Fair Trade Jewelry

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media contact: Mike Angenent Open Source Minerals
mike@opensourceminerals.com

The International Jeweltree Foundation: A new dimension of transparency with a touch of humanity

Antwerp, Belgium (24 October, 2008)

The diamond and jewellery supply chain, from mine to market, is long, arduous and not always as transparent as it should be. With so many complex twists and turns, it is hardly surprising that people have little idea about the provenance of their diamond and jewellery , including where it came from and how it was made. Like the rarity of true love, each sparkling diamond or stunning piece of jewellery is a combination of a miracle of nature and dedicated handcraft. Each one has its own character, its own identity and should remain symbols of love, purity and integrity.

This is why the International Jeweltree Foundation has been brought to life. The International Jeweltree Foundation is a non-profit development organization which dedicates itself to ethical practices, environmental responsibility and full transparency within the diamond and jewellery industry.

We support local development projects based in diamond and gold producing third world countries which are necessary to establish a fair economy for everybody. To generate greater awareness within the industry and among the consumer, we decided to create a “true“ mine to finger experience. Therefore we selected IDL (International Diamond Laboratoties) to issue a more “transparent” certificate for each single polished diamond or diamond parcels.This unique certification system is a written guarantee disclosing clarity, colour, cut, carat, origin and cutting centre.

Together with IPIS (International Peace and Information Service) we provide the assurance that all Jeweltree-approved diamonds come from mines that are committed to health, safety, environment and community and that every diamond has been polished under the most favorable working conditions.

At the initial stage, to guarantee a better control, Jeweltree-approved diamonds are exclusively distributed through Open Source Minerals, www.opensourceminerals.com.

Transparency and integrity should become primary elements in the decision-making and purchasing process of jewellery, with the Jeweltree Foundation we hope to set new parameters in the our current buying behaviour which is mainly price-driven.
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The Jeweltree Foundation is an initiative of Open Source Minerals. Do you want to become a member? Please do not hesitate to contact, you can make a difference.

For more information, visit: www.jeweltreefoundation.org or
www.opensourceminerals.com.

The International Jeweltree Foundation is a non-profit development organization which dedicates itself to ethical practices, environmental responsibility and full transparency within the diamond and jewellery industry.

We support local development projects based in diamond and gold producing third world countries which is necessary to establish a fair economy for everybody. All Jeweltree-approved diamonds come from mines that are committed to health, safety, environment and community.

IDL — International Diamond Laboratories® (IDL) provides the diamond trade and jewelry retailers with quality reports of polished diamonds Reaching a new level of transparency As a government initiative the IDL seal stands for objectivity, independent scientific analyses and trust. As a non-profit development organization the International Jeweltree Foundation symbolizes equality, commitment, social responsibility with respect for man and environment. Together we joined forces to combine these ingredients and to provide a true mine to finger experience with regards to ethical diamonds and jewellery . This unique certification system is a written guarantee disclosing clarity, colour, cut, carat, origin and cutting centre.

Tags: CSR, Diamonds, Environment, Fair Trade, Fair Trade Gems, Fair Trade Jewelry, Green Issues, Jewelry Manufacturing, Mining, Spin, Transparency by admin
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Introduction:

Recently, Steve left his position at Earthworks, which he founded, to become president of the nonprofit, Resolve. (See our recent post at: http://www.fairjewelry.org/archives/509)

(Steve D’Esposito, President of Resolve)

When I look at the last five years, I see that much of the momentum toward ethical sourcing in the jewelry sector can be traced back to Steve’s work and vision. He was instrumental designing the “No Dirty Gold” campaign, in creating the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance, in building relationships across sectors, and in creating the Madison Dialogue meeting which brought people from the sector together for the first time.

This is the second time that Steve has been interviewed on this blog. This time, I caught up with him before the official announcement and talked about the move.
~Marc Choyt, Publisher

Marc Choyt: What led you to leave Earthworks and join Resolve?

Steve D’Esposito: I have spent more and more of my time over the last few years, building bridges across the sectors and trying to identify leaders who want to actually develop and test solutions.

Resolve is perfectly suited to house this work. Resolve has intention, it has a result in mind—we refer to this as the “solve” part of the Resolve mission. But Resolve can also serve as a neutral ground, a place from which all who share that intention can work. That space is more difficult to create within an advocacy and campaigning organization.

I have been developing a concept which seeks to incubate, support, catalyze and credit some of the initial steps that companies and organizations are taking to put solutions in place. Where risk-taking and entrepreneurial activity is recognized, and those willing to take a step forward are recognized and rewarded. We will organize this work within a new initiative that we are calling the Earth Solutions Center at Resolve. It fits perfectly into the Resolve structure. We will also organize a Science Solutions capacity. This allows us to tap into both consensus building and facilitation expertise with science and technical expertise.

In fact, I first started talking to Resolve about potentially partnering with the Earth Solutions Center (which was going to be an independent organization). The conversation fairly quickly turned into a conversation about integration and an offer to run Resolve.

Marc Choyt: How does this tie into your work with the Madison Dialogues? Are you going to continue to support the efforts to create an “ethical platform?”

Steve D’Esposito: A lot of work is underway in the jewelry sector— I see a number of cutting edge projects from retailers, miners, and others.

The Madison Dialogue is a forum, a discussion group, and a very important one. It’s created an opportunity to foster relationships. It is a virtual entity. It’s great for information sharing and dialogue. It is, as you put it, an “ethical platform” and I will continue to support it—100%. Resolve will certainly support Madison Dialogue and similar efforts—whatever we can do, we will do.

The Earth Solutions Center can be a complement in that it creates a venue for testing, incubation and experimentation in an open-source, transparent format.

Marc Choyt: Have your efforts to work within the Radical Center space been hindered by your involvement in Earthworks, leading you to want to make this change?

Steve D’Esposito: It’s the result that matters. Earthworks has played and will continue to play a critical role as a catalyst. I look at the landscape and I see the need to be additive; to put some additional tools in the toolkit. I want to create space that works for Earthworks and Oxfam, Anglo Gold Ashanti and Rio Tinto, Leber Jewelers and Tiffany, and others. I am not looking to organize a love-fest here, but I do see places were opportunities are being missed and I want to capture those opportunities.

For me personally, what changes is that I have intention but I don’t have a specific dog in the fight.

Marc Choyt: Would you be interested in helping the Manufacturing Working group?

Steve D’Esposito: Yes, the Manufacturing dialogue is just the type of thing that I would be interested in supporting. Let’s explore what’s needed. Is it simply support, technical assistance, strategic guidance, someone to help the trains run on time? I would also like to look at current examples of emerging good practice.

Marc Choyt: Recently I was asked by another journalist, “What is responsible large scale mining?” I didn’t know quite how to answer that question, so I’m posing it to you.

Steve D’Esposito: Work is underway to develop a frame work for responsible mining through IRMA but that work is slow and plodding and is not fully resourced. CRJP is also doing work on gold and diamonds, but they face the challenge of how to more effectively engage stakeholders. ICMM has some excellent principles but verifying that you are credibly meeting your commitment to principles is a challenge without a set of standards or criteria.

At the same time if you survey the current landscape, you see companies innovating and getting results on the ground. I suspect that the best way to define responsible, large-scale mining is to survey best practice at current operations on an issue-by-issue basis. Where is good reclamation happening? Where has community sanction been achieved, etc.? That would be an interesting portrait to paint and one that may help the industry if it was actually painted.

Marc Choyt: Do you think that large scale mining can be called, “sustainable?”

Steve D’Esposito: Society needs and wants minerals and materials that are sourced from the Earth. The challenge that we have is to define responsibly sourced minerals and material and to create incentives for mining projects that can contribute to sustainable development. The fact is that with mining, you are depleting a resource. To the extent it stays in economy via recycling, that’s advantageous. So long as economy needs metals, then it is really a question of how society meets its mining and mineral needs more responsibly. The question that needs to be asked is, does that project contribute to responsible, ethical sourcing and sustainable development?

Marc Choyt: Are you going to continue working on mining issues with Resolve? How will it be different from what you did at Earthworks?

Steve D’Esposito: Yes. Mining issues and a broader set of natural resource and public health challenges.

I like your “radical center” reference. Within that, I would really like to focus on both theory and practice. The key is finding the right projects and organizations to test the theory in practice and then adapt the theory . The collaboration piece is key. So it involves finding the projects which people want to work with.

We need to show people that solutions exist, that they are practical, achievable and are good business. I take very seriously the business challenge—”let’s find a solution to this together.” That is a risk I am willing to take.

Tags: Best Practices, CSR, Environment, Fair Trade, Green Issues, Interviews, Jewelry Manufacturing, Madison Dialogue, Madison Dialogue Manufacturing Group, Mining, Spin, Transparency by Marc Choyt
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Editorial by Marc Choyt, Publisher, Fairjewelry.org

Mining companies have colluded with governments to undermine the rights of indigenous small miners for hundreds of years. Typically, “the law” is used as their shield and excuse. Even in the developed world, mining companies and lobbyists collude with officials to write the laws that support their profit driven objectives.

Andrew Lee Smith, CEO of True North Gems, Inc., (TNG) wants his company to be noted as exemplary in their pursuit of Greenland ruby and, in his interview, he references people in the sector who are highly regarded for their fair trade gem practices.

Yet going along with a law when a law is ambiguous or unethical is no way for a modern company to behave, especially one that believes: “The days of colonialist approach to mining are an anachronism.”

At present, for example, Greenland’s Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum (BMP), violating established Greenlandic law as well as ancient Inuit tradition, has decided that Native Greenlanders can only mine “semi-precious” gems, but this distinction between precious and semiprecious has no legal validity in the international gem trade. True North needs to take a clear, public stance against this lie, which clearly plays into their hands since they are allowed to mine so-called “precious” Greenland rubies.

(With the political assassination of Burmese Rubies in the West, Rubies from Greenland will be eagerly sought out by the lucrative American and European markets)

True North also has made many serious cultural and political errors, particularly for a company that is branding itself as taking the high road. In his interview, Smith seemed not to have any sense of the 16 August Union’s popular support in Greenland and internationally. I also came across repeated accounts of comments made by True North’s employees that were so deeply racist that that no one would go on record for fear of being sued. In the field last summer, TNG’s project manager, according to witnesses, screamed in the faces of native Greenlanders in the 16 August Union: “This is WAR!”

Even now, TNG continues a marketing campaign, timed perfectly with the beginning of the Burmese ruby boycott, in which it is attempting to portray its Greenland ruby as “fair trade” and “conflict free.” To quote National Jeweler, which talks about TNG opening in context to the Burmese ruby ban: “The plan is to offer rubies that are conflict-free and fair trade, in sizes that range from melee up to as much as five carats.”

Teresa Novellino, Executive Editor of National Jeweler, who wrote this article, got this information from the marketing firm TNG hired to tell their side of the story.

The claim to be fair trade and conflict free in context to the Greenland ruby is disingenuous and deceitful. It portrays current events inaccurately and undermines legitimate attempts of others within the jewelry sector including my own, to create real fair trade standards for the jewelry sector.

Yet at this juncture, casting blame is probably a futile exercise. Greenlanders are going to get their rights to mine their Greenland ruby, and the longer the local government delays, the stronger their movement will grow. To some degree, True North has been a catalyst in creating a strong movement in support of independence from Denmark, which is due to take place on June 29st, 2009.

Yet, like Greg Valerio, of Cred Jewellery, I believe that True North is still sitting on the fence—an electric fence, about to get switched on. Their arctic rubies have been labeled as “apartheid rubies” by Niels Madsen, an emerging leader in the local community.

True North now has an opportunity that would set precedent for the rest of the jewelry sector. They should choose to do the right thing. As a jewelry manufacturer myself, I can attest to the fact that the sector as a whole lives in a shroud of massive denial of its atrocities. For example, not one diamond dealer has ever been held accountable for the purchasing of blood diamonds resulting in the death of nearly four million Africans. Dirty gold from untraceable sources continues to be used to make contaminated jewelry on a massive scale.

What is most needed to restore human dignity is truth and reconciliation.

True North Gems can begin by publicly apologizing to the 16 August Union and to all the good people of Greenland. Blandly mouthing “boiler-plate” key words, lifted from marketing studies is just not good enough. Instead, TNG should back Greenland’s artisanal gemstone miners, reaching from mine to market though generous beneficiation grants, local training, and local hiring.

TNG’s success in their Greenland ruby project can be best assured by tying their own fate to that of the artisinal miners, assuring the viability of their economic activity. This cost of this type of investment, creating a win/win scenario, is minute compared to its potential return. .

Just as the days of colonialist approach is over, so too are the days of the ignorant Native without resources.

Like their Native brothers and sisters in the Northwest Territory who have been able to stand up to large scale diamond mining, the Inuit have learned from history and have powerful allies.

There are plenty of rubies in Greenland—enough for everyone. A small dose of corporate humility is a small price to pay for defending TNG’s shareholders who are rightfully concerned about a company and brand that is in danger of being permanently soiled.

Tags: Best Practices, CSR, Diamonds, Environment, Fair Trade, Fair Trade Gems, Green Issues, Greenland Rubies, Jewelry Manufacturing, Madison Dialogue, Mining, Rubies, Spin, Transparency by Marc Choyt
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Introduction:

Greg Valerio of Cred Jewellers is one of fair trade jewelry’s most passionate activists and advocates. Here, he tells the story of how from a personal perspective of how he is working to bring social justice to the indigenous people of Greenland. Special thanks to Greg for permission to print this article, which will appear in a UK publication in a few weeks.

~ Marc Choyt, Publisher

I often ask myself the question ‘Why do I do jewellery?’ In many ways, it seems to be, the strangest of professions, especially for someone like myself whose principle motivation in life is the protection of human rights and the environment. I have always found it ironic that I should find myself in the jewellery sector that has no precedent, no history, no narrative, in a lot of ways, seemingly no intention of linking its product to the values that I stand for.

Yet on a recent trip to Greenland in July of this year, I suddenly realized the reason why I am in this space is precisely because I care so deeply and passionately about these two above issues and it affords me the opportunity to make a real difference.

At the turn of the year I was invited to go to Greenland by a gemologist from America and an Inuit small-scale miner called Niels Madsen. Niels was the unfortunate victim on the 16th of August in 2007 along with 4 other colleagues of his; this incident is one of the reasons why we as jewellers, need to be so engaged in issues of human rights, cultural rights and environmental protection. Niels is an Inuit and a small-scale ruby miner.

The Greenlandic Constitution enshrines in law as a native of Greenland; which interestingly is still owned by the Danish Crown, (People forget that there are still European Colonial powers in the world and not all of North America is free from it) the right to hunt, mine and fish in the traditional ways that his ancestors would have done throughout countless generations.

Niels embodies the spirit of his people, unassuming, shy, softly spoken and deeply patient. He loves his work, loves collecting rubies, loves his children, loves his culture, loves his history, and has a dream of the future. And it is Niels and his colleagues’ dream that was so rudely and crassly interpreted by the Bureau for Minerals and Petroleum (BMP) at the behest of a Canadian Gemstone Mining company.

They had the Greenlandic police fly in helicopters, onto the mountainside, confiscate their rubies, accuse them of ruby smuggling, remove them from the mountainside, ban them from returning, threaten them with prison and criminalize their traditional way of life. All in contravention of their own Constitution.

Niels Madsen, Inuit

As we walked through Greenland with Niels and friends, travelled by boat south to a typical fishing village (Fiskenaesset), climbed the mountains where they mined their rubies, learned how they mined their rubies, why they mined their rubies, shared their vision of what they would do with these stones like cutting and polishing, social enterprise initiatives for local communities during the winter months when it is to dark to do any work outside, feed their families with the proceeds and earn a decent living. I began to get a little taste of their dream. A dream they have dreamed then and one they still dream now.

(This ruby (pictured at right), valued at half a million dollars, has been illegally confiscated from its Inuit owner.)

I suddenly began to understand in a deeper way what my role as a social entrepreneur was and why I was working in this fantastic jewellery sector and to see the harmony of Niels’ role as the artisanal small-scale miner and how together we could bring tangible benefits to our world.

The relationship we were building was one of shared values, mutual respect and preservation of the environment, for the desire to earn a living and add to the common good. The desire not to be captured by an economic story that reduces everything and everyone to a figure on a balance sheet that only points to having exclusive corporate access to minerals of high value at any cost and at the expense of everyone else around you.

To underscore this point at the community meeting on Fair Trade Jewellery in Fiskenaesset an old lady stood up and made two simple points.

(Inuits are becoming more uncertain about their future as Global Warming expands across Greenland.)

“The Canadians have been coming here for years exploring for our rubies, when are they going to stop exploring?” and she followed this up with “The rubies belong to everyone, why will they not share them with us, after all they are our Rubies, not the Canadians!”

These two simple statements seemed to embody the core of the problem. On the one hand you have a culture that views nature and the environment as a gift for everyone, and a company whose philosophy is one of private wealth and ownership and views the environment as something to be owned and exploited. We have to choose what kind of jewellery we want to create.

The whole cycle of the relationship we shared with these people drove home to me like a silver bullet, why the jewellery trade has the potential to become a real force for social improvement as well as environmental protection. As business people, as a crafts people, as artists, as designers we are all 100% dependent on materials that are mined from the ground.

We have to employ and engender some of the finest elements of our shared humanity, to take these raw materials and create items of exquisite beauty. As for the process between the mineral from the ground and the item of beauty that will adorn someone’s body, that process must capture that spirit, the integrity, and those values from end to end. If my jewellery does not do this, then what I am selling is cheapened.

Human Rights and the Environment are signifiers to us of all that is good, decent and honest in our world. As jewellers, we cannot allow the pursuit of pure profit to continue to blindly ignore what is going on. One of my goals in the last 10 years has been to prove this point. We can bend our business to serve greater goals and a global common good and make a decent living. We are a truly global industry, from mine to retail, from the poorest and most marginalized people to the wealthiest and most powerful.

To conclude, Niels Madsen and his friends are currently fighting for the simple right to sell their rubies so they can feed their families. Also to have their confiscated collections returned to them. The authorities in Greenland that are an extension of the Danish Colonial Government have said they (Inuit) are not allowed to sell anything that is precious or expensive.

Only foreign mining companies are allowed to make money from the sale of all precious metals and gems. This kind of apartheid has no place in the 21st century, no place in North America, no place in Europe, no place in the world. Therefore I would like to ask every reader of this article to support the small-scale miners of Greenland by signing an online petition that has been set up by the 16th August Union (the new Greenland small scale miners union). This will be sent to the premier of Greenland and to the Greenlandic Home Rule Parliament.

If this sounds like a campaign, it is, and I am confident that if the UK jewellery sector supports it, we will all be able to purchase Greenland Rubies mined, cut and polished by our Inuit friends and bring real benefits to the Greenland Economy.

For more information please contact Greg Valerio at (greg.valerio1@virgin.net)

Tags: , CSR, Environment, Fair Trade, Fair Trade Gems, Fair Trade Jewelry, Greenland Rubies, Jewelry Manufacturing, Mining, Rubies, Spin, Transparency by Greg Valerio
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Intro: Since the first post in Spring, 2007, this blog has evolved into a focused project demanding a great deal of voluntary time and resources. I publish here a revised ‘About Us’ section which accurately reflects our current direction. ~Marc Choyt, Publisher

Just a few years ago, before the Blood Diamond film and the No Dirty Gold campaign, very few people even considered the toxic supply chain behind an average piece of jewelry. Now, the movement to have an ethical mine-to-market supply chain has become mainstream news.

This gold rush for the next big growth market in the jewelry sector is taking place behind the scenes. Think Organic Food fifteen years ago, or Fair Trade Coffee in the Seventies. Jewelry is an emotional purchase. No one wants to support tons of toxic tailings with the purchase of their wedding ring.

Over the past year particularly, the largest players in the jewelry sector have been attempting to define the ‘ethical jewelry’ space to their best advantage with as little disruption to their complex supply chain as possible. Small scale manufacturers and miners, who are more agile, yet have a small media voice, are also hoping to get some part of this potentially strong new market.

Generally speaking, except for those truly committed to transparency, which are few and far between, the public will wind up seeing only the final branded package, designed to reveal the sunny side while hiding it’s toxicity.

For example… a few current trends in process that I pose as questions; Is it right to market a diamond as conflict free if it results in massive environmental damages or human rights abuses? Do you think it is fair to brand large scale pit mining, with massive pollution to aquifers, as ’sustainable’ and ‘loving’ toward the Earth? What if fair trade labeling organizations were to put a ‘fair trade tax’ on large scale diamond operations to make buckets of money—even if those diamond dealers were complicit in the death of 3.7 million people?

For a long time, I have attempted to hold the radical center, and to some degree, this site still has this as a major purpose. I want to focus on positive developments and not make the perfect enemy of the good. However, more and more, in order to maintain my own integrity, I find the need to expose lies and distortions.

I rely on my network of insiders, and the ability to connect apparently unrelated events that can sometimes seem like reading tea leaves. The sector is so secretive that you have to know both the right people and the right questions. I consider my viewpoint to be ‘pro-jewelry sector’, because the toxic elements of the sector can make any jeweler a ridiculously easy target; It’s just a matter of time. Denial, however, is solid. Exposing it with the hope that something might change is the equivalent of trying to carve granite with a plastic spoon.

I am President of Reflective Images Inc, a designer jewelry company located in Santa Fe, NM that was established in 1995. For my company, which I co-own with my wife, I am involved in strategic planning, marketing, website development and a myriad of other duties. My wife is the Creative Director, designing for our US and international production.

We are a small company of twelve people. In September, 2008, we were able to move our entire production, international and national, to recycled precious metals—a move we have been working on for years.

We are not perfect in our sourcing, because the supply chain is not mature enough yet and we have to survive somehow as we transition to who we want to be. But we are 100% transparent, and have developed an open source transparency system for others to use as well. We publish the Ethical Jewelry Handbook, a free e-book for the trade. This fall, I will be putting together a new free e-book for the public, and a new trade version as well. I am also spearheading an effort to create international fair trade manufacturing principals and standards.

The blog, writing handbooks, and my involvement in fair trade manufacturing issues, is a second full time job. Until fairjewelry.org, I knew of no central place where someone could go and find information. I am hoping within the next year to turn this project into a nonprofit company and gather still more resources.

I do not claim to be an expert. My views are continually evolving as I understand the myriad factors, including history, influencing events in this sector.

Yet, this blog is an extension of my ‘circle-based’ approach to business. A circle based understanding of life involves acknowledging how we are interconnected and working for economic systems that enhance community and support ecology.

My company’s activism and contribution to our local community was recently recognized by the Chamber of Commerce and City of Santa Fe, New Mexico. We were honored for Excellence in Business among all companies with five to twenty employees.

Understanding how the circle applies to business is one of the tasks that was set before me by the Indigenous wisdom keepers who have mentored me for the last twenty years. The abuse and destruction of indigenous culture is an outcome of many of the most distressing elements of the jewelry sector’s supply chain. This blog advocates for indigenous justice, which at its best means supporting the responsible efforts of artisan small scale miners.

The matrix of every business, its source of wealth, comes from communities. Communities that are strong are based on circles of fair exchange, not pyramids where all the benefit goes to a select few at the top. Our ‘resource-to-trash-to-cash’ economic model must be abandoned.

Finally, without the fine people who run the day-to-day operations of Reflective Images, I would not be able to focus so much time and energy to these issues. Of all those, I would especially like to acknowledge Marek Sutherland. Apart from being the front main customer service person for our company’s e-commerce platform, he does a fine job as webmaster, administrator and editor for this site.

Marc Choyt, Publisher and lead writer for fairjewelry.org

Tags: Best Practices, CSR, Diamonds, Environment, Fair Trade, Fair Trade Gems, Fair Trade Jewelry, Gold, Green Issues, Interviews, Jewelry Manufacturing, Madison Dialogue, Madison Dialogue Manufacturing Group, Mining, Platinum, Rubies, Spin, Transparency by Marc Choyt
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An interesting exchange appeared on the “cutting remarks” of Rob Bates, Diamond Editor of JCK Magazine on the issue of beneficiation in context to diamonds.

As an article in the publication: ‘Mmegi Online’ points out, http://www.mmegi.bw/index.php?sid=4&aid=28&dir=2008/August/Friday15 initiatives are being considered which would bring more beneficiation to Botswana.

Botswana is a major diamond exporter and is often used as an example by those in the diamond sector of the importance of the diamond business to African countries. Right now, many in Botswana are pushing to have more “down stream” processes. They want polishing and manufacturing jobs as well.

Rob Bates is a strong supporter of this movement toward beneficiation and the ethical production of diamonds in the sector, but he draws some heat in this discussion which obviously is an emotional issue. Beneficiation in Africa has worked in other industries, but in context to the diamond sector, it remains unproven.

Read the full article here:
http://www.mmegi.bw/index.php?sid=4&aid=28&dir=2008/August/Friday15

What incentive would it take for a company with solid polishing operations in India, Russia, New York or Israel to move to a country like Botswana? They would never do so out of their own social conscience or desire to help Botswana. The companies that run these kinds of operations are not interested in development; they are interested in making money as efficiently as possible.

Can a zebra change its stripes?
~Marc Choyt, Managing Editor.

Tags: CSR, Diamonds, Environment, Fair Trade, Fair Trade Gems, Green Issues, Jewelry Manufacturing, Mining, Spin, Transparency by Marc Choyt
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Four hundred thousand diamond workers are protesting wages in Gugarat, India. A security firm opened fire on one gathering, killing one and injuring six.

Inflation is at a 13 year high in India and it has become difficult for workers to survive.

“Wages have remained static for over a decade, so we have no option but to ask for a wage revision,” said Babubhai Jeerawala, president of Surat Ratna Kalakar Sangh, that represents diamond-polishers in the city.
Read the full article here from the Wall Street Journal:
http://www.livemint.com/2008/07/07001238/Diamond-workers8217-strike.html

Tags: , CSR, Diamonds, Fair Trade Gems, Fair Trade Jewelry, Jewelry Manufacturing, Spin, Transparency by Marc Choyt
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Earlier this year, this blog reported protests in the US at Lev Leviev’s store.

Now, an article on Africa.com reports how, Lev Leviev, one of the kings of the diamond sector, fires 148 striking diamond polishers, represented by the Mine Workers Union of Namibia.

[Read more →]

Tags: , CSR, Diamonds, Fair Trade, Jewelry Manufacturing, Spin, Transparency by Marc Choyt
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