Fair Trade Campaigners Protest Outside Starbucks

Today in Christchurch the young and the old joined the Global Day of Action Against Starbucks. The Fair Trade campaigners from Trade Aid, the Green Party and Business for Social Responsibility protested against what has been labelled sweatshop coffee, for the working conditions and allegations of child labour under which much of the world's coffee is produced. Starbucks and other coffee corporates in NZ refuse to purchase certified fair trade coffee, which guarantees coffee farmers a living wage of $1.26 per pound.

Fair Trade advocate, Simon Gerathy, said that consumers responded warmly to Trade Aid's certified fair trade and organic coffee which was brewed outside the multinational's outlet. Fair trade is safe, ethical and sustainable - a real alternative to the free trade fiasco which is forcing farmers off their land.

He said Jim Collier, the CEO of Restaurant Brands (who own Starbucks), continues to offer empathy while ignoring the real issues, and chalking up fat profits to send back to the U.S. Mr Gerathy promised further action until Starbucks takes action, and also put other coffee corporates such as Nestle, Cerebos Greggs and Sara Lee on notice.

ENDS

Simon Gerathy Advocate for Fair Trade phone 64 3 385 3535 mobile 025 937 875

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Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>