CSR News Stories
Kazakhstan: Philip Morris suppliers used child and forced labour
A new report by Human Rights Watch has said that tobacco bought by Philip Morris International from Kazakhstan included farms that used workers that had been coerced into labour, along with child labour.
China: Row over World Cup sweatshop accusations
Shanghai Fashion Plastic Products has protested after it had its contract withdrawn for work being carried out in relation to the 2010 football World Cup, to be held in South Africa. The company has denied accusations that it exploited workers making the mascot for the games.
India: Bangalore Metro caught in child labour controversy
The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation has acknowledged that child labour 'may' have been used on one of its sites, but blamed contractors and said that they, not BMRCL, should be held responsible.
India: Hundreds of child labour cases taken forward
Nearly 600 employers are being taken to court for breaking child labour laws in the state of Bihar, after nearly 1,500 incidences of child labour were uncovered during 2008.
India: Government to launch product label as guarantee over child labour
The Minister of State for Women and Children, Renuka Chowdhury, has said that there is to be a new product label which will be made available for products where it can be shown that no child labour has been involved in their manufacture.
Bangladesh: Primark and other UK retailers accused of suppliers paying 'starvation wages'
Primark, the cut price retailers recently voted as the 'least ethical high street retailer' was under fire again with protests around its AGM making claims of supplier's workers being paid as little as 7 UK pence per hour and denied union representation.
UK: Primark pulls from PR Week event following protest threats
Fashion retailer Primark has pulled a presentation it was due to make at a PR Week conference following news that campaigners were targeting the event for anti-Primark protests. The company had been intended to highlight how it had survived bad publicity when TV broadcasters highlighted child labour in its supply chain.
Wal-Mart to boycott cotton from Uzbekistan
Wal-Mart has said that it is asking its suppliers not to use cotton from Uzbekistan due to concerns over the use of child labour in its production.
Ghana: Hundreds of children rescued from cocoa child labour
As many as 360 children have been rescued from child labour in cocoa growing areas in Ghana after the government collaborated with Children's Rights International in a combined operation.
Uzbekistan: Child labour in cotton banned
Uzbekistan has responded to mounting pressure to ban child labour from its cotton fields. Uzbek Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyayev has signed a decree to bring the country's laws into line with international standards.
US: Kosher meat firm under fire following child labour violations
Agriprocessors, the largest US kosher meatpacker, may lose its certification for producing kosher food as criminal charges have been filed against it for more than 9,000 child labour violations.
Uzbekistan: Major retailers call for end of child labour in cotton
A coalition representing the US major retail and clothing companies has called on Uzbekistan president Islam Karimov to tackle the endemic presence of child labour in the country's production of cotton, saying that the current situation is 'totally unacceptable'.
UK: Primark cuts three suppliers following child labour claims
UK clothing retailer Primark has ended its contracts with three suppliers in India following allegations channelled through a BBC documentary that they used child labour to finish garments with embroidery and sequin work.
India: 160 children rescued from child labour
Police rescued 160 children from a train that was taking them to work as child labourers at a plant run by the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC).
Portugal: Inditex investigating reports of child labour
Spanish firm Industria de Diseno Textil SA has said it is investigating allegations made in Portugal's Expresso that one of its suppliers in northern Portugal has employed children as young as 10.
Child labour figures fall for the first time
According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the number of children working has gone down by 11 percent to 218 million. This is the first time the figures have declined, and the ILO hailed the news by suggesting that many types of child labour could be eradicated in a decade.
Lawsuits brought on child labour in chocolate
Three companies, Nestle, Archer Daniels Midland Co and Cargill Inc. are being sued under the US Alien Claims Tort Act over claims that they are involved in trafficking, torture and forced labour of children on Ivory Coast cocoa farms.
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