| The abusive practices of 1-800-Flowers | |
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+6Amy Debbie Rob alexczarn Savannah Carol 10 posters |
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Carol Adventure Seeker
Number of posts : 8665 Location : California Country Mood :
| Subject: The abusive practices of 1-800-Flowers Tue Feb 08, 2011 8:04 pm | |
| Valentine's Day, which accounts for 40% of fresh flower sales annually, is fast approaching. If you're planning to order a bouquet from 1-800-Flowers -- the world's largest florist -- you should know where most of those flowers really come from. At flower farms in Ecuador and Colombia -- the countries that export the most to the U.S. -- two-thirds of the workers are women. These women are routinely subjected to harassment and even rape from their male supervisors. They suffer eye infections and miscarriages from consistent contact with dangerous pesticides. In the weeks leading up to Valentine's Day and Mother's Day, they're routinely forced to work 80-hour weeks with no overtime pay. Attempts to form a union are met with opposition by police and armed forces. Many retailers -- such as Whole Foods and Stop & Shop -- have taken the important first step of offering Fair Trade flowers to consumers who want no part of these abuses. Fair Trade certified farms must adhere to strict standards for workers' rights, which prevents the abuses described above. 1-800-Flowers is the largest florist in the world. Yet they offer no Fair Trade flowers at all. 1-800-Flowers uses a certifying agency called Florverde, which ensures that its flower farms measure up to certain environmental standards -- this is a good thing. But Florverde has almost no labor standards: A farm can be certified even if it uses forced labor.Indeed, Florverde is owned by the Association of Colombian Flower Exporters, so it has a financial incentive to keep wages low and suppress workers' rights. This is the week before Valentine's Day -- more people will purchase flowers during the next seven days than any other week this year. This is our best opportunity to demand a promise from 1-800-Flowers to join its competitors in offering Fair Trade flowers. So after you sign the petition, please share this email widely and post on Facebook -- do everything you can to pressure 1-800-Flowers to show a little respect for the women who toil in unbearable circumstances. The women without whom they'd have no flowers to sell. Use the address below to tell 1-800-Flowers to make a promise this Valentine's Day to sell Fair Trade flowers: http://www.change.org/petitions/ask-1-800-flowers-to-offer-fair-trade-flowers-that-arent-picked-by-exploited-workersSince this campaign began, the company has emailed to tell us that it will post more information on its website about the farms that supply their flowers. But this is a far cry from selling fair trade products -- and we have much more to do to make sure workers are protected. This is the week to do it. Thanks for taking action, Patrick and the Change.org team | |
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Savannah "Psalm 34"
Number of posts : 54431 Mood :
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alexczarn Ingalls Friend for Life
Number of posts : 22999 Location : Victor Harbor, South Australia Mood :
| Subject: Re: The abusive practices of 1-800-Flowers Tue Feb 08, 2011 8:50 pm | |
| This is awful. Signed it. | |
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Rob Nip it in the bud!
Number of posts : 62635 Location : Michigan Mood :
| Subject: Re: The abusive practices of 1-800-Flowers Tue Feb 08, 2011 9:20 pm | |
| Done and done. | |
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Debbie Mom Of 2 Kitties
Number of posts : 3822 Mood :
| Subject: Re: The abusive practices of 1-800-Flowers Tue Feb 08, 2011 9:24 pm | |
| Oh dear, that is awful.. Signed.. | |
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Amy Somewhere in Time
Number of posts : 13417 Location : Michigan Mood :
| Subject: Re: The abusive practices of 1-800-Flowers Tue Feb 08, 2011 10:10 pm | |
| Wow, I honestly had no idea. Signed. | |
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Vanesa Ingalls Friend for Life
Number of posts : 5136 Location : Buenos Aires, Argentina Mood :
| Subject: Re: The abusive practices of 1-800-Flowers Wed Feb 09, 2011 12:14 am | |
| Didn't know that...I'm relieved we doesn't do this here! Vanesa. | |
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HarrisonCrosby4387 THE #1 Survivor fan
Number of posts : 4828 Location : AT THE CIVIC ARENA. Mood :
| Subject: Re: The abusive practices of 1-800-Flowers Wed Feb 09, 2011 8:51 pm | |
| Oh how sad. What people wont do for money. LETS GO PENS! | |
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ChristinaAL Little House Lady
Number of posts : 2761
| Subject: Re: The abusive practices of 1-800-Flowers Thu Feb 10, 2011 11:17 pm | |
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alexczarn Ingalls Friend for Life
Number of posts : 22999 Location : Victor Harbor, South Australia Mood :
| Subject: Re: The abusive practices of 1-800-Flowers Tue Feb 15, 2011 4:46 pm | |
| OK I got this email this morning. Late last week, the largest florist in the world, 1-800-Flowers, responded to 54,000 Change.org members and agreed to begin selling Fair Trade flowers and insist on a strong code of conduct for all their suppliers to counteract the deplorable working conditions that thousands of female flower workers face in South America. They’ve promised to offer Fair Trade flowers in time for Mother's Day, making 1-800-Flowers a leader in the industry. | |
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Carol Adventure Seeker
Number of posts : 8665 Location : California Country Mood :
| Subject: Re: The abusive practices of 1-800-Flowers Tue Feb 15, 2011 5:37 pm | |
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Amy Somewhere in Time
Number of posts : 13417 Location : Michigan Mood :
| Subject: Re: The abusive practices of 1-800-Flowers Tue Feb 15, 2011 6:35 pm | |
| - alexczarn wrote:
- OK I got this email this morning.
Late last week, the largest florist in the world, 1-800-Flowers, responded to 54,000 Change.org members and agreed to begin selling Fair Trade flowers and insist on a strong code of conduct for all their suppliers to counteract the deplorable working conditions that thousands of female flower workers face in South America. They’ve promised to offer Fair Trade flowers in time for Mother's Day, making 1-800-Flowers a leader in the industry.
WOW. That's pretty amazing! | |
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ChristinaAL Little House Lady
Number of posts : 2761
| Subject: Re: The abusive practices of 1-800-Flowers Thu Feb 17, 2011 11:48 pm | |
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Joe Prairie Settler
Number of posts : 875 Location : Tucson, AZ, USA, Earth Mood :
| Subject: Re: The abusive practices of 1-800-Flowers Fri Feb 18, 2011 12:03 am | |
| People CAN make a difference! Maybe. "Willie, were you or were you not looking at the corsett ads in the catalogue?" - Nels | |
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| Subject: Re: The abusive practices of 1-800-Flowers | |
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| The abusive practices of 1-800-Flowers | |
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