A decade ago the shoe giant was slammed as a sweatshop operator. Today it's taking responsibility to heart. Will it work?

Posing as a fashion buyer, an Australian TV reporter gained entry to a Malaysian T-shirt factory, where foreign migrant workers told a grim tale. They had been forced to surrender their passports while their wages were being garnished to pay off hefty recruiting fees. Worse still, they were living in crowded, filthy rooms.

International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF) issued a report on ‘Child Labor’ in Uzbekistan. This report is based on information gathered by human rights defenders within Uzbekistan in September/October 2008. Contrary to the government of Uzbekistan’s assertions that it has banned forced child labor, recent information suggests it continues to compel children as young as 11 and 12 to pick cotton, closing schools and using other coercive measures to enforce compliance.

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With the Rotary Rose Sale last month and the holidays coming up soon, our community is likely to purchase thousands of dozens of roses this year. Careful consumer purchases can assure that the flower workers in Colombia will benefit as well.

The international flower industry has a history of labor exploitation and environmental degradation.

The Rotary Rose Sale committee took an important step by selling certified flowers, indicated by the statement on their poster that the “roses are grown in a socially and responsible way.” 

By Brittney Bain

Faith organizations and congregations around the country are promoting fair-trade chocolate for trick-or-treaters to raise consciousness about conditions and prices for cocoa farmers around the world.

"This is an example of how everybody has the ability to make some change," said Susan Burton, who works for the the United Methodist General Board of Church and Society in Washington...