#forced-labour — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #forced-labour, aggregated by home.social.
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Slavery was abolished in 1807*
Slavery and forced labour is alive and well in Xinjiang. Major retailers complicit. Welcome to ‘cotton laundering’
August 2026
Many people believe that slavery ended sometime in the 19th Century and many – certainly older people reading this – think that Britain led the way. Slavery continued for many years afterwards. The reality is that slavery is alive and well and that you are wearing the products of this vile system while sat reading this. You may feel that you have purchased your cotton garments from a respectable high street retailer so this surely cannot be the case. If you watch the video in the RTE programme [link below], they will explain how retailers such as M&S who feature strongly in the film, are evading controls with vague labelling.
The story of cotton
Around 80% of cotton production in China comes from Xinjiang, using forced labour from the Uyghur which represents 20% of the global cotton production. Following an uproar and call to action in 2020 that called on numerous fashion brands (such as Nike, Adidas, Zara, H&M, Amazon, etc) to sever ties with Uyghur forced labour, many of these brands decided apparently to stop sourcing cotton from Xinjiang. If we were to ask these brands today about their commitment to Uyghur rights, they would answer that Uyghur forced labour has been cut from their supply chain. (Photo is one of the major companies involved in China).
However, the reality is not that simple. Cotton production has not reduced in the region since 2020; instead, Chinese manufacturers have resorted to “cotton laundering”. Once the cotton has been transformed into yarn or fabric, the cotton enters the supply chain through third countries such as Bangladesh or Vietnam. This results in cotton that is extremely difficult to trace.
Cotton laundering
Some brands may claim that having the label ‘Better Cotton’ to claim that their supply chains are ethical. However as investigated by RTÉ, it appears that “the Better Cotton can be mixed or blended with what they call conventional cotton very early on in the supply chain, and that includes cotton from the Uyghur region“. The RTE film (5 mins) can be viewed here.
Although companies have acted on demands to stop using suppliers that rely on Uyghur forced labour, it can be easy to imagine that cotton harvested in Xinjiang finds its way to those factories through cotton laundering. That is why we are asking you today to write a question to a company that produces apparel which contains cotton to ask them what processes and safeguards are in place to ensure forced labour is not present in their supply chains.
Research published by Sheffield Hallam University shows in detail how the system works and contains much evidence. They say that previous research has provided significant evidence indicating that these programmes are indeed tantamount to forced labour, human trafficking, and modern slavery and that this system of repression is particularly deployed in the cotton and textile industries, which for China are centred in the Uyghur Region. Reports have shown that much of the region’s cotton is hand-picked by people who are forced to do so, that textile factories in the Uyghur Region employ forced labour, and that minority citizens of the region have been “transferred” thousands of miles into the interior of China to work in factories for major textile and apparel exporters.
The notion of slavery today is universally condemned. Britain was heavily involved in the trade for nearly two centuries transporting well over 3 million in the triangular trade. Many are often surprised to discover that the slave owners (not the slaves) were compensated and the debt was only paid off in 2015.
As we have noted before, although Xinjiang seems a long way off and few will have been there, the products of this obnoxious and cruel system are sitting on the clothing racks of our major high street retailers and hence in your wardrobes. Truly we are all involved.
[*Quite when slavery ended is difficult to be precise. Many ships simply reflagged to avoid patrols. Slavery persisted for decades in the Caribbean and America. Slaves were still transferred between countries. A separate act was later passed to end the practice in India. Freed slaves simply became indentured.]
Letter
This is a sample letter to a retailer or manufacturer to model yours on. It is likely you will receive a standard reply but it will register with the retailer that they are being watched and if not careful, they could receive reputational damage:
Dear xx,
I am writing to express my concern as to the possibility that your cotton products contain cotton produced in Xinjiang using Uyghur forced labour.
One tactic used by Chinese manufacturers to sell cotton produced by forced labour and internal displacement of Uyghur population is “cotton laundering”. These companies will transform cotton into yarn or fabric and then introduce them to global chains through third countries such as Bangladesh or Vietnam. As a result, the origin of the cotton is extremely difficult to trace.
In addition, the label “Better Cotton” does not prevent products from containing cotton produced through forced labour. The Better Cotton Initiative does not have a traceability protocol and enable mixed or blended cotton with ethically sourced material. Cotton from the Uyghur region may very well be present in those mixes or blends.
As a concerned consumer, I would like to ask you: what protocols and safeguards do you have in place to absolutely ensure that none of the cotton present in your garments is a result of Uyghur forced labour? How do you verify that the cotton used in your garment does not come from Xinjiang?
Thank you in advance for your reply.
Yours sincerely,We have drawn from material produced by RTE (Ireland), Sheffield Hallam University, Statista and from the Uyghur Solidarity Team with thanks.
- Slavery was abolished in 1807*
- Uyghur campaign progress
- Another vigil and is the mood changing in the US?
- Are American attitudes towards Israel changing?
- Latest Death Penalty Report
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Even more shocking, although not really a new problem specific to #MOLE Training;
"This article examines digital forced labour through a human rights lens, analysing its characteristics, legal implications, and regulatory challenges, with particular attention to vulnerable populations, including children."
#RohitaashvSinha, 2026
https://ksandk.com/labour-employment/digital-forced-labour-in-ai-legal/
Some of @pluralistic's fiction references labour organising against this .
#ChildLabour #DigitalForcedLabour #ForcedLabour #ModernSlavery
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Sydney’s sugar rush: how the colony’s most powerful profited from Australia’s slave trade
By Paul DaleyAustralia likes to think its history is untainted by slavery but a new book traces how a who’s who in the NSW capital profited from the capture and sale of ‘blackbirded’ Pacific Islanders
#Sydney #Slavery #IndigenousAustralians #Australianews #Race #Pacificislands #Vanuatu #Sugar #Colonialism #Queensland #Business #Australianbooks #Museums #Books #Shippingindustry #Forcedlabour #AsiaPacific #SouthPacific #TheGuardian #PaulDaley
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RE: https://kolektiva.social/@yenndc/116771940035278025
Webinar recording: «Decent work, forced labour, or everyday abuses—do definitions matter?»
https://gaatw.ca/item/decent-work-forced-labour-or-everyday-abuses-do-definitions-matter/
#GAATW #WebinarRecording #ForcedLabour #Exploitation #GAATWCanada #June2026
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Vulnerable workers bearing the cost of providing Australia with cheap food
"Across Australia's fruit and vegetable industry, Fair Work Ombudsman investigations have repeatedly uncovered widespread non-compliance...: systemic worker exploitation, forced labour, debt bondage and, in some cases, human trafficking and servitude."
"In Coffs Harbour, 61 per cent of growers and labour hire companies inspected were found to be breaching workplace laws, including underpaying workers. The figure rose to 72 per cent in the Riverina and 83 per cent in Victoria's Mornington Peninsula and Yarra Valley....Oz Group, a co-operative representing more than 140 berry growers across NSW's Mid North Coast, said in its 2020 statement it "does not accept any form of slavery-like practices within the co-operative or throughout its supply chain".However, in its 2025 statement, the co-operative said, "addressing modern slavery requires ongoing effort and collaboration" and it remained "committed to continuous improvement"." >>
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-04/australias-hidden-modern-slave-labour-workforce-exposed/106968610
#exploitation #work #ForcedLabour #food #slavery #CoffsHarbour #HorticulturalIndustry #governance #regulation #ModernSlaveryAct #TokenisticLaw #NSW #MidNorthCoast #blueberries -
‘Why are you doing this to me?’: how one woman survived two years of slavery on a Spanish farm
By Brenda Chávez and Ashifa KassamFatima left her family behind in Morocco for seasonal work in Spain. But the dreams of a better life quickly turned into exploitation, squalid conditions and violence
#Globaldevelopment #Spain #Europe #Worldnews #Modernslavery #Humantrafficking #Humanrights #Humanrights #Womensrightsandgenderequality #Forcedlabour #Women #Migrationanddevelopment #TheGuardian #BrendaChvez #AshifaKassam
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Bosses are always keen to “reduce the cost of labour” - #incarceratedworkers
(Note: Australia does not have a ban on products made with #forcedlabour
#Leggo suppliers Hetian Latitude is run by the #Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), China state-run paramilitary organisation.)#4Corners #Capitalism #cheapness #dupes #exploitation #journalism #supermarkets #tomatoes #Uyghur
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In the US, prisoners are often charged room and board in prison, whilst also being pressed to work for little or no money, meaning they come out in debt, making them either be indentured to a job (which is hard to find with a criminal record) or return to a life of crime.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/24/trump-tariffs-forced-labor-us-prisons
#usa #us #america #prison #jail #labor #labour #forcedlabor #forcedlabour #coercion #slavery #money #debt #crime #punishment #rehab #rehabilitation
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If Trump really cares about forced labor, he should look at the US – rather than slap more tariffs on the world
By Eduardo PorterForced labor is a problem, especially in the US, where prisoners are coerced to work for pennies – or nothing at all
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/24/trump-tariffs-forced-labor-us-prisons
#Trumptariffs #Forcedlabour #DonaldTrump #Trumpadministration #USprisons #Tariffs #LawUS #Law #USpolitics #USnews #AsiaPacific #Europe #Worldnews #TheGuardian #EduardoPorter
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If Trump really cares about forced labor, he should look at the US – rather than slap more tariffs on the world https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/24/trump-tariffs-forced-labor-us-prisons #TrumpTariffs #ForcedLabour #DonaldTrump #TrumpAdministration #UsPrisons #Tariffs #LawUs #Law #UsPolitics #UsNews #AsiaPacific #Europe #WorldNews
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Hmmm, no mention of forced Labour in America’s privatised prisons. I wonder why?
I suppose any squirrel in an Epstein storm
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/24/trump-tariffs-forced-labor-us-trading-partners-react
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RE: https://newsie.social/@ProPublica/116958206847346564
Pretty soon the USA is going to run out of people to pick the food to feed them, I guess that's when the chain gangs for "communists" come into play....
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(via the Sea Watch crew)
"What the EU calls “Rescue Coordination Centres” are, in reality, Abduction Coordination Centres. Now the EU wants to expand this deadly system to eastern Libya - despite the fact that its consequences are already brutally clear in western Libya: people intercepted at sea are forced back into a country where they face torture, sexual violence, forced labour, slavery, and indefinite detention.
The EU claims to stand for human rights and the rule of law. In practice, it funds, equips, and legitimizes Libyan militias to stop people from reaching safety.
This is complicity."
#EU #EuropeanUnion #migrants #refugees #Libya #torture #sexualViolence #forcedLabour #slavery #detention #HumanRights #SeaWatch
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«Decent work, forced labour, or everyday abuses—do definitions matter?»
🗓️ June 23rd, Tuesday
💻 Online 🕓 16:00 UTC
✍️ Inscriptions: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_R4ONMiPOSdWq-VU52OuhWA#/registration> We will discuss terms used to describe exploitation, historical/political context, whether/when/why it is important to use precise definitions, and how these terms apply in practice.
#Webinar #Exploitation #ForcedLabour #Abuse #GAATW #Canada #2026W26
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Canada eliminates human rights watchdog that oversees companies operating abroad https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/15/canada-eliminates-human-rights-watchdog-companies-abroad #Canada #MarkCarney #Americas #WorldNews #ForcedLabour #Business
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@amalia22 It's not intended to be - it's a pathetic excuse, given the issue of #forcedlabour in the #US, & the fact that #Trump & his minions couldn't give a damn about it, either there or anywhere else.
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RE: https://kolektiva.social/@yenndc/116488352590162914
Webinar recording «Corporate Accountability and Forced Labour in Value Chains»
🗓 6th #May2026
📽️ https://youtu.be/vRcOz-4euxkDoubling down on the recommendation~ 💖💞
#ATRJournal #GAATW #GFLC #Labour #ForcedLabour #Exploitation #ValueChains #SupplyChains #CorporateAccounability
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«Corporate Accountability and Forced Labour in Value Chains»
🗓 May 6th 2026 🕑 14:00 UTC
💻 Online (Zoom) ✍️ Register: https://mcmaster.zoom.us/meeting/register/V9q18maNQleAPPbchnOZvA#/registrationIn short:
> Join us at this webinar where we'll present the new issue of the journal, which will focus on corporate accountability for #ForcedLabour in #SupplyChains. We'll have speakers from Canada, Peru, Germany, and India.Longer:
> This webinar examines contemporary efforts to address forced labour in global supply and value chains through corporate accountability measures. Drawing on a new special issue of Anti-Trafficking Review, it considers the shift from voluntary corporate social responsibility initiatives to legally mandated and enforceable instruments, including due diligence laws, trade agreements, and import bans. Bringing together academic, labour, and advocacy perspectives from both the Global North and Global South, the discussion will explore the limits, implications, and possibilities of these approaches for understanding and addressing exploitation in global value chains.Of course — 💯 recommended no matter what. ^~ ❤️🔥
https://bsky.app/profile/atrjournal.bsky.social/post/3mjz27ok4ek2v
#GAATW #GFLC #Webinar #ATRJournal #Labour #Exploitation #ValueChains #CorporateAccounability #2026W19