News
Verité News From our Vision Newsletter
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.
What We’re Talking About in June
Report of the Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children | New Resource Maps Supply Chains for Pandemic-Fighting Products | ITUC’s Global Rights Index for 2020 Has Been Released
Challenges and Recommendations for Workplaces Open during the Pandemic
While the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in large-scale lockdowns, many workers are still required to report to work in crowded workplaces with a lack of adequate protections against the virus.
Case Study: How Verité China Responded to the Changing Needs of Suppliers due to the COVID-19 Pandemic
In China, COVID-19 infections began to spread widely in Wuhan during the week-long Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday in late January 2020 when most of the frontline workers generally return to their hometowns for two to three weeks. To respond to this unexpected and...
COVID-19 and Vulnerability to Human Trafficking for Forced Labor
Verité has identified a number of factors that increase workers’ vulnerability to becoming victims of human trafficking, all of which will likely worsen during and after the COVID-19 crisis, including poverty, inequality, political instability, conflict, crime/violence, and tightening of restrictions on immigration.
Guiding Principles for Responsible Businesses During the COVID-19 Pandemic
As we at Verité take stock of COVID-19’s many implications for employers and supply chain actors, we particularly want to emphasize the importance of the high-level principles that companies should promote in their own operations and supply chains.
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.
