[ What is IRTK? ] [ Why IRTK? ]

What is IRTK?

A coalition of more than 200 environmental, labor, social justice and human rights organizations have joined together to support an International Right to Know legislative proposal. Modeled on domestic Right to Know laws, IRTK would require U.S. companies to report on the key environmental, labor and human practices of their overseas operations.

Proposed components for an International Right to Know Law include:

Environmental Disclosure Toxic Releases Air and Water Pollution Natural Resource Extraction

Labor Disclosure Workplace Injuries and Fatalities Hazardous Workplace Materials Labor Complaints Against Employers

Human Rights Disclosure Contracts with Military and Police Forces Impacts on Indigenous Communities Human Rights Complaints Against Companies

Why IRTK?

• BHOPAL, India, 1984. In the middle of the night on December 3, 1984, over 40 tons of Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) and other lethal gasses leaked from Union Carbide's pesticide factory in the northern end of the city. Eight thousand people were killed in its immediate aftermath and over 500,000 people suffered from injuries.
  
  
• U.S. Congress, 1986. Following the Bhopal disaster, the U.S. Congress responded by requiring companies to disclose their domestic toxic releases under the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act (EPCRA) of 1986. That law and others like it have provided communities and workers in the United States with essential information about the conditions they face.
  
  
• But domestic Right to Know laws don't apply to U.S. companies operating abroad – even to Bhopal. That's why the IRTK coalition believes that Right to Know principles should be extended to the international operations of U.S. companies. Communities and workers throughout the world have the right to important information about corporate practices that will have significant impacts on their lives.
  
  
• The American public expects that our international economic policy will reflect our country's best values, and not just commercial interests. Domestic Right to Know laws have worked well. Many businesses have voluntarily improved their practices in response to Right to Know laws, and industries have reduced their toxic releases by 50%. The time has come to export our values by ensuring that U.S. firms operating abroad report on their practices in the critical areas of environment, labor and human rights.
  
  
• We believe that together we can pass an International Right to Know law. Please join us in our effort to require U.S. companies to disclose how they are operating around the globe by endorsing the proposal and taking action in our ACTION CENTER.
  

If you have any questions regarding the Right to Know proposal and the coalition effort, please contact David Waskow at Friends of the Earth at .