The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of a $3 million cooperative agreement project to Impactt Limited to increase the capacity of field workers and their families to advocate and organize for the improvement of working and living conditions in the Dominican Republic sugar industry.

Administered by the Bureau of International Labor Affairs, this project will help sugarcane field workers and their families, who often work and live in isolated areas, learn about their rights and public resources available to them. It will engage sugar sector unions, government ministries and sugar companies to help field workers improve their working and living conditions. The project will also address barriers that prevent Dominican sugar sector workers from realizing their labor rights.

In September, 2022, ILAB issued its seventh report on the Dominican Republic sugar industry, which detailed ongoing concerns about egregious working conditions and labor rights’ abuses.

The project is part of the department’s Multilateral Partnership for Organizing, Worker Empowerment and Rights, an initiative to strengthen workplace democracy globally by supporting worker rights and empowerment through program and policy interventions.

Impactt Limited is a consultancy firm that specializes in human rights, labor standards and ethical trade. Founded in 1997 and headquartered in the UK, Impactt also has offices in the United States, Bangladesh, China, Malaysia and India.

Original source can be found here