Remembering Executive Director Stephen Coats, 1952-2013

Apr 3, 2013 -- It is with great sadness that we write that our beloved Executive Director of US LEAP, Stephen Coats, passed away the night of April 1 at the age of 61. The cause was a heart attack resulting from a blocked artery. In the words of Gail Lopez-Henríquez, Chair of the Executive Board of US LEAP, with Stephen's passing "the world community has lost a great human being." We cannot begin to describe the enormity of his contribution to social justice, and hence the enormity of losing him. ...

HONDURAS CAFTA LABOR COMPLAINT NOW A YEAR OLD

Mar 27, 2013 -- This week marks the first anniversary of the filing of a CAFTA labor complaint on Honduras on March 26, 2012. The complaint, submitted by two dozen Honduran unions and NGOs along with the AFL-CIO, documents the failure of the Honduran government to enforce its own labor laws, provid ...

Colombian Sugar Cane Workers Strike; Threat of Violence Real

Mar 12, 2013 -- March 22 Update. Take Action Now. Workers reported this week that plain clothes security guards, employed by the company, have boarded buses that carry workers to the plantation, and with guns in ...

On International Women's Day, Support Banana Workers in Honduras

Mar 8, 2013 -- Banana unions in Latin America have asked for support on International Women’s Day 2013 (March 8) for union workers at the Three Sisters (Tres Hermanas) plantations in Honduras. ...

Apparel Brands Urge Labor Reform in Peru

Mar 7, 2013 -- Six global apparel brands took the unusual and welcome step this week of publicly calling on a government to improve its labor laws. ...

Violence Against Trade Unionists Continues in Colombia

Mar 1, 2013 -- Recent attacks on a top union leader in Colombia as well as Afro-Colombians and other human rights defenders prompted the U.S. embassy in Bogota to issue a press statement today condemning the violence. ...

Join Days of Action for Worker Rights in Mexico, February 18-24!

Feb 6, 2013 -- North American unions and worker rights supporters are joining together to support worker rights in Mexico during the week-long international Days of Action from February 18-24. March Update: For a summary of events that took place during Global Days of Action, see the March issue of Mexi ...

New USLEAP Report on Colombia’s Compliance with Labor Plan

Feb 5, 2013 -- USLEAP has released a new report on the Colombian government’s 2012 compliance with a Labor Action Plan signed by both governments in April 2011. The report is a comparative assessment that integrates analyses from the U.S. ...

New Initiative and Campaign Target Adidas

Feb 4, 2013 -- In February, unions representing apparel workers in over a half-dozen different countries in Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East announced the formation of the International Union League for Brand Responsibility. The League is a new initiative that seeks to hold apparel brands fully accountable for working conditions and basic rights in their supply ...

World’s Leading Asparagus Company Violates Worker Rights, Says Peruvian Union

Jan 24, 2013 -- Careful what you eat: the world’s biggest exporter of asparagus, which proudly advertises itself as socially-responsible, has just fired workers who organized a union. CAMPOSOL is Peru’s most prominent agro-industry company, supplying markets in the U.S. and Europe with asparagus, avocados, mangoes, and other fruits and vegetables. ...

Colombia Gives the Military Jurisdiction Over Itself for Human Rights Violations

Dec 14, 2012 -- On December 11, a day after International Human Rights Day, the Colombian Congress approved a controversial measure that is expected to move jurisdiction over most human rights crimes (including murders of trade unionists) committed by military forces from civ ...