Cornell's Global Labor Institute experts lead a discussion on how U.S. and EU approaches to forced labor regulations, including the EU's 2025 ban, impact global trade and labor practices.
As the Trump administration rewrites U.S. trade policy and 2025 European Union rules banning goods made with forced labor go into effect, many questions about trade’s global impact have arisen.
Some of what we buy worldwide is produced by an estimated 28 workers in forced-labor situations. New government leaders in Washington and Brussels will influence how forced labor is uncovered as well as how regulations to control it are developed, enforced, or even reversed.
Join Jason Judd of the Global Labor Institute (GLI) at Cornell’s ILR School and two global labor governance experts, Samira Rafaela and Kelly Fay Rodríguez, as they discuss different approaches being taken by the U.S. and European countries and how those differences could unfold for individuals, companies, and consumers.
K043025 - Stopping Forced Labor
Chris Wofford: [00:00:00] On today's episode of Cornell Keynotes guest host Jason Judd, who is from Cornell's Global Labor Institute, dives deep into the global challenge of forced labor, and he's joined by two labor policy experts. That is Cornell visiting fellow Samira Raphaella and former US senior labor diplomat, Kelly Fay Rodriguez.
So together the three panelists discuss how two of the world's largest economies, that is the European Union and the United States. Are tackling worker exploitation in global supply chains. In this discussion, Jason Samira and Kelly are examining the state of labor rights enforcement. They're looking at EU regulations and spend some time unpacking some big US policy shifts.
So you'll hear how these approaches differ, what's actually working, and what real impact these policies are having on workers all over the world. So be sure to check out the episode notes, if you're interested, for links to resources on forced labor regulations and related eCornell online courses on global [00:01:00] labor policy.
And now here is Jason Judd's. Discussion with Samira Rafaela and Kelly Faye Rodriguez.
Jason Judd: I thought we'd start with a definition of forced labor.
I think not everyone in the audience has this definition in mind. And I'm gonna, I'm gonna share the ILO, the UN labor agency's definition of forced labor. It's nearly, uh, a hundred years old now. The ILO says that forced or compulsory labor means any work or service extracted from any person under the menace of penalty, and for which the said person has not offered him or herself voluntarily. the language is a little old fashioned but what it means is forced labor has two elements, sometimes known as modern slavery. it's involuntariness and an element of coercion. And where you've got both of those elements, you have a worker who's in a possible forced labor situation.
[00:02:00] the ILO adds up as best it can the total number of workers, men and women and children around the world who are in forced labor situations. Their most recent estimate is that almost 28 million people are in forced labor situations. And we find them everywhere. We find them in wealthy countries, we find them in developing countries.
We find them in all sorts of sectors in manufacturing, in mining, in farming, in services, uh, tourism, for example. I thought, just before we ask Kelly to describe what forced labor looks like in global supply chains in global production, I'd offer one example to ground us.
I worked for years in Bangkok at the ILO where we were combating forced labor in the commercial fishing industry. The Thai commercial fishing industry employs workers migrant workers from Cambodia and Myanmar and workers [00:03:00] are sometimes deceived in order to get them on board vessels.
They are tricked about what sort of work they're doing or what the pay might be. And then once they're in that situation, that's an element of, of involuntariness. Then, their wages might be withheld for six months or even a year at a time. And that's our element of coercion.
So you take these two elements, involuntariness through deception and coercion through the withholding of pay. And that worker. Those workers in the Thai fishing industry are in a, a forced labor situation. So that's just one example. And I thought as we go along, we'd offer other examples, but start with Kelly giving us a feel for what forced labor looks like in global production.
Kelly Fay Rodriguez: Sure. Thanks so much Jason. Really, really excited to be able to talk with you and Samira, of course, about this really important issue and certainly one for the global labor movement, but really also one that affects our economy. That of [00:04:00] course touches on human rights and really touches on the world.
Because the products that we buy are made of under labor conditions, when they're made by forced labor, we all care about how it impacts us. So thinking about production and the way forced labor shows up in global, in the global economy, I think it's, I'd like to just reiterate Jason's point about, uh, 28 million people.
Including children that are subjected to forced labor. Now, the, that stat, um, the ILO does rigorous studies to try to estimate, but it is very difficult to capture that kind of information. and what they've been able with, what they've been able to, track 63% is in the private economies. So it's there's state and forced labor.
There's also private sector, forced labor. There are approximately $236 billion in profits earned based on forced labor in supply chains. And, and I think another fact that's important to think [00:05:00] about is there are specific categories of people who are highly vulnerable and targeted at higher rates to be subjected to forced labor migrants, for example.
They're three times more likely to be subjected to forced labor than non-migrants. And as Jason pointed out, it's not just in the global south, right? Like we see it here in the us, we see it in Europe, we see it in developed and developing countries alike. in the US we've seen cases, horrific cases of human trafficking, domestic workers being subjected, migrant workers of course.
And, uh, one case that a lot of folks in the US might. Be aware of. Um, our former Secretary of Labor, Julie Sue, actually started her career on a forced labor case in Los Angeles. And it was garment workers who were being held by their employer, unable to leave the facility. and so the indicator of a restriction of movement, right?
documents being withheld, those are all common factors that we see. that was a case that Julie Sue worked on as a lawyer and was able [00:06:00] to get compensation for those workers and bring them some semblance of justice, right? And so for those of us in the labor advocacy space, um, we're always looking for tools to try to compensate victims and to try to deter these practices from happening.
But what we've seen in recent years, again, looking at the ILO numbers, there's been an increase in forced labor in recent years despite really robust efforts by governments and stakeholders to try to minimize or reduce or mitigate it. And we've also seen studies that are able to show that often company market practices will allow, in some cases, incentivize, precarious labor conditions, allowing forced labor, you know, enable forced labor to occur throughout supply chains.
lots of great studies on that and really has helped inform us as policy makers with trying to craft policies to address and mitigate those economic market practices. One thing we've also seen particularly evident where [00:07:00] there's been state enforced forced labor is that corporate social responsibility programs, auditing programs, Many of them are unable to detect forced labor. Part of it is how hard it is to be able to access workers and gather the information that you need about wages and labor conditions. Certainly difficult to do it in a workplace where the employer is present. so being able to speak to workers, gather information in a safe environment, in a confidential way where you can try to try to mitigate the retaliation that they could experience is something we certainly keep in mind as advocates.
Lastly, I would just say you'll see there's lots been lots of cases in the news just this last week. Uh, one case where we had been tracking, uh, labor conditions of coffee workers in Brazil, Afro-Brazilian coffee plantation workers. Uh, they recently brought a case, two cases, one a petition to our customs and border protection here in the [00:08:00] us and a lawsuit here against a company, uh, Starbucks actually for purchasing these products.
and those are, some of the cases where we see international solidarity efforts between labor advocates in the US and those abroad to try to, uh, reverse and end some of these practices.
Jason Judd: Thank you Kelly. We'll turn in a minute to the how US policy allows workers, to bring complaints and
win relief. But, um, Samiraa, first to you to talk about what, from your perspective forced labor looks like in global production as you were acting as Rapporteur on the forced labor regulation. What examples did you have in mind?
Samira Rafaela: Thank you, Jason. Yes. I've been active from the European perspective on the topic of forced labor.
So as the Rapporteur on the EU first labor by regulation. And, what has been very important for the European Union is to say. Promoting human rights is a priority, and showing that trade and the way we do business can [00:09:00] actually help for human rights. Uh, when we speak about the topic of forced labor, we speak about very serious violations of human rights.
And in the essence, this is about solving that issue and making sure that. People's fundamental rights are protected. So we have so many examples from different industries and sectors on how forced labor looks like. I think one of the most concrete and most famous examples is, of course, the situation of Uyghur people in China.
The Uyghur people being captured in camps and being forced into work. Um, and they are producing all kinds of products that we are making use of on a daily basis. Think for example, on solar panels, also think about the clothes that we are wearing. And, uh, it's being sold for a relatively low price.
And at the same time, these people do not earn anything. I mean, they don't have their freedom, uh, they can't move in freedom. And this is a situation that has really touched me also back then [00:10:00] as a lawmaker. So I had the opportunity to speak to people, to speak to family members. Um, of Uyghur people who work in these camps, and people who do not know where their family members are.
and at the same time, terrible testimonies about the working conditions and the extreme violations, uh, of Uyghur people. I think that is one of the most concrete examples that we now have, and it is very important that the European Union, but also other countries, are specifically going to target these kind of geographic areas where we also find these specific situation, element of state imposed forced labor.
But another good example is, for example, cotton. I mean, we all have it in our clothes. Uh, we all have it in the stuff that we use at home. also when it comes to the cotton industry in Turkmanistan, for example, this is a really extreme example. So where people are being forced into working, on cotton and uh, also child labor is.
A big issue here, a [00:11:00] big problem identified as such, uh, when it comes to the long working hours and people do not earn a lot, actually sometimes not at all. And also here, the role of the government is very serious. also here you see that the government is actually playing into that and it's actually not helping protecting fundamental rights of people.
So I'm giving two examples of countries, of regions, of people that are involved in, enforced labor and how we are basically globally also facilitating that by not demanding reform. And this is exactly where the, the new EU forced labor regulation needs to play a role. but where we also need to have a global approach to the global supply change, uh, as in making sure that we ban forced labor and exploitation from global supply change.
Jason Judd: Thank you, Samiraa. So Kelly, back to you. Could you talk a little bit about, tell us what are the elements of the US [00:12:00] government's policy, or at least in your time, at the State Department and the Biden administration. what were the key elements of the policy?
And, and tell us a little bit about where it came from, because over the last 10 years, attention to forced labor has grown enormously. I mean, 20 years ago it was not, it was relatively little known. So tell us sort of where did it come from and, and what are the, what are the important pieces of it in US policy?
Kelly Fay Rodriguez: Sure. So under the Biden administration, we really had an unprecedented whole of government approach to addressing forced labor, to utilizing the laws available to try to end it, uh, to report the cases where we found it. and. We relied on various agencies. State Department had a role, of course, we had our ambassador for trafficking to combat human trafficking and her office.
and they did a lot of documentation reporting, annual reporting on, those efforts. Um, my office, international Labor Affairs Office did a range of work to promote labor rights. And it of [00:13:00] course included forced labor efforts. Um, we work closely with the US Trade Representative's office and their labor team on enforcing trade related forced labor policies.
And of course, the US Department of Labor and their International Labor Affairs Bureau had a whole team de of experts dedicated to forced labor efforts also reporting and programming to try to end it, document and end it. so. What we've seen though in recent years is overwhelming bipartisan support from Congress for efforts to end child and forced labor.
and we had, uh, key pieces of legislation. The Tariff Act, section 3 0 7 prohibits the importation of goods made wholly or in part, uh, with forced labor. However, historically, there was a loophole that prevented it from being actually utilized. about 10 years ago maybe. Little less. Um, there was a legislative effort to close that loophole.
Senator Brown, Sharrod Brown's [00:14:00] office and ways and means folks were able to finally have that law be used and utilized to hold companies accountable. and the authority for implementing that legislation is Customs and Border Protection at DHS Department of Homeland Security. Um, and so there's an office there.
They've got, they've got a whole trade team, but they also have a spec specific team that focuses on the forced labor implementation piece. essentially blocking goods that are imported from abroad into the US when there is reasonable evidence suggesting that the, that it's been made with forced labor.
So since that time through the Obama administration and the first Trump term, the law had started to really be used more, I would say under the first Trump administration. It was used quite a bit and many goods were blocked. and the way it's done, it's called a withhold release order. Um, CBP issues, a withhold release order, and physically detains the products.
And the importer [00:15:00] has a certain amount of time, 30 or 45 days to try to show evidence that the product actually is not made with forced labor, otherwise it never will come in. Right. and right now, CBP has, I believe 51 active withhold release orders. and nine findings, and you can find this on their website, they have a map and they show where the products are coming from.
and what's I think, important to know about the enforcement piece is that they really rely on civil society, experts, academics, advocates, lawyers to be able to gather that information. As I mentioned at the outset, it's really difficult to be able to gather traditional documentation that shows that forced labor is occurring.
in part because workers themselves often are not aware, you know, that the horrible labor conditions they're facing would qualify under, you know, for forced labor and, and that they might be able to use that for their benefit to try [00:16:00] to get better conditions.
So it's really important the work that CBP and government does with civil society as well as businesses to try to enforce section 3 0 7. It's a really important rule. It's a, a really important law, again with bipartisan support, and there's been a lot of work done to share that with, uh, like-minded countries.
I know other countries have explored similar policies. the other important law is the Uyghur Force Labor Protection Act, which, uh, was passed in 2021, I believe. It's unprecedented in its enforcement piece because it require, it basically establishes that there's a rebuttable presumption that any product, well products under specific categories, but any of those products that come from the Xinjiang region in China,
or have inputs from that region are made with forced labor and will be blocked. In this case as well, importers are able to, uh, they have time to try to prove or [00:17:00] demonstrate that their products are, do not have inputs made with forced labor. but this law came about because of the overwhelming documentation, um, about the PRCS state and enforce practices, forced labor of Uyghur and other ethnic minorities in China and the, uh, state labor transfer systems that they've developed over the years, uh, to move Uyghur's from Xinjiang to other parts of the country, to factories, to agricultural production, a range of different, sectors and, and businesses.
So, there was such outrage over this government practice in China that the US government. Decided to take this effort, pass this legislation, and it also included resources for the interagency, for the US government to be able to enforce it. And so in the last, three years, there have been 15,000 detentions of products under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.
And those products add up to about $3.6 [00:18:00] billion in value. And so, it really changed the game in terms of business practices. It really forced companies to have to change their supply chains and be more rigorous and thorough in their efforts to avoid profiteering from forced labor in China.
But it's been, it's been a really important effort and we've , through that work, been able to engage other countries as well to try to adopt similar measures. the last thing I do wanna share is, in remediation, and this goes back to WROs and sort of the, uh, product or country specific blocking of goods outside of the Uyghur Force Labor Prevention Act.
So when there are withhold release orders, CBP is able to investigate, engage with, they engage with the companies throughout the supply chain, they engage with the governments where these practices are happening and they've been able to, in, in key places, get compensation to workers. and they've been able to, in the last about 10 years, get about [00:19:00] $62 million worth of compensation to workers based on using these laws. The tariff act, um, to be able to end forced labor practices and, really remediate egregious labor practices and supply chains and come out on the other side and have businesses, you know, flourish without subjecting their workers to these, these terrible conditions. So we've seen a real evolution in US policymaking and enforcement around forced labor.
We, we certainly have an enforcement focused approach because what we've seen in other places, um, and other efforts hasn't worked as well.
Jason Judd: Thank you Kelly. Um, I think before we're done, we'll come back to this question of how importers or companies, how their behavior is changing as a result of this, this sort of decade long or longer decades long effort to prevent forced labor made goods coming in.
And we'll talk too about how we think the, the new administration in Washington, the Trump people are approaching the problem. But first, let's go to [00:20:00] the other side of the water. Samiraa. Could you talk about what the approach has been in Brussels and how the forced labor regulation was designed and shaped up?
Because it differs from the, from the US approach and differs too, from other efforts, that were built largely around voluntary reporting by companies. Tell us how you put it together.
Samira Rafaela: Sure. I think it is, uh, important to start a little bit with historical context. So as many people might know we have also introduced the European Union, the so-called corporate sustainability due diligence directive, uh, also known as, uh, CS Triple D.
and. that is of course about new standards, about new rules because we would like to change the behavior and we would like to change the incentives for companies, uh, and making sure that they, uh, make use of ethical and responsible business conduct. So the CS Triple D was definitely an important momentum for also a group in the European Parliament, but also for the civil society [00:21:00] organizations to say, well, this is the time to introduce a specific instrument that will tackle the problem of forced labor.
And I was also part of that group in the European Parliament that was really in favor of having a separate instrument to specifically solve the issue of forced labor, because only doing that under the corporate sustainability due diligence directive, would I say is, is not enough. It's definitely a good start.
but we definitely need. Specific approach to focus on these human rights violations. And like I said in the beginning. This is definitely part of the European Union changing its own, own behavior when it comes to business conduct, when it comes to, uh, the behavior of businesses and how we do trade, and how we would like to do trade.
So we would like to prove that trade, trade agreements, economic relations can actually work for people. And it's also about being a credible partner, a partner that you can rely on. Not only in the economic sense, but also in a sense of [00:22:00] human rights, uh, and even climate change. So the forced labor regulation was introduced as a specific new instrument to deal with the issue of forced labor and exploitation.
And there was, I believe, a very good choice of the European Commission to come forward with that proposal. So it is a, a product-based approach. So yes, it targets specifically a product and it's a risk-based approach and I'll come to that. Um, but targeting a specific product, uh, so the whole product or a part of a product, uh, will make that, that companies will definitely, uh, need to think about their supply change and the kind of products that they would like to, uh, bring on the EU single market.
because if such investigation will be started, then the product will not be allowed. So this is about a product ban and, yes, in the beginning we got questions about it. So why is it only a product ban and, it lacks a, a workers centered approach. I also [00:23:00] come to that, but I think we shouldn't underestimate the impact , especially the financial impact. But indirectly also reputational risk where your product is not allowed on the EU market anymore because you're being confronted with forced labor in supply chain. What is also, I think, unique and good about forced labor regulation is that it goes throughout the whole supply chain. It's about the whole supply chain and what the forced labor regulation in the first place will do is it's pretty much reactive in the first place.
But an investigation can be started, it can be triggered. It can be triggered by complaints. So everyone, for example, every organization can file a complaint. but also the civil society organizations are very important in giving input. but it can also be based on decisions that have been made in the past or even research by the competent authorities.
Uh, and therefore an investigation can be started. But before I. [00:24:00] Go into that investigation phase, it is important to understand who can do that. So what we figured is that when forced labor happens within the European Union, then the member state will be responsible. We have 27 member states. but when the forced labor happens outside the European Union, then the European Commission will come in and they will be responsible for the investigation.
and that was interesting. So we have, uh, put the European Commission as a so-called 28th competent authority to also be part of enforcement and, uh, doing the investigation. And when an investigation is started. It goes through a very comprehensive but also sufficient phase. so first of all, there needs to be substantiated concerns.
So it needs to be evidence-based, it needs to be verifiable. And the discussion about evidentiary standards was imperative here, of course, because you do would like to have a good case, you don't want to end up [00:25:00] with an investigation and a decision, uh, that might have not been sufficient. Uh, also from a judicial perspective.
And in the so-called preliminary phase there will be like, no, not an investigation, but an analysis on surveys like trying to figure out what exactly is going on? So request, uh, for information will be put forward also to the company. And, it's the economic operator we call it in the forced labor regulation.
but just to make it more easy. So requested information will enter, and then information will be, will be asked about due diligence efforts, for example, but also remediation. and when the competent authority decides that there is a substantiate concern, the investigation, uh, will follow. So part of the investigation can be interviews, but even sometimes field inspections, that can be the case, but there needs to be a good file, and that is really the basis for the investigation.
Just to keep it a bit shorter, if forced [00:26:00] labor is being found throughout the investigation phase, of course the economic operator will be informed about it. And then a decision will be made, for example, to withdraw the, the product. So the product will not be allowed to enter the EU market.
That is basically the best scenario that you can get if you have successfully filed a case about forced labor. And when such situation needs to be addressed, a situation in which we find forced labor clearly. So. Investigation phase can actually confirm that something, uh, was going wrong and something bad was going wrong.
But what happens then, because you do want all these 27, uh, member states, uh, to act on it. And that is also the power and the leverage that we have here in Europe, here in the European Union. So what I always say about the first labor regulation is that the database is really, I'd say the heart of the EU forced labor regulation is the core pillar because the European Commission at [00:27:00] the moment is working very hard to build a database.
This is part of the risk based approach. So the database needs to identify geographic areas at risk of forced labor, but also state imposed forced labor, products and sectors at risk of forced labor, uh, that will be part of a, of a list. That information will be available in a database so everyone can consult that. Everyone can see it.
and this database is also for signaling the cases. Making sure that all the competent authorities and member states are informed about the decision that is being made about the product. we will not in the database, publicly accessible database, the names or the details about the economic operator or the company will not be mentioned or shared.
But yes, the product, the area the geographic area that will all be shared in the database. So the database is a really strong element to signal and to [00:28:00] inform people and stakeholders, and all relevant stakeholders about the decisions that are being made. And what is also, interesting about the first labor regulation is that it definitely emphasizes, reiterates the importance of international corporations.
So as part of the forced labor regulation, international cooperation will take place. so exchange with like-minded countries, of course the United States is a very important one to learn and to share best practices but also to speak about where information is coming from. And lastly, part of the EU first labor regulation is a so-called network that will be focused on exchanging best practices, but also when it comes to the topic of traceability. trying to focus on best practices, gather data on the cases that have happened, and to learn more about the approach to forced labor.
Jason Judd: Thank you, Samiraa. So the difference between these two approaches is coming into focus. Maybe to help the audience, you could each give us [00:29:00] an example or two of ways in which a good commodity or set of practices is targeted by US law. The Tariff Act that Kelly was describing with the Uyghur Forced Labor Protection Act and the new forced labor regulation in Europe. How do you expect it to work in cases that we see bubbling up?
So let's have from each of you a sort of example. Tell us how policy and each of your respective governance treats a good. I, I use sugar as an example. We have uh, we know of forced labor practices in the production of, of sugar from cane in India.
We have similar examples from the Dominican Republic. So maybe you first Samiraa. Could you talk about how the case of workers in sugar cane production in India would work its way through the new machinery that you've built in Brussels?
Samira Rafaela: Yes. I think it's important to give a little bit of context.
So what are we specifically talking about in India? So, as some of you might know, there is a [00:30:00] problem with female employees in the supply chain, in the sugar industry. A very extreme problem. So, female employees that go through forced hysterectomies, for example. So the problem of reproductive health is a problem because female employees are being put into situations where they really need to do damage to their bodies so that they can continue working in, the sugar cane industry.
But also when it comes to that bondage, um, very extreme and long hours and being exploited in general. So that is going on in the sugar industry in India. And it is very important to target the supply chains because famous brands, transnational brands, European brands, uh, US brands are implicated there.
One of the biggest we know, and it is interesting to see, and I think you see that from both approaches, but also here with the EU for slave regulation. Is that products that are made with such ingredients like, like sugar, [00:31:00] uh, or materials, they can be targeted. So when investigation is triggered, when a complaint will be put forward about a specific product, let's say this specific sugar, then this can definitely trigger an investigation.
And then the competent authority will need to look into that. So, my ideal situation would be that for the future, these cases are definitely being brought to the competent authority, to look into that because it can definitely incentivize these brands to reform the supply chains and make sure that they have good and responsible business conduct that they invest in the local communities, that they invest in this case, in the female employees, and making sure that the situation and the conditions that they work with are ethical and are responsible. So in a way, the forced labor regulation can definitely hold these brands accountable when, uh, such complaint will be received.
and like I said, the [00:32:00] strong thing about it is that the forced labor regulation can target like a whole product or part of that product. And I think in this specific case, it will mainly be about the products that are partly being made with that sugar. And I think that gives hope. And that's also the feedback that we get from the workers groups and people that we work with, Jason and speak with at the Global Labor Institute, that the EU forced labor regulation can really tap into that and target that.
Jason Judd: So when we talk about sugar, we're talking about lead firms or buyers in the US or Europe. Companies like Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Mondelez, Nestle.
Samira Rafaela: Yes.
Jason Judd: They're all buying sugar all around the world. So their obligation now under the forced labor regulation is to look out for instances of forced labor along their supply chain.
Kelly, how about an example from the D.R. Tell us how the, how the US government has treated this. We've, we've got 8, 9, 10 years of experience with it.
Kelly Fay Rodriguez: Yes. So, there has [00:33:00] been complaints and reports of forced labor of Haitian sugarcane cutters in the Dominican Republic for many years. particularly against Santa Romana, which was the major exporter of sugar from the Dominican Republic to the us.
Their sugar comes in through Domino in Maryland, I believe in Baltimore. And when I worked on the Hill in 2022, I joined a congressional delegation to go respond to some public reporting that had come out, uh, sort of ,reviving updating reports about wage issues, payment issues for these workers, housing concerns, lack of water and electricity.
And actually there had been a CAFTA-DR. The trade agreement that the US has with several Central American countries and the Dominican Republic. There had been a complaint filed back in 2011. And during, from 2011 until about 2020, 21, 22. The Department of Labor had been working with the Dominican government, had [00:34:00] programs to try to support, uh, strengthening inspection and trying to address issues in that sector in particular.
Um, well, in 2022, Washington Post came out with, or, I'm sorry, 2021 Washington Post came out with this investigative report revealing pretty egregious conditions for Haitian migrant workers in DR in Central Romana, fields. In bad days, which is where they live in, in the Dominican Republic, the areas where they live.
And shortly after CBP was issued a withhold release order blocking the importation of goods of sugar from Central Romana in the Dominican Republic. And this really galvanized advocates as well as the company and the government to engage in dialogue thoroughly, robustly about the conditions there.
You know, did they really meet the standard and what would be needed? the company took steps. I know there had that CBP and Department of [00:35:00] Labor engaged closely with them. I, during my last role, went to visit a year ago and met with advocates and with the company. and I think there was hope that there would be meaningful progress towards engaging some of the advocacy groups in the Dominican Republic that work with Haitian migrants. unfortunately we heard just last month that the Trump administration decided to end the block of goods. There's a New York Times piece about that worth sharing or checking out.
seems pretty consistent with some of the other steps this administration current administration has taken that don't follow the protocol we've traditionally followed around trying to review evidence and engage with stakeholders confidential, all, you know, take careful investigations to see what level of remediations have occurred. there are still reports that workers are, are facing threats and harassment. and that there could certainly be more done to protect [00:36:00] the rights of Haitian migrants in the Dominican Republic at this time.
so I think what's important to note about that case is, during the time the WRO was issued, it really did create space for advocates in the US and the Dominican Republic, including unions and, and labor rights advocates to engage honestly and try to, um, try to really get at the crux of the issue.
There is unfortunately discrimination that exists a long history of it and towards Haitian migrants in the Dominican Republic. And so that really makes it a challenging issue. And I know that there have been questions around like how do WROs like in the case of, of Central Romana and the Dominican Republic, um, how do they serve workers, with concrete benefits and outcomes and protection when they need it?
And I would like to contrast that example with another India case where there was a garment factory in Tamal Nadu [00:37:00] where workers, primarily women garment workers, had been facing, uh, systemic gender-based violence for many years. A tragic case of one woman worker who was killed by her supervisor also galvanized kind of global advocacy around that facility. and forced advocates, labor organizations and the company and brands to come together, so throughout the supply chain and come up with an agreement, a binding agreement, a protocol you could say for how they would remedy, address and prevent violations of labor, rights of workers, in this case, also gender-based violence that workplace. It's known as the Dindigual Agreement. Global Labor Justice, a US-based advocacy organization really played an important role in that agreement and achieving that agreement. And after the agreement came out, um, shortly after there was a WRO issued it had been, it had relied [00:38:00] on old information and there was questions about the updates.
But in the end, the WRO was modified within one month because. By that point, advocates civil society, and the companies as well as major American and European brands had already established a practice and a framework for engagement to try to address these issues. And in the end, the workers have a union, they have a structure for addressing problems, preventing violations, and then remediating them when they occur.
and there's just been really incredible benefits from the workers. I've had the benefit to hear directly from them. And you know, I think that is an example of where, organizing and creative advocacy from labor organizations and willingness to engage from private sector, can really can play an important role in an ending forced labor [00:39:00] practices and preventing them. and in strengthening our supply chains to have more resilient practices, sustainable practices, right, that respect human rights as well as labor rights. And so I like to contrast those examples of where we've been able to really achieve improved, uh, support workers with accessing dignified work, even in an environment where there is a series of societal challenges, whether it's conflict discrimination, religious differences that, that exist in many of our countries.
And I just, uh, I think it's a great model that we could certainly see more of in other places, binding agreements like that.
Jason Judd: Good examples, kelly. I've got one more question for our two guests it's sort of the big one.
There've been you know, in the last few months, European elections in the summer last year, and the elections here in the US in the fall have led to big changes in Brussels and Washington. So what do these new administrations, the new commission [00:40:00] in Europe and the Trump administration, uh, what will it mean for the use of the implementation of these these forced labor policies?
Are you hopeful? Are you waiting and seeing? Are you disappointed? Samira, why don't you go first then Kelly.
Samira Rafaela: Think it is very, um. It gives hope to see how hard, especially the European Commision at the moment, is working on preparing the forced labor regulations.
So, next year summer the database and the guidelines are expected. And then December, 2027, everyone, the member states and the European Commission will be ready to really work with the EU force labor regulations. So that's when it's, when the real work, will be done and when all the stakeholders can actually make use of the EU force labor regulations.
So, as far as I know that is ongoing work to prepare for that. Uh, of course there is a more general debate now going on in Brussels [00:41:00] on the so-called omnibus proposal. So that's specifically now targeting the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive. So, unfortunately we do not know how it's going to end up, but the CS Triple D was, I believe ambitious when it comes to original version.
but unfortunately that original version is being debated again even after official adoption of the CS triple D. And we will need to see now how far the due diligence will go. We will need to see now how we end up with civil liability, how we end up with the topic of Staples engagement on the CS Triple D.
So it is very important that we continue working, I'd say, on the EU for slave regulation and hopefully, uh, the timeline will, will stay in place. What I do want to tell also about the EU for slave regulation is that there is, there was an interesting debate about also the topic of remediation, and this is [00:42:00] why CS Triple D is so important because we also need to address the situation, but the situation also need to be repaired and needs to be fixed.
And remediation is a very important part, especially of the worker centered approach. So, what is also important, I'd say in, in light of now the omnibus debate, is that the EU Force labor regulation, uh, really continues because indirectly it will help workers on the ground in the first place.
It'll incentivize companies to, to change the supply, to reform the supply chains. and it will definitely look into the topic of remediation. So it will give guidelines about remediation to companies. And for the next evaluation for the EU forced labor regulation, it will be taken into account whether some kind of formal remedy mechanism can take place.
So given the statistics that we have, the 28 [00:43:00] million victims of forced labor and knowing what is happening on a daily basis, it is important that we continue working with the preparation of the CS Triple D and the EU forced labor regulation as well, especially because we have so many people that really deserve to be remediated and deserve to be in a better situation.
but it is, I'd say an interesting, but also in that sense, a worrisome debate in Brussels. because in light of mandatory reporting, the debate is now about how to lessen the administrative burden for companies. But I would also like to reiterate that companies just need to take their responsibilities to work with responsible business conduct.
And even though the administrative burden can be high on their CS Triple D in some situations, uh, the burden on people is also very high and the burden on our climate is also very high. So there's absolutely good reason [00:44:00] to continue in the way that we, that we started. But I'd say in light of the forced labor regulation, it is hopeful.
Jason Judd: Alright, good. And Kelly, what's going on in Washington?
Kelly Fay Rodriguez: So I think the case of Central Romana, uh, the modification last month is not a good signal and worrisome. but there's limited information on WROs um, and sort of the implementation strategy that will come out. given past practices under the earlier Trump administration, one would hope and bipartisan support for these, for forced labor issues, one would hope that there would be more WROs in the queue.
Um, we know how rampant forced labor is in our global supply chain, so we certainly know there's more to be done there. but that will remain to be seen. And I think the biggest, the most important factor from what we're seeing is the gutting of government staff and programs that are [00:45:00] dedicated to document and address and remedy, I mean, and work with companies to address and remedy and prevent forced labor in global supply chains. Right? Like the Department of Labor's, international Labor Affairs Bureau does, did a ton of work with private sector state department and my team did as well, US trade representative office.
So, you know, one would think that for a government that claims to want to support and defend American workers, they would want to make sure they don't have to compete with forced labor in global supply chains. But the signs aren't there, that they are actually interested in doing so. and the cuts of, you know, estimates up to $500 million in programming out of the Department of Labor's International Labor Affairs Bureau that was cut just a couple of weeks ago. The staff cuts that are ongoing there now, I mean, they had a team of 160, which at the [00:46:00] time really felt like we, we could have used more. but now those are being decimated.
Um, those staff who have spent years, um, and have a real specialized expertise in the data collection, in the tool development, right? Again, for businesses, for uh, legislators, for academics to be able to use, understand these policies and, and see how we address them. All of those folks are being decimated.
It's, it's a real tragedy and a shame. And you know, we saw that unfortunately earlier on in the State Department. Um, thankfully I believe the US Trade Representative's office is still intact, their labor team. And lastly, the elimination of USAID. Without the inter-agency capacity, frankly, I don't know how the government will be able to carry out Congressional mandates around reporting.
The forced Labor enforcement task force that had been established under the Weaker Force Labor Prevention Act, the capacity that fit into that inter-agency entity that was dedicated [00:47:00] to working on the US Mexico, Canada Trade Agreement and ensuring Mexico and Canada also collaborate with us on preventing forced labor.
all of those things are undermined by the actions we've seen over the last couple of months. So it's, um. A real disheartening time. And yet, hopeful that folks on the ground and advocates are resilient and going to find new ways to fight and push and try to, , try to raise standards for working people.
Chris Wofford: I want to thank you for listening to Cornell Keynotes. Please, if you're interested, check out the episode notes for more information on eco's online programs in international Labor relations and supply chain sustainability.
And for additional insights on global labor policy and worker rights, you should probably visit the Global Labor Institute at Cornell's ILR School website. Lots of resources there to learn more about this. So I want to thank you for listening, friends, and please subscribe to stay in touch.
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