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An investigation into the labour practices of sugarcane and wheat suppliers : comparing TreeFrog's suppliers with alternatives for long term use at UBC

University of British Columbia. Sustainability Office

This report investigates the labour and social aspects of sugarcane plantations throughout the world, focusing on plantations in Latin and Central America. These findings are then weighed against the labour policies of the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) in preparing wheat paper. Additionally, the labour and social practices of India’s largest sugarcane paper mill, as well as the world’s three largest wheat producers, were analyzed to provide a base index to compare labour rights against. The goal is to produce a recommendation to UBC about investing in TreeZero sugarcane bagasse paper, made from sugarcane harvested in Colombia. For this, publications of major third party observers of the sugarcane industry, as well as the United Nations, were aggregated and analyzed in order to identify the issues that face workers in these nations, as well what policies the local governments have enacted to combat and mitigate these issues. After investigating the issue, it became evident that Colombian workers, as well as workers in the region’s most prolific sugarcane producing nations, are subjected to inhumane treatment, including, but not limited to, slavery, violence, insufficient wages, negative working conditions, human trafficking and child labour. Despite pledges to improve the situation, policies have led to hit and miss results, and their enforcement is marred with a lack of systematic application and corruption; no nation has produced a comprehensive set of laws and enforcement protocols that protect workers from abuse and mistreatment. In the Canadian wheat sector, social sustainability is considered one of the top priorities of the CWB and Canada’s Government. Even with the removal of CWB’s monopsony, the CWB is now working as a voluntary system to partner with the Canadian Government to increase social sustainability for the farmers. Our recommendation is therefore to continue with the wheat paper pilot program at UBC, and to specifically ask for Canadian made wheat paper. If sugarcane is to be used as a sustainable option, further investigation into the social sustainability of TreeFrog’s supply chain needs to be conducted to ensure that all suppliers meet workplace standards, through third party observers such as Ethical Sugar and the AFL-CIO. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”

Text

University of British Columbia. APSC 262; UBC Social Ecological Economic Development Studies (SEEDS) Student Report

Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library

10.14288/1.0108458

Applied Science, Faculty of

Unreviewed

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ca/