Tag Archives: slave labor

Is your Christmas list supporting modern slavery? The dilemma of shopping ethically this festive season

With Christmas coming soon and last-minute shopping underway, it is worth questioning the origin of some of our favourite holiday and gift items. It is highly likely that some of the gifts under your tree – including clothing, chocolate and mobile phones – will have been made by children working in exploitative or hazardous conditions of modern slavery.

It is difficult to tell what items from which businesses might be affected. This is because child exploitation usually takes place a long way down the supply chain (for example, in the cobalt mine or cocoa farm) and, unless brought to light through an investigation or exposé, is largely invisible. Continue reading →

‘Dangerous Precedent’: US High Court Sides With Corporate Giants Nestle and Cargill in Child Slavery Case

A lawyer for six men who alleged they were victims of human trafficking said the corporations “should be held accountable for abetting a system of child slavery.”

By Julia Conley, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 6-17-2021

Neal Katyal speaking at the National Constitution Center’s 2012 Peter Jennings Project moot court. Photo: National Constitution Center/flickr/CC

Human rights advocates Thursday denounced a Supreme Court decision in favor of the U.S. corporate giants Nestlé USA and Cargill, which were sued more than a decade ago by six men who say the two companies were complicit in child trafficking and profited when the men were enslaved on cocoa farms as children.

The Supreme Court ruled 8-1 against the plaintiffs, saying they had not proven the companies’ activities in the U.S. were sufficiently tied to the alleged child trafficking. The companies had argued that they could not be sued in the U.S. for activities that took place in West Africa. Continue reading →

The Real Reason Nestle Is Finally Admitting to Slave Labor in Its Supply Chain

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By Claire Bernish. Published 2-1-2016 by The Anti-Media

Nestle headquarters. Photo: Nestlé [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Nestle’s apparent hypocrisy has once again made headlines. After admitting in November it had discovered slave labor among its seafood suppliers in Thailand — where migrant workers from Cambodia and Myanmar were being sold as disposable commodities and forced to fish and process seafood under horrific conditions — it appeared the company was prepared to more thoroughly vet its supply chain to ensure fair labor practices were the norm.

“As we’ve said consistently, forced labor and human rights abuses have no place in our supply chain,” said Magdi Batato, vice president of operations for Nestle, in a statement, as reported by The Guardian. “Nestle believes that by working with suppliers we can make a positive difference to the sourcing of ingredients.” Continue reading →

Occupy World Writes

The Movement Continues – Globally

Tag Archives: slave labor