>>12250584 'Soreloser': Walmart bashes U.S. senator challenging election, then hits panic button

I wonder if the Senate is investigating multi nationals that are using slave labor, and this was a warning shot?

Walmart and other multi nationals have been using slave labor since at least the 1990s. Look at the date of the article from Huff post when they cared a little bit about the truth.

Corporations Working Hard to Keep Chinese Slave Labor

Jonathan Tasini

10/13/2006 02:42 PM ET

Updated May 25, 2011

For a long time, I have argued that our problem with China is not really the difference in currency values nor, on its face, the trade deficit. At heart, the real issue is the truly abysmal working conditions faced by millions of Chinese workers—working conditions that are the reason corporations love China and love moving production overseas. And, now, I see corporations agree. Many of the largest corporations—many of whom contribute significant amounts of money to the Republican and Democratic parties and their candidates—are doing everything possible to keep their slave wage heaven in China. Check it out: this is one of the most important economic issues facing our country.

Since the spring, there has been a debate within China—ignored by the mainstream media in the U.S. and much of the world—about a new labor law in China. I want to say, upfront, that one has to view labor laws in China with a bit of skepticism since we are still talking about laws overseen by an authoritarian regime that carefully calibrates what is permissible or not.

Having said that, as The New York Times reports today, “China is planning to adopt a new law that seeks to crack down on sweatshops and protect workers’ rights by giving labor unions real power for the first time since it introduced market forces in the 1980’s.”

This is fairly extraordinary, as is the response of multinational corporations: “The move, which underscores the government’s growing concern about the widening income gap and threats of social unrest, is setting off a battle with American and other foreign corporations that have lobbied against it by hinting that they may build fewer factories here.”

Part of what is motivating the consideration of the new labor law is, as the Times reports, a concern for the stability of Chinese society. Virtually every day in China, there are work actions, protests and strikes over the conditions faced by millions of workers in the rapidly expanding urban areas. The government fears that the widespread unrest could threaten its rule.

Up until now, China did its bidding for U.S. corporations. As the AFL-CIO’s petition to the U.S. Trade Representative pointed out, China artificially suppresses wages by anywhere from 47 to 85 percent of what they should be. In the Chinese labor system, people work twelve-to eighteen-hour days with no days of rest, earning meager wages, in factories full of chemical toxins and hazardous machines, and suffer sickness and death at the highest rates in world history. I have always viewed, as I said, a change in the Chinese currency—what some people in Congress have been ranting about—as having little meaning as long as an authoritarian regime artificially suppresses the market for wages by ruthlessly enforcing a system that controls where people can work, and imprisons and tortures people who attempt to organize real unions or strike. That labor system—not the currency difference—is the reason, for example, that Wal-Mart saves 10-20 percent on its global procurement, according to the Harvard Business School.

But, this new labor code may begin to force wages up.

Which is driving corporations up the wall. Today, Global Labor Strategies is releasing a startling report. The report reveals that: “US-based global corporations like Wal-Mart, Google, UPS, Microsoft, Nike, AT&T, and Intel, acting through US business organizations like the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai and the US-China Business Council, are actively lobbying against the new legislation. They are also threatening that foreign corporations will withdraw from China if it is passed.”

The opposition to the labor code—a code that would require that labor contract contain wages rates, basic terms of employment and the duration of employment, hardly radically requests—is being lead by: “…three major organizations representing foreign corporations operating in China:

• The American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai represents over 1,300 corporations, including 150 Fortune 500 companies.

• The US-China Business Council represents 250 US companies doing business across all sectors in China.

• The European Union Chamber of Commerce in China represents more than 860 members

https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_31642

>>12250584 'Soreloser': Walmart bashes U.S. senator challenging election, then hits panic button

POTUS has known about the slave labor in China for a long time, one other reason he wants to cut off the financial relationship. This article makes me wonder why the savior “O” never worked on this (not really)

Made In China — But Was It Made In A Prison?

March 29, 20145:37 AM ET

An Oregon woman was looking at her Halloween decoration last year when she found a letter written by an inmate from one of China's re-education-through-labor camps. The letter spoke of brutal forced labor in the camp.

It was the latest in a series of incidents dating back to at least to the 1990s in which Chinese prisoners in such camps smuggled out letters in products assembled for export to the U.S.

Early last year, China said it was abolishing these camps, as NPR's Frank Langfitt reported.

And though the U.S. maintains a list of goods made by forced labor in China, including electronics, shoes and clothes, these products still find their way into the U.S. — and American homes.

The U.S. government is trying to address the problem, says Ken Kennedy, the director of the forced labor program under the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Progress, however, has been limited. Still, there have been successes: In 1992, a U.S. company paid a $75,000 fine for knowingly importing machine presses that were made in a Chinese labor camp. In 2001, a Chinese manufacturer pleaded guilty to producing metal clips with forced prison labor and paid a $50,000 fine.

Article continues after sponsor message

Products produced by prison labor in China are on display at the Laogai Museum in Washington, D.C.

Shujie Leng/NPR

Resistance From China

• The U.S. has tried to ensure that China abides by its own laws that ban the export of products made by prison labor. But proving the origins of such products is difficult and requires the cooperation of the Chinese government.

• Labor camps usually have a sister factory with a different name located in the same place — and it's unclear how many camps or factories there are. In some cases, products produced inside the prison are labeled with the name of the factory, making it difficult for U.S. officials to start investigations.

• If a product is suspected of being made by prison labor, ICE sends information to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, which in turn sends a request to the Chinese government to visit the camps. ICE's Kennedy says Chinese officials are supposed to reply to their requests within 60 days, but it takes at least five years, usually 10, for any feedback or permission for a visit.

• According to the data last updated by Laogai Research Foundation, a human rights nonprofit, U.S. officials have made around 20 visits since 1992. Kennedy notes that when U.S. officials do visit, the camps sometimes no longer exist.

• China's decision to end its re-education-through-labor camps doesn't make investigations easier. Camps can be renamed and continue producing goods.

• "The main limitation is the Chinese government," Kennedy says. "Without being able to visit the location and getting the approval one way or the other, we are basically hamstrung in our investigation."

• Besides, these camps are just one part of China's incarceration system, and they're not the only sites suspected of continuing to make products for export.

• U.S. Loophole

• U.S. laws also leave room for this type of trade.

•The U.S. Tariff Act of 1930 prohibits the inflow of goods made with any types of forced labor, but it has a "consumptive demand"exception, which allows goods, even made by prisoners, to be imported if they are short in supply in the U.S. Efforts to plug this loophole have failed.

• Last March, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., now the U.S. ambassador to China, introduced a bill to close the exemption. It died in the Senate Finance Committee.

• A separate 2005 law to protect trafficking victims is the only legislation that directly combats forced labor products. It requires the Department of Labor to publish an annual list of products produced by forced labor. The current list has 35 products made by forced labor from 26 countries.

• But ICE's Kennedy said the 2005 law is focused on prosecuting those who force people into labor.

• "They are not interested in the commodities that the person was forced to produce," he said.

• Push Back From Businesses

•

• "The reality is that the corporate[s] complains a lot, but they [can] just impose the standard down the supply chain," he said. "It sounds like a huge imposition. I'm not convinced in reality it is."

• And, he adds, there seems to be less interest from the U.S. government to fight the issue.

https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2014/03/28/295715854/made-in-china-but-was-it-made-in-a-prison

>>12251636

Here are five companies that are using slave labor to make their products TODAY, and where you should shop instead.

Nestle

Nestle is one of the largest companies that has consistently carried out human rights violations all over the world. Not only did they illegally take water from California during the drought in 2015, but in the 1970sthey got third-world mothers to use infant formula by selling it at reduced prices, and then when the mothers could no longer breastfeed, they raised the price of formula so much that many children were malnourished and starving. Their most recent problems revolve around slavery in the cocoa industry. In 2009 several former child slaves sued Nestle because they were trafficked and forced to work on Nestle farms in Cote d'Ivoire. They claimed that 70% of Nestle farms were not trained on the prohibition of forced labor.

Nike

Nike has REALLY cleaned up their act in the last several years, but with a standard of no slave labor, they still have quite a way to go. In 1992, activist Jeff Ballinger published an exposé in "Harpers" that revealed the story of a child in Indonesia working in disgusting conditions, and for a mere 14 cents per hour (far below the minimum wage in Indonesia at the time).

Since then, Nike has begun to report supply chain information. The most recent report claims that, in 2016, only 86% of their factories were up to the minimum standards they set. Though they give a good indication of how far the company has come, these standards are set by Nike and assessed internally, making it difficult to compare standards to a universal one.

Starbucks

Starbucks claims a mission for ethical sourcing, meaning their company policy requires them to abide by a standard of "ethical sourcing" that they have created. They only have two Fair-Trade coffees available for purchase. After the development charity Oxfam reported that Starbucks was depriving Ethiopian coffee growers of $90 million every year. Whether or not these standards are viable, they are not Fair Trade Certified at this time. The U.S. Department of Labor has a list of locations and goods that use forced and child labor. Starbucks lists coffees from countries such as Guatamala, Kenya, Costa Rica and Panama; however, none of these single-sourced coffees are certified by them as “Fair Trade.” Rather, they are all regions that are known to use child labor.

H&M

A 2016 report stated that as of December 31, 2015, 31 out of 72 H&M suppliers were using illegal contracts. In other words, these contracts allowed for wrongful termination. Now I know what you are thinking: the current system of hiring/firing in the U.S. is full of problems, and it takes way too much work to fire a bad employee in most cases. Well, the situation in countries like Cambodia and India are a little different. Often times, employees of H&M will be forced to work for excessive overtime hours—far beyond the legal limit—with no increase in their weekly take home pay. They are also often working in sweatshop conditions, with no breaks and unsanitary environments. Moreover, the contracts allow the factory to fire a worker for refusing to work these long hours. In fact, a garment worker in Cambodia stated: "We often get sick around once a month. We don’t eat enough and work too much trying to maximize the piece rate. Also, we don’t stop to go to the bathroom. We often work through lunch breaks or go back into work early, so there is hardly any time to rest."

Walmart

Well, this one is probably the least suprising yet. According to a 2016 report by the Wage Alliance on Walmart's value chain, Walmart refused to sign the 2013 Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh that 200 companies signed following the collapse of Rana Plaza. It also stated that all 14 factories in Cambodia were studied, and they all violated local overtime laws consistently, with some forcing 14 hour work days without overtime pay "in sweltering heat, without adequate supply of clean drinking water or any breaks." These same conditions were expressed by workers in factories in India, Indonesia, and Bangladesh.

https://www.theodysseyonline.com/5-companies-using-slave-labor