Labor Updates (6/28/07)

International Rights Advocates (IRAdvocates) - a new organization to combat corporate worker and human rights abuses - holds a launch party Friday from 4-8P. IRAdvocates is currently representing the families of the three Colombian union leaders assassinated by paramilitaries hired by the Drummond mining company, in the first-ever trial against a multinational corporation for human rights violations. The successor to the litigation department of the International Labor Rights Fund (ILRF), IRAdvocates  "is dedicated to the expansion of ILRF's successful efforts to use innovative legal mechanisms to hold corporations and governments accountable for human rights violations worldwide," says the group's website. "By creatively using international human rights law. IRAdvocates protects and empowers individuals victimized by multinational corporations and other powerful entities that traditionally enjoy impunity or immunity."