This is an excerpt of the AFL-CIO Solidarity Center's Human Trafficking Thrives Under Worker Exploitation. 

Human trafficking thrives in an environment of worker exploitation and engenders forced labor, debt bondage and other egregious labor abuse. The most effective way to address this scourge, says Neha Misra, Solidarity Center senior specialist on migration and human trafficking, is by empowering workers to have a voice in their workplace and supporting their right to organize and join unions.  

As President Obama meets today with Mexican President-elect Enrique Peña Nieto, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka is calling for improved rights for Mexico's working families. In recent months, Mexican workers have faced a series of challenges to their basic rights.

A deadly fire in a Bangladesh garment factory that killed at least 112 workers has been linked to Walmart. Photos from the scene of the fire show Faded Glory-brand clothing, an exclusive Walmart label it sells in stores. Walmart said in a statement the Tazreen Fashions Ltd. factory was no longer authorized to produce merchandise for them at the time of the fire, but that a supplier subcontracted work to it "in direct violation of our policies." The biggest retailer in the United States said they have terminated their relationship with the supplier. 

This is an excerpt from the AFL-CIO Solidarity Center's "Unions Mark No to Violence Against Women Day."

At a Turkish-owned textile plant in the Democratic Republic of Georgia a few years ago, female employers were repeatedly forced to remain on the job without pay for hours a day. When they ultimately demanded to be released, the factory manager responded by yelling and throwing a heavy load of unfinished dresses at one woman. The blow knocked her unconscious. The factory manager returned to Turkey to avoid prosecution—but likely would not have faced charges even if he had stayed, says Bob Fielding, Solidarity Center country program director in Georgia, who described the incident.

Celeste Drake, trade policy specialist for the AFL-CIO, sends us this. 

It’s been more than seven months since the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (Columbia FTA) went into effect, and many U.S. workers are wondering exactly how the agreement is benefiting workers in either country. Unfortunately, there are no easy answers. For America’s workers, the U.S. trade deficit with Colombia is on track to exceed last year’s deficit—never good news for job creation or wage growth. Meanwhile, Colombian workers still face momentous obstacles when trying to exercise even the most basic of workplace rights, including the right to organize unions and act collectively for better working conditions. 

Celeste Drake, trade policy specialist for the AFL-CIO, sends us this. 

On Wednesday, Nov. 14, in Mexico City, Mexico, the PRD group of the Mexican Senate, along with the Mexican labor federation UNT and the campesino federation CONORP, hosted a one-day summit looking at the social and economic impacts of theTrans-Pacific Partnership Free Trade Agreement (TPP or Trans-Pacific FTA). The summit was held at the same time as delegations from the 11 TPP countries (Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam and the United States) were meeting elsewhere in Mexico to negotiate the agreement. 

This is a cross-post from the AFL-CIO Solidarity Center, by Tula Connell.

Nicaragua this week became the third country to ratify the International Labor Organization (ILO) convention on domestic workers. An ILO “convention” sets international labor standards, and the “Decent Work for Domestic Workers” convention addresses issues such as working conditions, wages, benefits and child labor while requiring nations to take measures making decent work a reality for domestic workers.

This is an excerpt from the AFL-CIO Solidarity Center's "INTERVIEW: Guatemalan Aluminum Workers Describe Abuse."

When Emeterio Nach suffered a shoulder injury at his job, he asked his supervisor at the Ternium aluminum processing plant in Villa Nueva, Guatemala, for time off to see his doctor. After the supervisor denied his request, Nach asked again. The supervisor continued to refuse, finally telling Nach he would be fired if he kept asking—and if he were sick, he'd be fired as well because the factory needed healthy workers.

This is an excerpt of "Domestic Workers Inspire the Global Movement for Rights" from Huffington Post, by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and Ai-jen Poo, director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance. 

Domestic workers around the world have been organizing for years to secure decent wages, benefits and recognition.

This past summer, domestic workers and their allies celebrated a major global victory after the Philippines joined Uruguay in becoming the second country to ratify International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention 189, Decent Work for Domestic Workers.

The convention addresses issues such as working conditions, wages, benefits and child labor and goes into effect one year after two countries approve it.

International Labor Organization (ILO) Director-General Guy Ryder says the world economic crisis has seriously affected teachers and students around the globe, causing teacher layoffs, cuts in funding, resulting in larger class sizes with fewer resources and reduced teacher salaries. In his World Teachers' Day message last week, Ryder said:

All this has resulted in a decline in the status of teachers. Sadly, it is a profession under siege.