(MintPress) – “Fair trade should mean fair trade for workers throughout the production chain, including where the production happens,” said Tim Beaty, a Teamster Representative in a 2012 statement. Beaty was commenting about on ongoing fight between U.S. workers and Theo chocolate, a company that despite labeling products “fair trade” has consistently suppressed workers’ right to form a union.
It appears that the dubious fair trade label may only extend to part of the supply chain.
While Theo Chocolate may support fair trade policies for the cocoa farmers in the developing world, the same policies do not extend to the truck drivers transporting their products to stores across the U.S.
The Seattle-based company proudly touts their fair trade credentials, claiming to support independent cocoa farmers in the Eastern Congo. The company has grown significantly since opening in 2005, claiming to have “the first and only Fair Trade organic bean to bar chocolate factory.” Now a multimillion dollar company with 60 employees, Theo has built quite a positive reputation among consumers valuing the fair trade credentials.
However, as soon as Theo Chocolate workers in the U.S. tried to join Teamsters Local 117 in 2010, the company fired one union supporter and hired a union buster in an effort to intimidate workers and end future organizing efforts.
Teamsters are one of the largest unions in North America, claiming more 1.3 million members in the U.S. and Canada.
Part of the problem is that there is no centralized authority that determines which products are fair trade. However, most organizations that certify fair trade goods hold similar criteria for judging manufacturers’ respect for worker’s rights and the environment.
IMO “Fair for life” is the labeling authority responsible for giving Theo chocolate its coveted fair trade label. The Swiss based group is a “neutral third party certification program for social accountability and fair trade in agricultural, manufacturing and trading operations.”
When Teamsters representatives contacted IMO to report Theo’s union busting policies, the “neutral third party” allegedly committed to workers rights, dismissed the complaint.
Theo and IMO, the complicit party responsible for the inaccurate label has now been called out by union advocates and the International Labor Rights Forum, in an ongoing battle that could expose grave inaccuracies in fair trade labels for other companies.
“We say to the fair trade labelers, if you’re going to label fair trade products, that should mean that workers across the supply chain are treated fairly as well. It’s the labor union that assures that there is fair trade, representing the right to independently form their own union,” added Beaty.