DIGNITY AND JUSTICE FOR WORKERS WORLD WIDE_ILRF NEWSLETTER

May 2015 Contents:  >>  JOIN US ON JUNE 3RD! >>  REPORT-BACK FROM GLOBAL DAY OF ACTION: REMEMBERING RANA PLAZA >>  NEW FILM ON BANGLADESH GARMENT INDUSTRY: UDITA >> FACTORY FIRE KILLS AT LEAST 72 IN PHILIPPINES >> ILRF COMMENTS: PROTECTING HUMAN RIGHTS THROUGH GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT >> LIBERIA DECLARED EBOLA FREE! >> USLEAP SPRING NEWSLETTER & FELLOWSHIP OPPORTUNITY
Join Us on June 3rd! Please join ILRF on June 3rd at the National Education Association in Washington, D.C. for two events: 9:00am-2:00pm | Our 2015 conference Hasta La Victoria! Farm Worker Justice in Global Supply Chains will bring together farmworker organizers from the United States and abroad to discuss the challenges faced by agricultural workers. They will explore policy options and grassroots strategies to improve working conditions in the agricultural sector and extend workers’ access to remediation. 6:00-8:30pm | This year at our Annual Labor Rights Defenders Awards we are honoring Senator Sherrod Brown, the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, and the Tobacco and Allied Workers Union of Malawi for their commitment to advancing workers' rights and working to end forced and child labor.  Call for Volunteers! We are looking for volunteers to help staff our evening reception. If you're interested, please fill out this form.  Even if you can't make it to D.C., please consider making a contribution to help honor the awardees. All proceeds will go to ILRF to support our efforts to defend worker rights around the globe.
Report-Back from Global Day of Action: Remembering Rana Plaza On April 24, the second anniversary of the Rana Plaza building collapse in Bangladesh, ILRF joined with our partner organizations in Bangladesh, the Clean Clothes Campaign in Europe, Workers United-SEIU, United Students Against Sweatshops, and many other organizations and unions around the world to call for justice for Rana Plaza victims and workplace safety for garment workers in Bangladesh. At least 50 actions were held, including a demonstrations at the Rana Plaza site and actions at storefronts and malls. For photos from the actions, click here.  Just before the day of action, The Children's Place made a significant payment to the Rana Plaza Trust Fund, bringing the company's total contribution to $2.5 million, and encouraged other brands to contribute additional funds. ILRF ended our Children's Place campaign and thanked them for making what is now the third largest contribution to the fund after Primark and Loblaws. We are now continuing to call on JC Penney - which hasn't contributed a single penny - to pay in, and we're urging companies like Mango, Walmart and Zara to increase their contributions. Take action here to urge these companies to pay the $2.7 million still needed to complete the $30 million fund.  During the second anniversary week, ILRF hosted a delegation of human rights and civic leaders in Bangladesh. Click here for a report from the delegation.
New Film on Bangladesh Garment Industry: UDITA Trailer | Full-length feature film Udita means "rising up," and that's what increasing numbers of garment workers are doing, against all odds. Subtitled, "Life, death, oppression and resistance - 5 years with the women of Bangladesh's sweatshops and their fight for a better life," the new documentary produced by Rainbow Collective and Openvizor follows a turbulent time in the lives of women at the grassroots of the garment workers struggle. 'UDITA' weaves together characters from acclaimed documentaries, 'The Machinists' [2010] and 'Tears in the Fabric' [2014] with new faces and scenes, filmed in 2015 with the women at the font line of the struggle.  Please consider screening the film in your community! For more information,contact the Rainbow Collective.
Factory Fire Kills at Least 72 in Philippines Our thoughts are with the workers and families affected by the May 13 factory fire at Kentex, a footwear manufacturer in the Philippines. 72 bodies were uncovered from the factory, and another 20 workers are still missing in the largest factory fire to hit the Philippines. According to a fact-finding team, the fire resulted from glaring violations of occupational health and safety standards.Filipino human rights groups and labor organizations are calling for holding accountable the government agencies that gave the company a compliance certification; imposition of criminal and administrative penalties on the factory owner; fair compensation for the families of victims, proper benefits for the survivors who lost their jobs, and long-term support for orphaned children; and the immediate passage of an occupational health and safety law.
ILRF Comments: Protecting Human Rights through Government Procurement No other consumer in the world has greater influence on human rights worldwide than the US Government. Yet, federal procurement policy is like a human rights sieve with gaping holes. It still allows US government agencies and entities to purchase goods made in deathtrap factories in Bangladesh or in other factories that do not comply with internationally-recognized human rights without investigating risk to workers or seeking remedy for workers who have been harmed. ILRF proposes five steps the US Government should take to exercise its duty to protect workers’ human rights through procurement.
Liberia Declared Ebola-Free! Just over a week ago, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that the Ebola outbreak that had killed around 4,700 people in Liberia was finally over. Liberia had not reported any new cases of Ebola in 42 days. ILRF helped raise more than $4,000 in individual donations from supporters help our partner, the Firestone Agricultural Workers Union of Liberia, protect members against the epidemic. We received a message last week from FAWUL vice-president Edwin Cisco, who thanked us all for our part in helping them battle this deadly disease, "The support from ILRF was also pivotal to securing the Ebola-free status for Liberia by WHO. We therefore express our profound gratitude and thanks for this laudable undertaking by the ILRF family." And we thank all of YOU who helped make this possible!
USLEAP@ILRF Spring Newsletter & Fellowship Opportunity Read about our plans to file our first FTA complaint and our other reflections on worker rights in Latin-America, Fast Track, and TPP in our USLEAP program's spring newsletter. We are currently seeking applicants for the Stephen Coats Memorial Fellowship, a one-year position to promote workers’ rights in Latin America and build transnational support for worker organizers in the region. The application deadline is June 8.

The TRUTH will set you FREE.