Day Two for the CIW Modern-Day Slavery Museum on the National Mall!

museum4
photo by Fritz Myer

While we work on a report, check out these two great stories from Monday’s ceremony at the State Department:

From The Nation (also CBS News and Common Dreams), “Human Trafficking: Not Someone Else’s Problem,” 6/15/10:

“… Holding companies accountable was a theme not only voiced by CdeBaca but also Clinton—and not just the primary perpetrators of slavery but the corporations that use those companies in their supply chains. That concept has been the driving force behind CIW’s Campaign for Fair Food, demanding that companies take responsibility for the conditions of their supply chain in order to alleviate the poverty and powerlessness at the root of the agriculture industry. It is the central argument CIW has waged in successfully obtaining pay raises and enforceable code of conduct agreements from the four largest fast food companies in the world, the two largest food service companies, and the largest organic grocer. (Watch out Publix and other grocers, you’re next.)So when the Secretary spoke these words—”It is everyone’s responsibility. Businesses that knowingly profit or exhibit reckless disregard about their supply chains…all of us have to speak out and act forcefully”—you could almost feel the chills traveling up the spines of the hundreds of activists from all over the world who packed the room. Some broke into grins, cameras flashed…” read more

And from National Public Radio, “A First: US Included in Human Trafficking Report,” 6/15/10