Sample: The Responsible Source

The Responsible Source is a database of news articles related to social compliance, worker welfare and corporate social responsibility. Since 2003, STR staff has summarized relevant news articles from a variety of sources and added them to this database on a weekly basis. Users are able to search through the news articles by topic or date.

Below are samples of the kinds of articles to which subscribers will have access to:


Pakistan building collapses, trapping many in Lahore
BBC News , 2/6/2012
A factory building has collapsed in the Pakistani city of Lahore with many people, including women and children, feared trapped, officials say. Officials said the blast at the three-storey building could have been caused by a gas explosion. One official told Reuters news agency that both the building and two houses next to it had "completely collapsed". Reports said two bodies have been recovered. Rescue workers were trying to help those inside. Estimates of the number of people trapped range from 15 to about 60.
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Thailand aims to stop worst child labour
Bangkok Post , 2/5/2012
The Labour Ministry plans to declare a list of jobs considered too dangerous for children in the hope that the US will remove Thailand from a watch list. The move aims mainly to eliminate the worst forms of child labour, said Labour Minister Padermchai Sasomsap yesterday. The ministry will work with non-governmental organisations to draft a dangerous work list and forward it to the cabinet for approval, he said. The drafting of the dangerous work list will be based on the child labour sections of the Labour Protection Act 1998, the Child Protection Act 2003, the International Labour Organisation's Convention No.182 and the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention 1999, said Mr Padermchai.
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Filipino migrant group presses implementing rules, regulations on domestic workers pact
Migrant Rights , 2/4/2012
A Filipino migrants’ rights group in the Middle East expressed doubt in the recent bilateral accord signed by the Philippine government represented by the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) with the Lebanese and Saudi governments, respectively, on providing protection to thousands of deployed Filipino domestic workers. Last week, DoLE chief Rosalinda Baldoz announced that they have agreed with the Lebanese govt. and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) stipulating provisions that will provide protection to deployed Filipino domestic workers in its bid to lift the ban imposed by the PH govt. Simultaneously, with the signing of a bilateral agreement with the Lebanese, the Philippine and Saudi governments signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that is expected to end the ban hiring Filipino domestic workers that was imposed by the Saudi govt. last year.
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Cambodian workers hold 'people's tribunal' to look at factory conditions
The Guardian , 2/2/2012
Workers in Cambodia will hold a "people's tribunal" next week to investigate pay and conditions at factories working for fashion brands including H&M and Gap. An international panel of judges will hear evidence from workers, factories and multinational brands including Puma and Adidas. H&M said it would not attend but would supply information about how it was addressing wages at its suppliers' factories in the country. The two-day hearing aims to raise awareness of low pay and long working hours that workers say are partly responsible for a series of "mass faintings" involving hundreds of workers at factories supplying H&M, Gap and sports brands.
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Decreasing Child Labor in 2012
Aid Netherlands , 2/2/2012
One of the biggest priorities in 2012 is to decrease child labor. According to the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) most recent global estimate, 215 million children worldwide are involved in under-age employment. On the positive side, the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) latest 2010 global report, Accelerating action against child labour, showed a slight decline in child labor. Most significantly, children workers between the ages of five and fourteen decreased by 10%. Growing international efforts to increase awareness and prevent discrimination of girls may be to thank for a 15% decrease in female child labor.
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Bahrain rehiring staff fired after unrest
Now Lebanon , 2/1/2012
Bahrain's Labor Ministry said on Wednesday that most of the 2,462 employees fired after last year's crackdown on Shia-led democracy protests have been reinstated or in the process of being rehired. It said 937 sacked employees have "so far returned to their jobs," according to a statement carried by BNA state news agency, while companies have agreed to reinstate 608 others and are in the process of doing so. The Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, which in November released a scathing report on government misconduct during the spring crackdown on the Shia-led protests, reported 1,624 complaints from people alleging they had been sacked or suspended over the protests. The complaints came from both public and private sector employees, it said.
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