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The International Labour Organization (ILO) has adopted a new treaty, known as a forced labor protocol, to fight modern forms of forced labor and to protect and compensate victims.  The new treaty strengthens the outdated 1930 ILO convention on forced labor, and contains two sections that will bring the international community’s response to forced labor into the modern era with regulations and guidance on practices such as human trafficking, forced labor in the private sector and the exploitation of migrant workers.   

Earlier this week in a suit financed and backed by corporate and wealthy benefactors—including those with investments in charter schools and educational technology—a California judge ruled that the state’s teacher tenure and seniority-based layoff statues were unconstitutional.

The couple and their dog escaped the burning boat in a dinghy and were eventually picked up by a group of whale watchers. No injuries were reported.

Federico is one of about 100,000 tobacco farm workers working in North Carolina this harvest season. Every year, individuals like Federico put everything on the line and migrate from Mexico and Central America to North Carolina to work the tobacco harvest season. Expanding from early July to late September, the tobacco harvest season not only brings a lot of migrant workers to the state, but it also brings lots of revenue. North Carolina-grown tobacco accounts for more than half of the total U.S. production, making tobacco the most profitable cash crop in the state of North Carolina. Companies like Reynolds American Inc., Altria Group Inc. and Lorillard Inc., collectively known as “The Big Three,” hold nearly 90% of the tobacco market share in the United States, profiting from the hard labor performed by workers like Federico.