FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 29, 2008
CONTACT:
Trina Tocco, International Labor Rights Forum, Mobile (269) 873-1000, Trina.tocco [at] ilrf.org
Group celebrates Mother’s Day at Home by Supporting Working Moms Abroad
The International Labor Rights Forum is hosting the Mother’s Day Roses Raffle to offer people throughout the United States a chance to send a special gift to a loved one while also advancing the rights of women in the Latin American rose industry.
There are 40,000 flower workers in Ecuador and over 100,000 in Colombia, working to grow, harvest, and package the roses and carnations sold in the United States. More than half of them are women who commonly face labor rights violations including sexual harassment, pesticide-related illnesses, and forced pregnancy testing. Proceeds from the raffle will support the legal, health and safety, and advocacy work done through ILRF's Fairness in Flowers Campaign.
Each entry costs $10. With a $30 donation, participants will not only get 3 raffle entries, but ILRF will also send a fair trade chocolate bar and a special card letting a loved one know that a donation was made in their name. FOUR winners will be chosen at random from the raffle to receive a fair trade bouquet. Winning entrants will be notified by May 5 and the 4 lucky recipients will be congratulated on the ILRF website and e-newsletter on May 12.
Tickets can be purchased at unionvoice.org/laborrights/events/MothersDayRaffle. Official raffle rules can be found at laborrights.org/node/1241.
Most Fair Trade certified roses come from Ecuador and Kenya. In addition to certifying compliance with labor and environmental standards, workers receive a premium to invest in community development. More information is available at http://transfairusa.org/content/flowers.
ILRF’s Fairness in Flowers Campaign works to address these labor rights violations including sexual harassment and pesticide-related illnesses for cut flower industry workers, and to promote better and safer working conditions for them. The campaign mainly focuses on flower workers in Colombia and Ecuador.
