As You Sow is committed to ensuring that corporations abide by internationally recognized human rights standards in their operations, those of their suppliers and in the societies where they do business. Our current operations, as detailed below, focus on improving the lives of global supply chain workers by ensuring enforcement of corporate codes of vendor conduct. Past projects have focused on protecting the indigenous rights of the Pimicikamak Cree Nation in Canada, assisting victims of the 1984 Bhopal disaster at a Union Carbide plant, and seeking justice for workers abused by pipeline builders under contract to Unocal in Burma.

Labor Standards Initiative

Our Labor Standards Initiative focuses on respect for employee rights in the workplace and the elimination of abusive labor practices or "sweatshop labor". Many companies utilize decentralized production networks in developing countries where labor is cheap. Along with increasing globalization this has produced a "race to the bottom" with poor working conditions, child labor, employee harassment and abuse, and unsustainable wages for factory workers. Many of these firms are learning that while they may save money by exploiting cheaper labor costs, they risk greater costs to their reputation by using this business model.

Our work toward improving compliance of basic labor standards emphasizes:

• Challenging companies to enforce and monitor supply chain vendor codes of conduct
• Working with all interested parties to improve auditing and monitoring of supply chains
• Encouraging comprehensive reporting of vendor code compliance

We are leading or participating in dialogues with the following companies on fair labor standards: Gap Inc., Nike, Nordstrom, McDonald's Corp., Time Warner, Wal-Mart Stores, and Walt Disney Co.

Internet Censorship

An emerging human rights and free speech issue relates to actions taken by US companies in the internet sector accused of cooperating with authoritarian governments to censor speech and imprison dissidents. In 2005, the advocacy group Reporters Without Borders condemned internet portal Yahoo! for giving e-mail information about Chinese journalist Shi Tao to China's security forces. They charge the government used that data to send Shi, a reporter in Hunan province, to prison for 10 years on charges of revealing state secrets. In 2006, Google, Microsoft and Cisco Systems acknowledged they block access to web pages deemed unacceptable for viewing by Chinese government censors.

As You Sow joined a group of 25 investment managers, research houses, foundations, and religious investors who called on Internet businesses to oppose these censorship efforts in an November 2005 statement. The group agreed to monitor operations of Internet businesses in repressive regime countries to evaluate their impact on access to news and information. It also agreed to submit shareholder resolutions on this issue.

The group asked Internet businesses to adopt and make public ethical codes stressing their commitment to freedom of expression and defining their obligations to uphold these freedoms.