Human Rights: Corporate Morals In The Globalocal Theater - enlisting corporate assistance in the fight for international human rights

Whole Earth, Summer, 1999 by Morton Winston

NATIONAL LABOR COMMITTEE 275 Seventh Avenue, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10001. 212/242-3002, nlc@nlc.org, www.nlcnet.org/.> NLC fights to educate and engage the public in the anti-sweatshop campaign around the world. It creates and sustains international coalitions against corporate labor violations, and serves as a clearinghouse on labor research.

RAINFOREST ACTION NETWORK 221 Pine Street, Suite 500, San Francisco, CA 94104. 415/398-4405, rags@ran.org, www.ran.org.

This veteran tropical-forest defender is determined that we understand our powers to effect change through our purchasing decisions. It organizes campaigns and direct-action projects to change the way we spend and whom we patronize. RAN's boycotts started with Burger King in 1987; today, it leads a campaign against Mitsubishi's timber-trading activities.

CLEAN CLOTHES CAMPAIGN PO Box 11584, 1001 GN Amsterdam, the Netherlands. 31(020) 422 2785, ccc@xs4all.nl, www.cleanclothes.org.

The "clean" stands for "fair": produced under decent working conditions. That's the aim of this organization's research and exchange programs, and what drives its campaign to improve work environments in the garment industry worldwide. Its international forum examines corporate behavior by retailers. CCC publishes an English newsletter two to three times a year; request by email or snail mail, and send a money order for US$10.

SANCTIONS/DISINVESTMENT

FREE BURMA COALITION PO Box 29405, Washington, DC 20036. 202/777-6009, info@freeburmacoalition.org, www.freeburmacoalition.org.

FBC is the umbrella group for organizations around the world working for freedom and democracy in Burma. Its grassroots movement is modeled after the anti-apartheid movement of South Africa, and strives to cut off the flow of foreign currency from multinational corporations (Unocal, TOTAL, Mitsubishi, and Suzuki among others) to the unauthorized SLORC (now SPDC) government.

GOVERNMENT REGULATION/ INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS

US COUNCIL FOR INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS 1212 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036. 212-354-4/480, www.uscib.org.

This council-American affiliate of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the Business and industry Advisory Committee to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the International Organisation of Employers (IOE)--officially represents US business positions here and abroad. It promotes an open system of world trade, finance, and investment in which business can flourish while contributing to economic growth, human welfare, and protection of the environment. Its membership of 300 businesses worldwide endorses standardization of commercial practices in the ICC.

LEGAL APPROACHES

CENTER FOR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS 666 Broadway, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10012. 212/614-6464, CCR@igc.apc.org.

Rooted in the 1960s' civil-rights demonstrations in the American South, CCR is a nonprofit legal and educational organization predicated on the US Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. CCR is committed to a creative use of law as a force for social change.