News
Verité News From our Vision Newsletter
Rethinking Responsibility in Our Supply Chain
Labor issues are complex and deeply entrenched in recruitment malpractices. Many migrant workers are forced to pay excessive recruitment fees that keep them in debt, effectively placing them in situations of forced labor and exploitive working conditions. Last...
What We’re Talking About in November
New Report on Slave Labor in the Built Environment Design for Freedom's new report urges professionals working in the built environment to examine where their building materials come from and who made them. The report includes an article by Shawn MacDonald, Verité's...
ATEST Calls for Catalytic Investment to Fight Human Trafficking in Recommendations to Biden Transition Team
The Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking (ATEST), a U.S.-based coalition that advocates for solutions to prevent and end all forms of human trafficking and forced labor, and of which Verité is a long-time member, recently released its Presidential Agenda for...
U.S. Department of Labor Releases 2020 List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor
Few reports have as much significance in the world of labor rights as the bi-annual U.S. Department of Labor’s List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor, the latest edition of which was released on September 30.
What We’re Talking About in October
U.S. Bans Imports from Malaysian Palm Oil Company FGV | 187 UN Member States Ratify Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor | Seafood Working Group Relaunches with New Advisory Body | Union Busting and Unfair Dismissals: Garment Workers During COVID-19 | Brazil Court Rules in Favor of Anti-Slavery “Dirty List”
What We’re Talking About in July
Why Saying “Black” With a Capital B Isn’t Enough | A Response to Verité’s Report Into the Challenges for Workers in the Coffee Industry Due to COVID-19 | US Government Issues Xinjiang Supply Chain Business Advisory | Amid Virus Crisis, U.S. Bars Imports of Malaysia’s Top Glove Over Labor Issues
Ethical Recruitment Remains Elusive in Global Supply Chains: Learnings From Verité’s Remote CUMULUS Forced Labor Screen™ Platform
Despite the growing awareness of, and commitments to, ethical recruitment, an analysis of CUMULUS data from early 2019 to the present reveals that less than five percent of employers fully absorb the true cost of cross border recruitment, including all recruitment fees and related costs. Instead, those costs continue to be passed on to foreign migrant workers.
Companies Called to Support Waste Pickers, a Global Essential Workforce at Risk
Workers who handle waste and recyclables support the health of our communities, economies, and the environment at the expense of their own health and wellbeing. On a daily basis, they may be exposed to hazardous materials, such as household cleaners, pesticides, and medical waste. The COVID-19 pandemic only heightens these health risks, particularly to informal waste pickers who collect the recyclable materials that we throw in the trash.
COVID-19 in the Coffee Sector: Challenges for Workers and Farmers
In many countries, including major producing nations such as Brazil and Colombia, workers in the coffee sector have been defined as essential workers who must continue to work during the COVID-19 pandemic. In recent weeks, Verité has been engaging stakeholders in The Cooperation On Fair, Free Equitable Employment (COFFEE) Project to learn about the impacts COVID-19 is having on coffee farmers and farmworkers and to explore potential actions that could mitigate the effects of the pandemic on them.
Case Study: African Migrants in the Strawberry Fields and Greenhouses of Spain during the Pandemic
Labor conditions in the strawberry fields of Andalusia, Spain are harsh for all workers regardless of their nationality: Salaries below the minimum wage, unpaid overtime, long working hours without breaks, and exposure to dangerous agrochemicals without protection are among the issues experienced by workers. The COVID-19 pandemic has increased these workers’ vulnerability to labor exploitation and creates even greater, possibly lethal, health risks.
Verité in the News
Read coverage of Verité’s work in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Guardian, The Associated Press, The Los Angeles Times, and more.
