National Labor Committee in Support of Human and Worker Rights

The Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights, formerly known as the National Labor Committee (until 2011), is a non-profit, non-governmental organization (NGO) that investigates human and labor rights abuses committed by large multinational corporations producing goods in the developing world. Today the Institute is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with offices in Bangladesh and Central America. Charles Kernaghan currently serves as the Executive Director. The Institute publishes investigations with the goal of influencing public opinion and corporate policy. It is widely considered to be the organization that began the late-20th-century anti-sweatshop movement in America.

In 1980, the National Labor Committee (NLC) was founded by Jack Sheinkman, President of the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union; Doug Frazer, President of the United Auto Workers; and Bill Wimpisinger, President of the International Association of Machinists. At its founding, the NLC’s mission was to help union members and activists in Central America who were victims of political violence. When the 1990 Peace Accords were signed in Central America, the NLC became a registered non-profit and moved its headquarters to New York City, where it expanded its mission to defend human and worker rights globally. Charles Kernaghan joined the NLC in 1986 and became Executive Director in 1990.

In 1996, the NLC met with workers in Guatemala to research alleged sweatshop factory conditions. Workers in the factory presented labels from the Kathie Lee Gifford clothing line, which was produced for Wal-Mart and claimed to be manufactured in the United States. The NLC targeted Kathie Lee and her high-profile, wholesome image, which sparked a media frenzy and brought the issue of sweatshops into the public eye.