“The most common goods listed are cotton, sugarcane, tobacco, coffee, rice, and cocoa in agriculture; bricks, garments, carpets, and footwear in manufacturing; and gold and coal in mined or quarried goods.”
– 2009 U.S. Department of Labor report on the use of child labor and forced labor in overseas production
“Footwear duties, which are higher on lower price footwear, serve no purpose…”
–Text of S. 730, the “Affordable Footwear Act”
19 Senators step up to the mike with regularity to talk about standing up for “American jobs.” Well, they’re standing up when they talk about it. But what do they do when the mike’s turned off and they’ve taken a seat in the plush chairs of a conference room? They take a dump on Made-in-the-USA. That’s what they do.
There are nationalist, xenophobic reasons to support garments that are made in the USA, but there are other reasons, too. Even though American labor laws and inspections are imperfect, they are among the best guarantors of at least a baseline wage, environmental safety and legal rights. Paying workers a minimum wage, not giving them cancer with toxic glues, allowing them the freedom to work elsewhere and not running a cafeteria where they buy food with maggots or dead rats? Why, those “labor costs” cut into profits. On the other hand, shipping shoes across an ocean on an oily barge costs money, too, which means that overseas production has to cut “labor costs” even more to overcome the expense of shipping a product tens of thousands of miles.
How do you cut “labor costs” if you’re a shoe producer overseas? You can beat your workers into submission so they won’t complain about illegally low wages. You can cut out worker protections against poisoning. You can put workers in housing where there are 2 bathrooms for 200 people and then make them pay for it, or fine away more than a day’s pay every time a worker annoys management.
Or you could use child labor or forced labor. In a 2009 report, the U.S. Department of Labor found that there is a “significant incidence of child labor or forced labor” in the countries of Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India and Indonesia; the report clarifies that this is not an exhaustive list, since in many countries inspectors have not been permitted access to factories to assess conditions. Regardless, these five nations alone are major sources of inexpensive footwear sold in the USA.
Import duties on footwear made in overseas sweatshops have been one way to not only protect American jobs but to counter the incentive of importers to work with contractors that “cut labor costs” by slowly grinding workers into dust. And yet, 19 U.S. Senators have signed on in support of a bill, S. 730, that not only does away with import duties on sweatshop shoes, but declares that “Footwear duties, which are higher on lower price footwear, serve no purpose…”.
No purpose? Environmental protection is no purpose? Buying local is no purpose? Workers wages: no purpose? Beatings: no purpose? Rats in the food: no purpose? Child labor: no purpose? Forced labor: no purpose?
No purpose? Make that no purpose that these Senators care to notice.
The 19 Senators who have taken a quiet dump on fair trade, on worker rights, and on Made in the USA:
Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) — principal sponsor
Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO)
Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS)
Sen. Roland Burris (D-IL)
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA)
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME)
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC)
Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL)
Sen. Michael Enzi (R-WY)
Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH)
Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA)
Sen. Joseph Lieberman (ID-CT)
Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA)
Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS)
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY)
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)
Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO)
Sen. David Vitter (R-LA)
Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH)
In case you were expecting all of the supporters of the “Affordable Footwear Act” to be Republicans, go ahead and count the Rs and the Ds: that’s 9 Republicans, 9 Democrats and 1 member of the Joe Party. With well-heeled lobbyists like Ben Barnes bundling hundreds of thousands of dollars into the coffers of the Democratic Party, why should we expect the party with a progressive rhetorical reputation to take progressive legislative action?
Dear Schumer, Please clean up this corrupt criminal church!!
JESUS ASKED THE KOREANS, “WHERE CAN I GO FROM HERE?”
KOREAN UNITED METHODIST CHURCH AND INSTITUTE’S
not so secret drama ????? ????? ????? 2000 ??? ??????? DRAMA?????????? (???????????????)
UMC Korean clergy ??? ????? ???????? ???? ???????? ????????? ????????????? Korean church leaders in New York and New Jersey should closely examine this story and help the church return to our Lord Jesus Christ.
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??? ????? ???? ??????? ??? ?????? ??? ???????? ??? ???????????? New
York State Supreme Court ???????? ???????? ???????$8,000,000,00 ?????????? ???????
??????????,??????????????? ????? ?????? Rev. Chang Chul Woo ? ????????? ??? ????????? ?????????? ??? ???? ???????????
According to the trial judge F. Dana Winslow, someone from the Episcopacy deceived the Judge that the mass murder charges were church related. It was false because it was private lawsuit by Steven H. Park under the direction of Rev. Won Tae Cha, Young So Kim and others.
Now Bishop Park should be able to tell who deceived the judge. The smart guys cheated judge, church, fellow members, bankers and even Jesus Christ. Thus this group seems belong to a high class Satan, or heretics Biblically speaking in the Korean Christian community.
Following the failed frivolous court cases, many young college students from Columbia University, City College and nearby music schools often come to join the worship -the paid choirs as if praising Lord Judah. It is like a very dangerous sign of the satanic church that could mislead them blindly support the church’s murder charges against the innocents in order to loot the church treasury, demonizing the victims.
Bishop Lyght learned about his excessive abuses and fired Rev. Won Tae Cha to rescue the church. Otherwise, he could destroy it. It was already damaged. One Sunday there were only 24 worshippers during the court battles.
After many pastoral changes, Rev. Chul Chang ??? appointed to the church. And then Rev. Chul Wood Chang ??? said on his inauguration day on the pulpit that “Rev. Won Tae Cha ??? is my mentor.” Thus Rev. Cha’s course adv aces under Rev. Chang.
Evidently he came to this church, carrying Rev. Won Tae Cha’s ax. Thus now Rev. Chul Woo Chang is stalling the audit of the church finance that would reveal the
abused money by Rev, Won Tae Cha and his party, but he is trying to protect his “mentor,” Rev. Won Tae Cha. ??party?? ???????? ????? ?????? ?????????? ????????????? ???? ??????????? ?????? ???? ???????????? ?? ???????? ????????? ???? ???? ?????????? ????????? ????? ???? bankrupt ? ????? ???? ????????? ?????
?????? ????????? ????? ???? ???????
???????????? Korean ????? ???? ???
????????? ???Yang Woo Suck ??? ???????? ?????? ???????? ??? ????? ????????????
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??? ????????? ???? ??? ??? ????????? ??? wife ??????? ????? ??? ???? ???? ???
?????????? ??? korean ?????? ????????
???? ??? ?????? ????? audit? ?????? ???
???? ??????? ??????????? ? korean shame ??? ??????? ???????????? For the church is like under the capitulation of the dishonestly organized Korean criminals.
Remember many many young Americans are dying now in foreign lands in order to protect our value system, including good or not so good ones.
????? ???????? ???? ???? ?????????????? ???????
Tea Party demo demanding Mr. Cuomo clean up the $ scandals of Korean church leadership ???????????????? ???????????
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Rev. Chul Woo Chang, Rev. Won Tae Cha ???????????? ?????????? ???????? ???????? somebody should stop his hate mongering ministry which the church bully violates one’s civil rights and the separation of the state and the church. The state should step in to clean up the violent organized church mess.
Assistant Attorney General Nathan Courtney advised the church to recover the abused fund, but Board Chairman H. J. Kim neglected it as it would be costly.
??????Bishop Jeremiah J. Park ??????? ?????????? ??? ??????????? ????????? bishp ? ??????? Let us repent our mistakes, dirty sins and pray God to rescue our church from the evils and return to our Lord Jesus Christ. We need the conscientious church leadership to rescue our church from the evil hands. But an alarming trend revealed that Drew University rewarding the Bishop Park’s services for the Korean churches in contrary to the reality.
Let us ask Jesus how long this bishop is going to stay in apathy as it has been.
Remember Jesus said, “’MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER’; but you are making it a ROBBERS’ DEN.” Mat 21; 13.
Chae S. Sone, Ph.D. and the family
EFERENCE IN WEBSITE
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4… How to save our church from the money scandals?
5. Houston Korean church in turmoil
6. Steve H. Park’s false murder charges against me and my son and …in order to steal the church money
7. Dear Jesus! I am the Korean Bishop Jeremiah J. Park. What can I do for you in this …
8.A petition to Bishop Jeremiah J. Park to recover misused Church money … Now, Bishop Jeremiah J. Park must and others.
9. ??? ?? Korean Bishop Jeremiah Park ??? ????? ?? ? Christmas ? ?? ? ??? ?? ?????
10. Park profanity Deposition doc 3.6 14 docs