What is Fair Trade? With the recent celebration of Labor Day (which, by the way, was started in 1894 by President Grover Cleveland as a way to distract attention from May Day) – the real anniversary of radical labor activism – I want to talk more about labor: fair labor.
The fair trade movement sets out to empower producers at the local level by paying them fair wages for their labor, strengthening their local living conditions, and giving them a stronger voice in the market.
While free trade advocates push for international trade devoid of as much regulation as possible, fair trade advocates insist that free trade isn't enough. They argue that without regulation, a global trade system with power centralized at the international level will always hurt local-level workers.
This article appears in Dec 2-8, 2000.