ZDF “HeuteShow” on the Supply Chain Act

The ZDF on the background of the contribution:
“It is intended to help respect human rights, curb child labor and starvation wages worldwide: The Federal Government’s Supply Chain Act. German companies are to be obliged to ensure that local social and ecological standards are met by foreign suppliers. The law is to apply from 2023 to companies with more than 3,000 employees and from 2024 to companies with more than 1,000. The Federal Cabinet passed the draft law on March 3, and it was debated in the Bundestag in April.

In mid-February, Economics Minister Peter Altmaier (CDU), Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) and Development Minister Gerd Müller (CSU) presented the draft of the Supply Chain Act at a press conference. In addition to Hubertus Heil, Gerd Müller in particular is considered a staunch supporter of the law. At the meeting he emphasized, for example, that the importance of the supply chain law goes beyond Germany: “It triggers a debate in Germany and in Europe about the future of globalization, about fair globalization.” Müller’s aim was to get companies to commit to violations of human rights also have to be civilly liable within the supply chains – this was not implemented in the current decision, however. […]

The CDU Economic Council in particular is working hard on the supply chain law and is trying to prevent it or at least dilute it. In February he called on the Union parliamentary group to stop “this project”: “In the middle of the Corona crisis, the SPD is stubbornly working on its left ideological issues, while numerous entrepreneurs are afraid of their existence.“

Please refer: What the Fakt!? Lieferkettensägenmassaker – Was bringt das deutsche Lieferkettengesetz? (German)

XertifiX_Autor2021-05-05T08:47:59+02:00May 3rd, 2021|

ILO: International Year for the Elimination of Child Labor

The International Labor Organization (ILO) has called 2021 the year for the elimination of child labor. Individuals and companies are called upon to be particularly active this year in order to jointly fight child labor worldwide!

Everyone is called:

Write to a decision maker
Raise funds for a charity or school dealing with prevention of child labour
Read about fair trade and how it benefits children of poor families
Educate yourself and then share what you learn with friends, family, co-workers, and others, and work together to increase your “voting” power

“Individuals have power when they work together in a coordinated global movement.”

Companies and other stakeholders are called upon:

Give action pledge in 2021, e.g.:Development of a regional roadmap for ending child labor with milestones that can be reached based on time and suggested resource allocations.
Draft new laws and / or guidelines to encourage public procurement as a tool to combat child labor.
Development of a regional fund to end child labor in 2021.

It is recommended that you download the Action Pledge – Practical Guide:

2021 Stakeholder Action Pledge – Practical-Guide

XertifiX_Autor2021-04-20T10:04:54+02:00April 20th, 2021|

Supply Chain Act: The Bundestag has to improve!

As reported, the federal government finally agreed on a draft of the supply chain law last week! Good thing: This is the first time that companies’ human rights due diligence obligations are regulated in Germany.

But the bill is not enough, because:

It stipulates that companies only have to take action with indirect suppliers when there are concrete indications of human rights violations. That is absurd!
In addition, there is no civil liability rule. People affected by human rights violations will continue to find it difficult to claim damages from German courts.
The draft law takes too little account of environmental standards!
The law should only apply to around 2,900 companies with more than 1,000 employees.

The good news: the law is not ready yet. In April the Bundestag will discuss the Supply Chain Act. The MPs then have the opportunity to request improvements.

Ask your MP to take action accordingly. The Supply Chain Act initiative has prepared a serial letter with which you can write to your MPs directly. Practical: You just enter your postcode and the members of your constituency appear for selection. Therefore:

Write a supply chain letter now!

XertifiX_Autor2021-03-15T15:40:33+01:00March 15th, 2021|

World Day Against Child Labor

Why child labor not only harms children but also adults…….

“It would be nice if we could report on the World Day Against Child Labor that children no longer have to work and can instead attend schools, free of charge, close to where they live and until they graduate,” explains the chairwoman of XertifiX e.V. and former vice of the German Trade Union Confederation, Ingrid Sehrbrock.

“But it’s not that far yet. There is progress, of course: According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), 246 million child workers were recorded in 2000, in 2017 it was “only” 152 million. Still, far too many. In addition, the promising decline in recent years has slowed considerably. The children’s aid organization UNICEF fears that at the same pace there will still be 121 million child workers in 2025.

Almost all countries in the world have committed themselves to completely abolish all forms of child labor, starting with the worst, by 2025. ”

The “worst forms of child labor” include (ILO Convention No. 182 of 1999): slavery and slave-like dependencies, forced labor including the use of child soldiers, child prostitution and child pornography, criminal activities such as the abuse of children as drug couriers and other forms of work that can endanger the safety and health of children.

In many sectors of the economy worldwide, children are massively exploited worldwide despite efforts that cannot be denied, be it in the carpet weaving mill, in the textile industry or in stone processing companies.

Of course, it is primarily up to the state to remedy the situation. But weak states that do not enforce the law, corruption and a lack of jobs cement the situation.

Children are not only exposed to harmful substances, work in dangerous environments, up to 12 hours a day, and are paid less than adults.

A vicious circle: because the parents have no work, the children work. And because the children work, the adults are unemployed.

Can consumers outline the rudder? How can consumers recognize that e.g. B. a natural stone that you want to use for paving in the garden was not produced by children?

If you ask people on the street or in a DIY market, the vast majority are convinced that they should buy fair trade products. But when it comes to the question of how to tell whether one of the many social seals is good or not, most of them cannot tell.

Our seal is on the S i e g e l k l a r h e i t portal, which the Federal Government (BMZ) has set up for more transparency

XertifiX Plus

the seal with the best rating (very good choice). We are proud of that.

If, as a consumer, you want to do something about child labor and you care about the working conditions – also for adults –

only buy fair trade products
ask retailers if and how they can ensure that their products are not from child labor
find out more on the S i e g e l k l a r h e i t portal

Consumers can help ensure that work takes place in decent conditions. Contribute to it!

“The World Day Against Child Labor on June 12th should – once again – remind us all,” warns the chairwoman of XertifiX eV Ingrid Sehrbrock.

Press release: XertifiX zum Welttag gegen Kinderarbeit (German)

XertifiX_Autor2020-06-10T16:10:28+02:00June 10th, 2020|

Unfairly produced natural stones cost lives!

Too many workers in quarries and natural stone factories worldwide still have to make a living under catastrophic conditions. Their health is massively endangered by dangerous jobs and non-existent protective equipment. Even the most basic protective measures are missing. Many work seven days a week without a break and do not even receive the statutory minimum wage. Especially in natural stone production facilities in India, China and Vietnam, poor working conditions often lead to incurable, fatal lung disease (silicosis). Many do not even reach the age of 50. On the occasion of the World Day for Decent Work, XertifiX e.V. is calling for sustainable improvements in working conditions in Asian companies. [weiter… (German)]

XertifiX_Autor2020-06-04T14:25:07+02:00October 8th, 2015|

Exhibition “helping stones” of the BBK Kassel

Installation from Gerda Waha

Foto: Karl-Heinz Mierke

Stones block the way. At first glance, randomly brought up cobblestones force us to pause. On closer inspection you can see the faces of exhausted children between the other gray, faceless stones, they tell the story of a lost childhood.

Child workers, have more in common with the gray street paving stones than the first glance might suggest. Just like this, you pave the way for other people. Too often they get under the wheels themselves.

Stones help, because stumbling over stones makes us pause, take a closer look – this is how the still numerous child laborers are relieved of their anonymity.

Stumble, pause, look, reflect and take it into your own life –

Foto: Karl-Heinz Mierke

When? Vom 26. September bis 01. November 2015

Where? Im Naturparkzentrum Habichtswald
Auf dem Dörnberg, 34289 Zierenberg

For the exhibition “Helping Stones?” The Marburg artist Gerda Waha has resumed and expanded an old project “On the Disappearance of Childhood”. The stones not only serve as stumbling blocks, they also give every viewer the possibility of direct help. A large part of the proceeds from the sale of the individual stones after the exhibition is donated to XertifiX Sozialprojekte e.V.

XertifiX_Autor2020-06-04T14:28:50+02:00August 26th, 2015|

K. Satyarthi & M. Yousafzai receive Nobel Peace Prize

Kailash Satyarthi gets Peace Nobel Prize
We congratulate Kailash Sarthiaty for his commitment against child labor. We also congratulate the Nobel Prize Committee for highlighting the topic of child labor and combating it worldwide.
XertifiX co-founder Benjamin Pütter, together with Kailash Satyarthi, initiated and conducted the worldwide Global March against Child Labor. The main themes of Satyarthi have always been the abolition of child labor in the carpet and stone industry and in this context XertifiX e.V. has been established.

XertifiX2019-09-23T12:13:40+02:00October 10th, 2014|

NRW: Cabinet decides new funeral law

Municipalities authorized to ban gravestones from child labor

The state government has passed a new law which, among other things, authorizes municipalities in North Rhine-Westphalia to ban gravestones from child labor. “By law, we enable cemetery wards to prohibit the construction of gravestones from exploitative child labor that will destroy the lives of girls and boys,” Minister Steffens said after the Cabinet meeting. Before the law was passed, numerous groups and associations were consulted last year.

After Saarland, Bremen and Baden-Württemberg, NRW is the fourth federal state to legally authorize municipalities to ban gravestones from child labor. In Bavaria, according to recent constitutional and administrative court judgments, such an authorization is no longer necessary.

Please refer: Press release of the state government NRW (German)
See also: Westfälische Nachrichten

XertifiX2019-09-23T12:12:05+02:00April 25th, 2013|

Gigantic scam scandal at PRP Granite

Granit tycoon Palanichamy suspected of fraud

One of the big Indian granite producers and exporters, PRP Granites and PRP Exports, is involved in a gigantic fraud scandal surrounding illegal granite mining. In the course of detecting and investigating the fraud, the owner of PRP Granite, Mr. P. Palanichamy, was remanded, his home was searched, and granite mining licenses were suspended. Meanwhile, the wife of Mr. Palanichamy, two sons, a daughter and a daughter-in-law are under suspicion of fraud.

Mr. P. Palanichamy is one of thirteen lifetime members of the powerful Indian Monument Manufacturers Association (IMMA) Indian Tomb Association.

Please refer: Five more cases booked against P.R. Palanichamy
Please refer: PRP firms admitted their guilt, says government

XertifiX2019-09-23T11:19:03+02:00April 15th, 2013|

IGEP threatens Earthlink with lawsuit

The Indo-German Export Promotion (IGEP) Earthlink is threatened with a lawsuit, as can be read on the website of the “Active against child labor” campaign. The background was a study on natural stone seals commissioned by the city of Hanover. As a result of the study, Earthlink presented the information they received from the respective seal initiatives. IGEP has not agreed to the presentation and is now apparently threatening to file a lawsuit.

Earthlink about it: “If the IGEP Foundation is actually dealing with a legal dispute with a small non-governmental organization like Earthlink eV, it has robbed it of its credibility solely by threatening to atart a legal dispute. The stubborn refusal, at least, to provide us with the relevant documents on the alleged standardization at least now sending it out to us or making it available on the Internet (in connection with an inflationary flood of threatening emails and registered mail in the past few days) raises the question for me whether the exaggerated outrage about our comparative presentation should only mask the fact that there are no serious basic labor law standards.”

XertifiX_Autor2020-05-29T08:39:19+02:00September 17th, 2012|

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