are extremely pressing, another important issue, forced prison labor, is often overlooked. Therefore, as a labor rights organization, Verité determined that we could most effectively contribute to the critique of the U.S. prison system by lending an international human rights lens to the conversation on prison labor.
What We’re Talking About in March
Working to End Forced Labor for Cotton Workers in Central Asia | New report on forced labor goods and Department of Defense (DOD) commissaries and exchanges | Commission sets out strategy to promote decent work worldwide | More than 2 billion workers make up the informal economy