Federal Lawsuit Demands Costco Label Shrimp Packaging as 'Product of Slavery'

As the issue of slavery (historical & current) is heating up in the US, there is yet another very current and ongoing issue of slave labor happening at this very moment. In fact, it might be on your menu tonight.

Slave Labor Shrimp...
NEW YORK — A federal lawsuit is demanding that Costco label much of the shrimp it sells as the product of human slavery. The lawsuit, which also wants Costco to stop buying shrimp from its suppliers in Thailand, was filed in California. It alleges that Costco is deceiving customers by not including an advisory about slavery on product packaging.

The plaintiffs claim that the United Nations and the U.S. State Department have established that Thai shrimp producers depend on slave labor.

According to the suit, Thai shrimp commonly sold in the United States comes from farms, and is not fished in the wild. But the feed for the farmed shrimp comes from the slave-staffed fishing boats known as "ghost ships." Workers on those boats are kept in cages to prevent them from escaping, the suit claims. The workers are whipped with toxic stingray tails and shocked with Taser-like devices, according to the suit.
More:

www.seattletimes.com...
Costco’s purchases of Thailand’s farmed prawns, which are fed a diet of cheap fish caught at sea with unpaid, forced labor, helps prop up an industry whose practices are ignored by local authorities, according to the complaint filed Wednesday in San Francisco federal court.

“Human suffering cannot be ignored to enhance a company’s economic bottom line,” plaintiffs’ lawyer Niall McCarthy, of Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, said in a statement. “California consumers are unknowingly supporting slave labor.”

So who would be the largest importer of slave labor shrimp?

The suit says the United States is the largest importer of Thai seafood, purchasing $1.7 billion a year, and that shrimp is the most common seafood purchased in America.

Meanwhile, as many eat the blood, sweat and tears products from the slave to the table, there are a few more ingredients that many are not aware of:

A little bit of Karma I suppose.

But it's not just the shrimp being farmed by slave labor nor is it just the police and Govt. turning their backs on the human suffering to bring it to the table but it goes further than that. The food used to feed the shrimp in the toxic farms. Vicious circle.

www.rt.com...
Charoen Pokphand (CP) Foods, based in Thailand, uses fishmeal, a commercial product made from fish and the bones and offal (or entrails) from processed fish, to feed the shrimp it farms.

That fishmeal is bought from suppliers using “large numbers of men bought and sold like animals and held against their will on fishing boats,” the Guardian reported after a six-month investigation into the industry. CP Foods is the world’s largest shrimp farmer, and supplies the seafood to global retailers like Walmart, Costco, Carrefour and Tesco.

And for those that prefer Vice:
news.vice.com...

"If this kind of abuse were happing in Boston and New York, or London and Manchester, the industry would be shut down overnight," Trent said. "Just because it's coming from a country a long way a way the players are happy to ignore it."

Maybe.

Bon Appétit!

Jude

That's interesting yet kind of disturbing. Especially since I was recently hired at Costco.

originally posted by: KingKelson
That's interesting yet kind of disturbing. Especially since I was recently hired at Costco.

Are you seeing my thread?

I'm not.

No just the headline a reply to: jude11

Pretty much everything that comes from China is the product of slave labour.

a reply to: jude11

Thought that I would get to read about us westerners taking an interest in the lives of folks that don't have it as good. What I ended up seeing was censorship.

I guess I will go look for it elsewhere.

a reply to: jude11

Your op had a ATS banner that said the link was removed due to some type of legal action. I don't see the banner now.

You got a restricted post.

originally posted by: Witness2008
a reply to: jude11

Your op had a ATS banner that said the link was removed due to some type of legal action. I don't see the banner now.

Legal action against who?

a reply to: jude11

I just see the title.


It's either your source or how you sourced it.

a reply to: jude11

Maybe costco is appealing something?

Let me look around

originally posted by: reldra
a reply to: jude11

I just see the title.

Unless there are new rules here I'm not aware of, it's a first time for me.

Legal Action? Kinda feel I stepped into something...

Went through it and found a source that Apparently is illegal?

I don't get it.

a reply to: jude11
You either used a source that is not allowed or you didn't give credit properly.

- that looks better now.

I found all types of news on it. Don't know if I should link considering the removal of you op.

Thailand does kidnap and abuse workers, most certainly shrimpers.

That is kinda weird that you were censored considering it has become a federal class action suit, MSM is all over it.

Your thread is back in full force with links and all. I shall look it over now.

originally posted by: reldra
a reply to: jude11
You either used a source that is not allowed or you didn't give credit properly.

- that looks better now.

Checked many times and gave proper credit. Also posted a blank post with only the source link and it went *poof*

So it was the source and not the story nor the credit given I guess.

Jude

Thanks to all for the patience!

Jude

I am also going to ask my managers about this tomorrow. Will post if there's any interest

a reply to: jude11

Nice informative thread. Between the pollution and the slavery it is getting very difficult to find wholesome seafood.

I am very pleased to see groups of people making a stand against the ugly and greedy business practices that have become ever so prevalent in our lives.