Stop Paying for Slavery Tour – Why
At the beginning of the year, Manpower and The Not For Sale Campaign joined forces to advance the fight against human trafficking. Manpower is the primary sponsor of the Stop Paying for Slavery Tour. This tour has a particular focus on introducing the next generation of business leaders to supply chain monitoring programs and the power of social entrepreneurship. The partnership aims to raise awareness among businesses, governments and communities with regard to the challenges of exposing and combating human trafficking.
The core of Manpower’s business is providing people from all walks of life with sustainable livelihoods, and we stand, as a company, for the dignity of work and employment opportunities for all. Manpower is a people business and our value proposition to customers is deeply rooted in connecting the right people with the right jobs. To that end, we undertake many projects across the globe where we leverage our core competencies in partnership with governments and international organizations to develop effective employment solutions and to help individuals improve their skills and expand their employment opportunities.
The abuse of vulnerable workers is the exact opposite of everything Manpower strives to do, and the illegal and immoral trafficking of human beings is one of the most reprehensible crimes imaginable. We stand firmly against this exploitative practice. Manpower was the first company to sign the Athens Ethical Principles, which declare a “zero tolerance” policy for working with any entity that benefits in any way from human trafficking. We have undertaken a rigorous review of our own global supply chain, educating and shaping the behavior of literally tens of thousands of companies to prevent them, and us, from knowingly or unknowingly benefitting from the enslavement and forced labor of others.
Manpower has partnered with many leading NGOs and international organizations to address the multi-faceted challenge of human trafficking, and in this process we have come to regard the Not For Sale Campaign (NFSC) as one of the most effective advocacy organizations we have ever worked with in this field. We are proud to sponsor the 2010 “Stop Paying for Slavery” Tour, which will mobilize and educate students, business leaders, law enforcement, faith groups, and other community organizations to permanently increase the resources that are avaiable for the fight against this modern day form of slavery. Together, by enabling widespread collaboration on this complex challenge, we can take a giant step towards eradicating the dreadful practice of abusing human beings for profit.
David Arkless
President of Corporate and Government Affairs
Manpower Inc.
