WASHINGTON, March 27, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- We are alarmed and deeply dismayed that the U.S. Department of Labor has terminated funding for International Labor Affairs Bureau (ILAB) programs. We have received termination notices for all of our ILAB grants. This decision threatens to unravel decades of progress in combating forced and child labor, human trafficking, and exploitation around the world.
For over 20 years, ILAB-supported programs have helped uphold the values of dignity, freedom, and fairness by supporting grassroots efforts to ensure safe workplaces and human rights protections across global supply chains.
Crucially, many of these programs were established to enforce labor provisions in countries where the United States has trade agreements. They help ensure that our trading partners live up to their commitments. Cutting these programs risks turning a blind eye to violations that directly impact the fairness of our trade relationships.
These programs are not ideological – they are practical, effective, and life-changing. They reflect long-standing bipartisan commitments to strengthen labor standards and fight against trafficking, child labor, and exploitative “cheap labor” so that American workers and businesses are not competing with countries that break the rules.
ILAB programs and the work of its staff benefit American workers, too, by raising standards around the world and helping prevent a race to the bottom that drives down wages and working conditions everywhere.
Cutting ILAB funding will silence these efforts and undermine U.S. commitments to American workers and workers worldwide.
For more information: www.solidaritycenter.org.
For media inquiries, contact media@solidaritycenter.org.
