Members of the jewelry industry are confident that US sanctions on Burmese gems will punish leaders of the Asian country’s military coup without damaging the trade.The Myanmar army seized control of the country on February 1. On February 11, US President Joe Biden’s administration banned US.
RAPAPORT. The Diamond Council of America (DCA) has elected Chuck Kuba to a two-year term as chairman of its board of directors.
Kuba, the owner of Iowa Diamond in Des Moines, Iowa, is also on the board of directors of Jewelers of America (JA), and was previously the president of the Iowa Jewelers Association, the DCA said last week.
David Bonaparte, CEO of JA, and Bill Luth, executive vice president of global store operations for Signet Jewelers, will serve as vice chairmen. Dan Casanova, vice president of Riddle’s Jewelry, will take on the roles of secretary and treasurer. Jennifer Hammond, divisional vice president for Signet brands Kay, Zales and Peoples, will join the board for a one-year term.
National Jeweler conducted.
Nearly three-quarters of employers polled in the jewelry sector, and more than half of employees, reported their companies ranked very well when it came to these matters, JA said last week. In fact, 73% of employers said the trade ranked as well as, or better than, other industries in supporting Black employees, while 66% of employees said the same.
However, owners and workers had different opinions when it came to awareness of racial discrimination, the survey found. Some 95% of employers stated they had not witnessed or been made aware of any race-based discriminatory actions at their company. Meanwhile, 11% of employees said they were aware of race-based discrimination at their current workplace, while 15% had noticed it at a past employer, and 24% had seen or heard about it at other companies in the jewelry industry.