Date: 2025-03-14 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00005282
Initiatives
Campaign against Modern Slavery
The Walk Free movement addressing the problems of modern slavery ... economic slavery almost everywhere
Burgess COMMENTARY
Peter Burgess
THERE'S SOMETHING ROTTEN IN THE U.S. TOMATO INDUSTRY Publix - Hero - EN.png Florida’s tomato farms supply 50% of all U.S. fresh tomatoes but have also been called America’s ‘ground zero for slavery.’ Countless workers held against their will, threatened with violence and forced to haul hundreds of heavy tomato buckets a day for little to no pay. Thankfully, a new solution called the Fair Food Program has been proven successful. The Fair Food Program is working to enforce a policy of zero tolerance for slavery on tomato farms. But a major U.S. supermarket chain, Publix Super Markets, is refusing to support the Fair Food Program. Publix continues to buy tomatoes from growers that are not partners of the Fair Food Program and where workers still toil beyond the reach of its proven protection from modern slavery. Will Publix Super Markets, which prides itself on making Fortune’s 'Best Companies to Work For' list, continue to turn a blind eye and give excuses, or will it leverage its vast market influence and lead the way in cleaning up slavery in the tomato supply chain once and for all? Tell Publix to make the right decision to join the Fair Food Program and ensure our tomatoes meet the highest human rights standards in the food industry today.
Slavery is illegal in every country, yet millions are enslaved by vicious criminals, archaic traditions and brutal greed. As news media uncover shocking stories of modern day slavery, more and more people are waking up to the need to take action.
The reasons why slavery still exists are complex. In many countries the fight against slavery is not a priority. In some countries, existing laws are not being enforced. In some countries, certain forms of slavery are so common that they are almost considered normal.
We are determined to change this. Walk Free's goal is to be the generation that ends modern slavery.
There are many groups around the world working on the front line against slavery. Walk Free aims to amplify and extend their efforts. By gathering a global membership, using social networks and new technologies, and organising campaigns and communities online and on the ground, we can make the fight against slavery a real priority across the world.
Slavery has no place in the modern world. Together, we can build a world without it. A world where it is unthinkable to be treated like someone else's property. A world where those who steal other people's freedoms are brought to justice. A world where everyone can walk free.
- I believe our generation can build a world without slavery.
- A world where it is unthinkable for one human being to be treated like someone else’s property.
- A world where those who coerce or deceive people into forced labor or steal other people's freedoms are brought to justice.
- A world where everyone can walk free.
- I commit to mobilise governments, businesses and communities to end modern slavery.
Those who perpetuate modern slavery count on our silence to drive their profits. They survive on secrecy and stigma. Without the attention of world leaders, they have been able to enslave more people today than at any point in history.
If we take a stand now, we can make ending slavery a global priority, ensuring those trapped in the silent web of slavery are not ignored.
LEARN MORE ABOUT MODERN SLAVERY Today, people are living in slavery in countries all around the world. Slavery is hidden away in factories, on farms, and behind closed doors, in homes and other places in the cities and towns of the world’s richest and poorest nations. But with the power of a worldwide movement, social networks, and technologies, we can expose these hidden crimes – so that ours is the last generation that needs to fight the trade in human lives. img SLAVERY IS ILLEGAL IN ALMOST EVERY NATION ON EARTH BUT SLAVERY STILL EXISTS EVERYWHERE. No matter where you are, it’s close to home. Modern slavery affects people in the world's richest and the world's poorest countries, within borders and across borders. Slavery can trap thousands in one place – like mines and factories – or happen at a small scale, where a single girl is trapped in a stranger’s home and forced to work without pay. SOURCE: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT IT IS ESTIMATED THAT AT LEAST 20.9 MILLION PEOPLE ARE FORCED TO LIVE IN SLAVERY AROUND THE WORLD TODAY. Many people think slavery was abolished years ago. But there are more people living in slavery today than the total number of people taken from Africa to America in the vast trans-Atlantic slave trade between the 17th and 19th centuries. And even a single person is one person too many. SOURCE: INTERNATIONAL LABOR ORGANIZATION img THE VICTIMS OF SLAVERY CAN BE AS YOUNG AS FIVE OR SIX YEARS OLD. Young children have their childhoods stolen from them. Teenagers who reach for a better life can find themselves tricked into accepting the offer of a job far away that turns into the nightmare of slavery. Slavery is our generation’s problem – and our generation must provide the solution. SOURCE: INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATION FOR MIGRATION MODERN SLAVERY GENERATES PROFIT OF OVER US $32 BILLION FOR SLAVEHOLDERS. Modern slavery is profitable, generating at least US$32 billion in profits every year – more than the entire output of Iceland, Nicaragua, Rwanda, and Mongolia combined. And it isn’t just a problem in distant, poor countries; nearly half the total, an estimated $15.5 billion, is made in wealthy industrialized countries. SOURCE: INTERNATIONAL LABOR ORGANIZATION img SLAVE LABOR CONTRIBUTES TO THE PRODUCTION OF AT LEAST 122 GOODS FROM 58 COUNTRIES WORLDWIDE. Official U.S. government research identifies many products – such as diamonds from Africa, bricks from Brazil, and shrimp from Southeast Asia – as products that are commonly produced with slave labor. Around the world, people are forced to work with the threat of violence for little or no pay producing dozens of things we use every day, like soccer balls, flowers, and chocolate. SOURCE: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR - ILAB