Labor

Contractors to Boohoo, an ‘ultra fast fashion company,’ have been paying their largely immigrant workforce at sweatshops in Leicester, a city in central England, less than half the UK minimum wage of £8.17 per hour for employees over the age of 25. Read More

Rent the Runway, a high-end U.S. fashion rental business, is forcing their majority immigrant workforce to compromise their health during the coronavirus pandemic, say employees. The company, which ships most of its dresses from New Jersey, has stayed open by exploiting a loophole in the state’s emergency lockdown laws. Read More

Amazon’s relentless expansion around the world has met with serious headwinds in India and in Europe where the company’s aggressive online sales practices are being met with court challenges and government investigations. Read More

Google, the Silicon Valley search giant, has hired IRI consultants, a market research firm notorious for aggressive union busting, likely in response to multiple recent employee protests. In a disturbing move – possibly related - five employees involved in the protests, were recently fired for allegedly breaching data security policies. Read More

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) plans to hold a protest outside the offices of Nelson Peltz, board chair of Wendy’s fast food restaurants from March 15-18. The protest will highlight ongoing human rights abuses faced by the agricultural workers in Mexico who pick tomatoes for the chain. Read More

Drone, Inc. is a guide to the contractors and the technologies used in targeted killing by remotely piloted aircraft operated by the U.S. intelligence agencies and the U.S. military. Read More

"Bitter Grapes-Slavery in the Vineyards," a new television documentary made by Danish journalist Tom Heinemann, alleges that many South African wineries pay their workers less than the legal minimum wage; discourages them from unionizing; and exposes them to toxic pesticides. Top of the list is Robertson's Winery. Read More

Media attending the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro are being housed in apartments constructed by workers "in conditions analogous to slavery" by Cyrela, the largest real estate company in Brazil. The local community has also complained that the construction has ruined the water supply and destroyed forested areas. Read More

Shoes labeled "Made in Europe" are often assembled in poor East European countries for 'starvation wages' according to a new research report from the Change Your Shoes campaign. The companies whose labor practices were examined include Ara, Bata, Deichmann, Geox, Leder & Schuh AG, Lowa and Zara. Read More

IOI, the second largest producer of palm oil in Malaysia, has been kicked out of an industry group that certifies sustainability practices, for environmental and labor violations. As a result, dozens of companies, including the makers of Dove soap, M&M's and Kellogg's Corn Flakes, have stopped buying from IOI. Read More