Tuesday, December 24, 2013

How the U.S. Government Can Follow Its Own Advice to Be a Responsible Consumer - Labor is Not a Commodity

How the U.S. Government Can Follow Its Own Advice to Be a Responsible Consumer - Labor is Not a Commodity

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How the U.S. Government Can Follow Its Own Advice to Be a Responsible Consumer

By Bjorn Skorpen Claeson, International Labor Rights Forum
Today, the New York Times reports child labor, blocked fire exits, unsafe buildings, forced overtime and a range of other illegal, unsafe, and abusive conditions for garment workers in factories in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Haiti, Mexico, and Thailand.  These factories have at least one thing in common: the United States government is a customer.   That means these abuses take place with the support of our tax dollars and are carried out in our names.  It also means the Obama administration “flouts its own advice” to private sector companies to use their purchasing power to improve working conditions in overseas garment factories.
Because the U.S. government is the world’s single largest buyer it could create a significant push for safe and decent working conditions in supplier factories across the globe by practicing what it preaches.  How would it do that?
- See more at: http://laborrightsblog.typepad.com/international_labor_right/2013/12/how-the-us-government-can-follow-its-own-advice-to-be-a-responsible-consumer.html#sthash.0sdkvVkR.dpuf


How the U.S. Government Can Follow Its Own Advice to Be a Responsible Consumer

By Bjorn Skorpen Claeson, International Labor Rights Forum
Today, the New York Times reports child labor, blocked fire exits, unsafe buildings, forced overtime and a range of other illegal, unsafe, and abusive conditions for garment workers in factories in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Haiti, Mexico, and Thailand.  These factories have at least one thing in common: the United States government is a customer.   That means these abuses take place with the support of our tax dollars and are carried out in our names.  It also means the Obama administration “flouts its own advice” to private sector companies to use their purchasing power to improve working conditions in overseas garment factories.
Because the U.S. government is the world’s single largest buyer it could create a significant push for safe and decent working conditions in supplier factories across the globe by practicing what it preaches.  How would it do that?
- See more at: http://laborrightsblog.typepad.com/international_labor_right/2013/12/how-the-us-government-can-follow-its-own-advice-to-be-a-responsible-consumer.html#sthash.0sdkvVkR.dpuf

How the U.S. Government Can Follow Its Own Advice to Be a Responsible Consumer

By Bjorn Skorpen Claeson, International Labor Rights Forum
Today, the New York Times reports child labor, blocked fire exits, unsafe buildings, forced overtime and a range of other illegal, unsafe, and abusive conditions for garment workers in factories in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Haiti, Mexico, and Thailand.  These factories have at least one thing in common: the United States government is a customer.   That means these abuses take place with the support of our tax dollars and are carried out in our names.  It also means the Obama administration “flouts its own advice” to private sector companies to use their purchasing power to improve working conditions in overseas garment factories.
Because the U.S. government is the world’s single largest buyer it could create a significant push for safe and decent working conditions in supplier factories across the globe by practicing what it preaches.  How would it do that?
- See more at: http://laborrightsblog.typepad.com/international_labor_right/2013/12/how-the-us-government-can-follow-its-own-advice-to-be-a-responsible-consumer.html#sthash.0sdkvVkR.dpuf

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