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Celebrate Faith, Work and Justice on Labor Day! August 23rd, 2011

Labor Day 2011 is quickly approaching!

Interfaith Worker Justice and many congregations around the country are preparing for their annual Labor in the Pulpits/on the Bimah/in the Minbar program. Since 1996, Labor in the Pulpits/on the Bimah/in the Minbar has been an intentional way for religious communities to celebrate the sacred link between faith, work, and justice over Labor Day weekend.

For Labor Day 2011, IWJ is focusing on two specific areas of worker justice: unemployment and state campaigns to secure workers’ rights. Whether through legislation, the media, or personal stories, these issues have been on the minds of many people this year. Labor Day weekend is an important time to lift up these issues and connect them to IWJ’s Faith Advocates for Jobs and Keeping Faith with America’s Workers, two campaigns that target unemployment and state-based workers’ rights, respectively.

Visit IWJ’s website to:

• Access resources;
• Get your congregation involved;

For more information, contact Ted Smukler at 773-728-8400 x. 39 or e-mail tsmukler@iwj.org

Thanks to Interfaith Worker Justice for this information.

Wal-Mart Promises to Toughen Environmental and Labor Standards November 3rd, 2008

In their first Sustainability Conference held in Beijing, China, Wal-Mart announced that it will require manufacturers supplying goods for its stores to adhere to stricter ethical and environmental standards.

This move follows years of pressure by advocacy groups like the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) Wal-Mart campaign, in which the Oblates are engaged.

Learn more…

Africa’s Garment Sector: Making Suppliers Accountable January 22nd, 2008

The demand for cheap production and quicker delivery of “brand” products to US markets is a well known strategy that multinational corporations impose on garments factories in Sub Saharan Africa. The pressure to produce cheaply and quickly is usually laid on factory workers who are forced to work at a faster rate under poor workplace health and safety conditions.

Speaking at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington DC, African labor organizers from Lesotho, Kenya and South Africa told the audience about hardships that garment workers endure to produce brand-name merchandize for U.S. customers at Gap Inc, Levi Strauss, Calvin Klein, and Jeanswear. Kids “R” Us, K-Mart, J.C. Penny and Wal-Mart have all also bought garments from Sub Saharan Africa.

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