Latest news with #ILAB
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Labor Department, Which ‘Ridiculed Supporting Worker Rights Abroad,' Responds to ILAB Lawsuit
The U.S. Department of Labor, helmed by Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, has opposed a lawsuit by several labor-focused nonprofits to restore its axed international technical assistance programs, saying that the claims 'suffer from jurisdictional and substantive defects' and should therefore be dismissed. The Solidarity Center, Global March Against Child Labour and the American Institutes for Research, which filed their legal complaint in April, said in their motion for a preliminary injunction earlier this month that Congress had 'expressly instructed' the Labor Department's Bureau of International Labor Affairs, or ILAB, to support projects that fought against child and other forms of exploitative labor in U.S. trading partner countries, appropriating the necessary funds to do so. They said that the Labor Department 'violated' those commands when it abruptly terminated $577 million in grants, including 15 of their own, in March. More from Sourcing Journal U.S. Court of International Trade Blocks Trump's 'Liberation' Tariffs Activists Know How to Stop Sexual Violence in the Garment Supply Chain. Will Brands Buy In? Brazilian Leather Comes With Human Rights Risks. Identifying Them is a Problem. 'The termination notices gave no project-specific reasons for termination, stating only that the programs were being cut 'for alignment with agency priorities and national interest,'' the motion said. 'Around that same time, on social media, defendants ridiculed the very concept of supporting workers' rights abroad, despite Congress's express endorsement of that support through its funding for ILAB. Defendants also ignored that, as DOL had long recognized, helping American workers was a key reason that Congress required ILAB to fund projects like these.' In a filing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia late last week, however, the Labor Department argued that a district court lacked the jurisdiction to grant relief to a federal grantee seeking contractual remedy over a federal grant agreement. They pushed back on the plaintiff's claims that the move to cancel the programs was unlawful because it violated various appropriations statutes, the Impoundment Control Act, the Anti-Deficiency Act, the Administrative Procedure Act's prohibition of 'arbitrary and capricious' agency action and the Constitution's separation of powers principle. 'These claims…reflect [the] plaintiffs' fundamental misunderstanding of appropriations law and fail on the merits,' the opposition said. '[The] plaintiffs identify no statutory entitlement to the specific funds they were awarded by cooperative grant agreement; the appropriations they identify were to ILAB's overall program, not any specific grant or grantee. The agency undoubtedly has explicit authority to terminate such agreements for any number of reasons under the agreements' terms. None of the statutes [the] plaintiffs invoke to make their claims is applicable to the question [the] plaintiffs' press: whether the terminations were valid.' The Department of Labor took aim at the plaintiffs' alleged harming, characterizing them as 'all economic' and thus 'quintessentially reparable.' The balance of the equities and public interest also disfavor injunctive relief, it added, because the agency has 'determined that these tax dollars should not be spent on foreign projects that are inconsistent with its priorities and the national interest.' It cited a presidential executive order that mandated federal agencies with responsibility for U.S. foreign development assistance programs review the programs for 'programmatic efficiency and consistency with United States foreign policy. 'Plaintiffs also lack standing to challenge anything beyond the termination of their own 15 contracts, because their complaint and motion are devoid of allegations regarding injuries from the termination of non-parties' grant agreements,' it said. 'Additionally, an injunction ordering the agency to disburse funds would be improper because any such funds are unlikely to be recovered even if the agency ultimately prevails.' Critics of the Trump administration's decision to eviscerate foreign aid say that rather than putting 'America Last,' as Chavez-DeRemer previously put it, these grants helped place American workers on an even keel by uplifting labor rights everywhere else. The American Apparel & Footwear Association and the Fair Labor Association have sent letters urging ILAB's preservation. So have over 100 civil society groups. Last Thursday, more than 70 Democratic lawmakers joined their ranks when they wrote to Congressman Robert Aderholt, the Republican chair of the House Committee on Appropriation's Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, its Democratic ranking member, to request that they support ILAB's funding. 'As you know, ILAB's mission is to promote a fair global playing field for workers in the United States and around the world by enforcing trade commitments, strengthening labor standards, and combating international child labor, forced labor and human trafficking,' they said. 'ILAB works to ensure that fully enforceable labor standards are at the core of our trade agreements and programs, and that trade partners' laws and practices align with those commitments. The need to continue increasing these capacities across international supply chains and in workplaces around the world remains evident.' Representatives Ilhan Omar, Linda T. Sánchez, Hillary Scholten, Steven Horsford and others also said they rejected attempts to cut ILAB's program funding because of the 'critical role' it plays in enforcing labor-related trade obligations in the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the legislation of which included $180 million over four years for ILAB to undergird labor justice reform and worker-focused capacity building in Mexico, including through a Rapid Response Mechanism that allows workers or unions to report rights violations to the U.S. government, which must investigate the grievances in 30 days. 'Gutting ILAB does not put America first,' the letter said. 'It undermines American workers, distorts markets in favor of unscrupulous businesses and regimes, strips our trade and customs officials of critical enforcement tools, and accelerates a global race to the bottom on workers' rights. ILAB is one of the only U.S. government entities with the infrastructure, expertise and on-the-ground partnerships necessary to effectively counter forced labor.' The Solidarity Center, Global March Against Child Labour and the American Institutes for Research opposed the Department of Labor's opposition on Wednesday, saying that the district court does have jurisdiction and that they are entitled to either a summary judgment on the claims they made or a preliminary injunction. Anything short of injunctive relief, they said, would cause 'irreparable harm' to the organizations and the strides they have made in promoting respect for labor rights around the world and safeguarding American economic interests both domestically and abroad. ILAB funding accounted for 24 percent of the Solidarity Center's projected 2025 budget, 60 percent of Global March Against Child Labour's and was the only source of support for the American Institutes for Research's work with the Mexican government. The nonprofits said they've had to lay off employees; scupper partnerships with governments, unions, universities and community organizations; and 'entirely shut down' certain programs. Unless their funding is returned soon, they will be unable to rebuild these programs or maintain their work, 'given the difficulty rehiring staff with relevant expertise and connections and rebuilding relationships with partners they have had to abandon.' The Solidarity Center added that it will have to shutter projects in Mexico, Uzbekistan and the Republic of Georgia, imperiling its legal status and ability to operate in those countries. 'Abandoning their projects mid-stream will also hurt [the] plaintiffs' ability to carry out their work and fulfill their missions,' they wrote. 'Without restoration of ILAB funding, each plaintiff anticipates needing to make further cuts to their mission-critical work in the next weeks and months. Although, if funding is restored soon, [the] plaintiffs anticipate that they could rehire staff and rebuild their broken partnerships, doing so will become increasingly difficult as time passes.' They added that the Labor Department also hasn't addressed the fact that nixing all projects would render it 'impossible' for ILAB to fulfill its statutory obligation as set down by Congress, including by ignoring 'substantial evidence' showing whether each ILAB project lined up with the Trump administration's priorities. 'Had [the] defendants evaluated any of the evidence before them about the alignment of ILAB's cooperative agreements with agency priorities, they would have seen that much of this work is, in fact, consistent with their own stated desire to protect American workers,' the motion said. 'As Congress itself recognized by continually funding ILAB's technical assistance work, these projects make America stronger and more prosperous by, among other things, 'ensur[ing] workers and businesses in the United States are not put at a competitive disadvantage' when other countries ignore their labor commitments.'
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Solidarity Center Sues US Department of Labor Over Canceled Grants
The Solidarity Center, Global March Against Child Labour and the American Institutes for Research filed a joint lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Tuesday afternoon to challenge what they say is the U.S. Department of Labor's 'unlawful termination' of congressionally authorized international labor rights programs administered under its Bureau of International Labor Affairs, or ILAB. The complaint, which also names Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer as a defendant, marks the escalation of a dispute over $577 million in canceled ILAB grants meant to buttress global labor standards, combat forced and child labor and deter unfair competition through exploitation, but that the Trump administration insists is putting 'America Last' by using U.S. tax dollars to 'bankroll foreign handouts.' More from Sourcing Journal Is the US Still in the Fight Against Uyghur Forced Labor? Trump Threatens Mexico With Additional Tariffs Amid Water Dispute What is Fashion's Responsibility to Earthquake-Battered Myanmar? 'Programs like those run by our clients, which promote stronger labor standards and better working conditions worldwide, are both critical from a human rights standpoint and necessary to ensure that American companies and workers, as well as workers around the world, aren't undercut in the global marketplace,' Stephanie Garlock, lead counsel at Public Citizen Litigation Group, said in a statement. 'Congress required the Department of Labor to fund these crucial programs. The Secretary of Labor has no authority to refuse to do so.' She added that the plaintiffs seek declaratory and injunctive relief to prevent further harm, as well as to restore funding that had been previously—and lawfully—appropriated by Congress in a way that has been 'contrary to law, arbitrary and capricious.' The Department of Labor has been contacted for comment. The Solidarity Center has already taken a wallop from the withdrawal of funding from one-third of its programs by the U.S. Agency for International Development, the all-but-dismantled humanitarian and development arm of the federal government better known as USAID. Though partially restored, its payments under the National Endowment for Democracy, which similarly filed a lawsuit against executive branch agencies and officials in the same district court in March, are still in a constant state of precarity, putting at risk more than half its budget. With the ILAB cuts, the Solidarity Center has been stripped of a further $78 million, over multiple years, that make up 20 percent of its financing. Already, the organization has laid off or furloughed 64 employees, or almost 60 percent of its workforce at its Washington, D.C. headquarters and 165 field-office staffers, amounting to 59 percent of its total strength, in more than two dozen countries. Global March Against Child Labour was using its $4 million grant—the global network's single-largest—to help its implementing partners, with the cooperation of national governments, to develop child labor-free municipalties in Uganda, Peru and Nepal. The funding loss will impact between 40,000 and 50,000 children, it estimates. The American Institutes for Research, which delivers data-driven technical assistance to strengthen the protection and promotion of decent work, had been deploying its three active ILAB grants—worth nearly $60 million at the start and of which $17 million still remains—to support labor justice reforms and law enforcement in Mexico. Now, it expects to lay off nearly all of its 64 staff members, plus an additional nine consultants, in the Central American nation. While several laws, such as the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement Implementation Act, require ILAB to spend a minimum amount tackling child labor and workers' rights issues in trading partner countries, the issue goes beyond funding, said Shawna Bader-Blau, executive director at the Solidarity Center. She said that when companies squeeze workers to cut costs, wages and standards suffer whether they're in Honduras or Ohio. Eliminating ILAB programs, Bader-Blau said, rids the United States of one of its main tools for countering worker exploitation in the global economy. 'From the clothes we wear to the food we eat, most of what we buy is produced across complex supply chains that stretch around the world,' she said in a statement. 'ILAB programs help make sure those workers aren't being abused—and that businesses that don't play by the rules don't get an advantage by exploiting workers overseas. We owe it to workers in America and around the world, to responsible businesses and to our trade partners to do better.'
The Guardian
15-04-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
US labor groups sue over ‘ignorant' cuts of programs fighting child labor abroad
Labor groups have filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's abrupt termination of international labor rights programs aimed at ending child labor and other abuses. The Solidarity Center, Global March Against Child Labour, and the American Institutes for Research (AIR), filed the lawsuit on Tuesday seeking to stop the cuts, enacted by Elon Musk's so-called 'department of government efficiency' (Doge), and arguing the programs were authorized by Congress and that the secretary of labor has no authority to cancel the funds. Several groups supporting workers and corporations have criticized the Trump administration's decision to abruptly cancel all ongoing grants and contracts for programs with the Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) at the Department of Labor which works to improve labor conditions outside the US. In March Doge announced it had canceled about $577m in grants for programs it labeled 'America last'. Doge cited programs including 'worker empowerment in South America', 'improving respect for Worker's rights in agricultural supply chains' in Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador and 'assisting foreign migrant workers' in Malaysia. The AFL-CIO, the largest federation of labor unions in the US, and the American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA), whose members include corporations such as Adidas and Ralph Lauren, criticized the cuts and argued the decision 'puts American workers and American businesses last' by enabling the degradation of labor and business standards abroad. 'It's just so frustrating to read the shallow and useless justifications that are being put out on Twitter by the secretary of labor and the Doge crowd,' said Thea Lee, who served as deputy undersecretary for International Labor Affairs at the US Department of Labor from 2021 to 2025. 'The abrupt termination of all of ILAB grants is a destruction of decades of consensus that is bipartisan, that is business and labor agreeing together that these are important things. It's ignorant. It's self-defeating, and it's wasteful and inefficient.' Lee explained the cuts demonstrate ignorance of how the global economy works, of the long-term sourcing and investment decisions made by corporations, and the negative impacts on American workers, businesses, and consumers in competing and relying on supply chains where forced labor, child labor, and other human rights abuses are ignored. 'This was a completely indiscriminate meat ax that was taken to these projects and workers will suffer, businesses will suffer, and American workers will suffer,' said Lee. Lee cited programs and research required to enforce trade agreements between the US and other nations, such as the National Child Labor survey, and around enforcing the bipartisan Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which was co-sponsored by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as examples of programs where the work already completed is likely to be wasted due to the cuts. Shawna Bader-Blau, the executive director of the Solidarity Center, a nonprofit working in over 90 countries to improve worker standards and conditions, said the cuts reduced the organization's budget by 20%, in addition to 30% cuts through USAID cuts. 'It's a devastating, huge impact. The Solidarity Center is very often in countries where they are the only external support for trade union organizing and the advancement of worker rights. If we have to leave, we're not replaced,' said Bader-Blau. 'It's critical to the American economy that American workers not be forced to compete with extremely exploited workers in other countries, up to and including forced and child labor in supply chains.' She cited programs involved in enforcing labor aspects of the United States Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), signed under Trump's first term, to improve labor conditions in Mexico. The programs directly impact US workers whose jobs have often been outsourced to Mexico by corporations to exploit cheaper labor. The cuts, noted Bader-Blau, make it more likely that workers will be affected by offshoring and consumers will be purchasing goods where labor abuses are rampant in the supply chain. The cuts follow cancellations of previous grants, including a program that began in 2022 and was slated to continue until 2026 to provide support for Uzbekistan, the sixth largest producer of cotton in the world, after the country banned forced labor and child labor in its cotton production industry. The program was created to affirm and support the ban on forced labor and child labor so American corporations that had boycotted cotton from the region could begin sourcing from the country. The program's cancellation was touted by US Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer last month. 'State-imposed forced labor was used in the cotton harvest for decades,' said Raluca Dumitrescu, coordinator for the Cotton Campaign. Umida Niyazova, director of the Uzbek Forum for Human Rights, explained Uzbekistan has moved in recent years from producing cotton and exporting the entire crop, to developing a textile industry to process it. Though the nation has eliminated forced labor and child labor in harvesting, issues and abuses are still rampant throughout the industry. 'Since 2021, under enormous pressure, the state has changed the coercive practice of mass mobilization for cotton harvesting, however, the risks of forced labor remain high since structural reforms have not been implemented,' said Niyazova. Niyazova said the country still needs programs to establish decent labor standards and enforce them, such as the cancelled ILAB program. 'As Uzbek textile products are aimed at the foreign market, this concerns other countries and people of goodwill who would not want to become potential participants in a production chain based on worker exploitation,' she added. A spokesperson for the US Department of Labor did not provide information on how the funds will be reallocated, and did not comment on criticisms of the cuts. 'The American people resoundingly elected President Trump with a clear mandate to reduce federal government bloat and root out waste. Americans don't want their hard-earned tax dollars bankrolling foreign handouts that put America last,' said Courtney Parella, US Department of Labor spokesperson in an email. 'That's why we're focused on improving oversight and accountability within this program – and across the entire department – while prioritizing investments in the American workforce.'
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Federal grants to fight child labor worldwide are axed in DOGE cuts
NEW YORK (AP) — The Trump administrated has canceled millions of dollars in international grants that a Department of Labor division administered to combat child labor and slave labor around the world. The Bureau of International Labor Affairs helped reduce the number of child laborers worldwide by 78 million over the last two decades, including by issuing grants to international organizations, according to the Department of Labor. But billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency terminated all of ILAB's grants, according to the DOGE website, and the grant-funded programs are being closed down, according to an email to Department of Labor employees obtained by The Associated Press. The grants went to non-profit organizations and non-governmental organizations working in other countries to promote better working conditions for the most vulnerable people and to ensure companies complied with international labor standards. The discontinued projects reached across continents and industries, according to the Labor Department website. One grant went toward helping end a practice in Uzbekistan that put farmers and children to work picking cotton against their will. Another grantee trained agriculture workers in Mexico on labor rights, aiming to end child labor in the tobacco industry. A project in West Africa helped curb the practice of 10-year-old children being sent to harvest cacao beans with machetes, according to Reid Maki, coordinator of the Child Labor Coalition, a group of organizations fighting child labor domestically and internationally. 'We were on a path to eliminating the scourge (of child labor), and now, if ILAB is defunded, if the programs are closed, we're looking at the reverse,' Maki said. 'We're looking at an explosion of child labor.' The cancellation of the grants mirrors actions the Trump administration and DOGE took in dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development, which had funding for foreign humanitarian and development work the agency administered frozen or cut. Referring to the grants as 'paused,' Department of Labor spokesperson Courtney Parella said the American people elected Trump with 'a clear mandate to reduce federal government bloat and root out waste.' 'Americans don't want their hard-earned tax dollars bankrolling foreign handouts that put America last,' Parella said in an emailed statement. "We're focused on improving oversight and accountability within this program – and across the entire department – while prioritizing investments in the American workforce and bolstering protections for children here at home.' The Bureau of International Labor Affairs researched and worked to combat modern slavery among children and adults with about $500 million in grants, according to Catherine Feingold, international director of the AFL-CIO. The labor federation worked with ILAB on strengthening global working conditions. The bureau produced annual reports tracking labor conditions and listing products that were made with child labor. American companies relied on the research to determine if there was improper labor in their supply chains, Feingold said. 'You don't want American workers competing with countries that use forced and child labor,' Feingold said. 'I worry that we're going to see more products made with child and forced labor, both in the U.S. and around the world. We're going so far back in time here, allowing forced labor and child labor to go rampant in the global economy.' An estimated 160 million children are doing child labor, which is defined as work that can harm them or interfere with learning, and an estimated 79 million are doing child labor that is hazardous, Maki, of the Child Labor Coalition, said. The children who harvest cacao beans in West Africa, for example, haul heavy loads and are exposed to dangerous chemicals, as well as the risk of severe injuries while using machetes to break open seed pods they hold in their hands, he said. 'What we see there is kids, often very young, working for often no wages at all, sometimes with families, but often not,' Maki said. The American Apparel and Footwear Association, a trade group which represents hundreds of American brands and retailers, and the Fair Labor Association, a nonprofit organization working to improve conditions in the apparel and footwear industries, called ILAB a crucial ally in fighting unfair trade and leveling the playing field for American businesses and workers. 'We rely on the essential work of ILAB, whose purpose is to put America First by furthering the interests of American workers and American businesses," the groups said in a joint letter to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. Employees at ILAB and other divisions of the Labor Department are bracing for staff reductions. On Friday night, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer notified employees in several Labor Department offices that they were being offered the options of deferred resignation or voluntary early retirement, according to an email obtained by The Associated Press. In addition to International Labor Affairs, the notice went to employees in the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, the Women's Bureau and the Office of Public Affairs. They were told to expect additional announcements, including plans to implement a reduction in force, in the coming weeks. 'You can't do this work if you eliminate all the expertise that's been built over the years in that team,' Reingold said. The Department of Labor spokesperson did not comment on plans to reduce the workforce.
The Hill
07-04-2025
- Business
- The Hill
Federal grants to fight child labor worldwide are axed in DOGE cuts
NEW YORK (AP) — The Trump administrated has canceled millions of dollars in international grants that a Department of Labor division administered to combat child labor and slave labor around the world. The Bureau of International Labor Affairs helped reduce the number of child laborers worldwide by 78 million over the last two decades, including by issuing grants to international organizations, according to the Department of Labor. But billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency terminated all of ILAB's grants, according to the DOGE website, and the grant-funded programs are being closed down, according to an email to Department of Labor employees obtained by The Associated Press. The grants went to non-profit organizations and non-governmental organizations working in other countries to promote better working conditions for the most vulnerable people and to ensure companies complied with international labor standards. The discontinued projects reached across continents and industries, according to the Labor Department website. One grant went toward helping end a practice in Uzbekistan that put farmers and children to work picking cotton against their will. Another grantee trained agriculture workers in Mexico on labor rights, aiming to end child labor in the tobacco industry. A project in West Africa helped curb the practice of 10-year-old children being sent to harvest cacao beans with machetes, according to Reid Maki, coordinator of the Child Labor Coalition, a group of organizations fighting child labor domestically and internationally. 'We were on a path to eliminating the scourge (of child labor), and now, if ILAB is defunded, if the programs are closed, we're looking at the reverse,' Maki said. 'We're looking at an explosion of child labor.' The cancellation of the grants mirrors actions the Trump administration and DOGE took in dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development, which had funding for foreign humanitarian and development work the agency administered frozen or cut. Referring to the grants as 'paused,' Department of Labor spokesperson Courtney Parella said the American people elected Trump with 'a clear mandate to reduce federal government bloat and root out waste.' 'Americans don't want their hard-earned tax dollars bankrolling foreign handouts that put America last,' Parella said in an emailed statement. 'We're focused on improving oversight and accountability within this program – and across the entire department – while prioritizing investments in the American workforce and bolstering protections for children here at home.' The Bureau of International Labor Affairs researched and worked to combat modern slavery among children and adults with about $500 million in grants, according to Catherine Feingold, international director of the AFL-CIO. The labor federation worked with ILAB on strengthening global working conditions. The bureau produced annual reports tracking labor conditions and listing products that were made with child labor. American companies relied on the research to determine if there was improper labor in their supply chains, Feingold said. 'You don't want American workers competing with countries that use forced and child labor,' Feingold said. 'I worry that we're going to see more products made with child and forced labor, both in the U.S. and around the world. We're going so far back in time here, allowing forced labor and child labor to go rampant in the global economy.' An estimated 160 million children are doing child labor, which is defined as work that can harm them or interfere with learning, and an estimated 79 million are doing child labor that is hazardous, Maki, of the Child Labor Coalition, said. The children who harvest cacao beans in West Africa, for example, haul heavy loads and are exposed to dangerous chemicals, as well as the risk of severe injuries while using machetes to break open seed pods they hold in their hands, he said. 'What we see there is kids, often very young, working for often no wages at all, sometimes with families, but often not,' Maki said. The American Apparel and Footwear Association, a trade group which represents hundreds of American brands and retailers, and the Fair Labor Association, a nonprofit organization working to improve conditions in the apparel and footwear industries, called ILAB a crucial ally in fighting unfair trade and leveling the playing field for American businesses and workers. 'We rely on the essential work of ILAB, whose purpose is to put America First by furthering the interests of American workers and American businesses,' the groups said in a joint letter to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. Employees at ILAB and other divisions of the Labor Department are bracing for staff reductions. On Friday night, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer notified employees in several Labor Department offices that they were being offered the options of deferred resignation or voluntary early retirement, according to an email obtained by The Associated Press. In addition to International Labor Affairs, the notice went to employees in the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, the Women's Bureau and the Office of Public Affairs. They were told to expect additional announcements, including plans to implement a reduction in force, in the coming weeks. 'You can't do this work if you eliminate all the expertise that's been built over the years in that team,' Reingold said.
