Sweatfree Baseball
Proposed Pittsburgh Pirates anti-sweatshop resolution
Pittsburgh City Council Proclamation, July 2006
SweatFree Communities' letter to Pittsburgh Pirates Baseball Club
Worker Rights Consortium's letter to Pittsburgh Pirates
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Response to Major League Baseball
Proposed Pittsburgh Pirates Declaration
“We-are-Global-Familee” anti-sweatshop resolution
RESOLVE, On the occasion of the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, July 11, 2006, declaring that Pittsburgh Pirates Baseball Club will promote fair play for all workers who make Pirates logo apparel and merchandise as part of an ongoing community effort to eliminate sweatshop abuse in the global garment industry.
WHEREAS, Sweatshop conditions in the apparel industry in the United States and around the world are not the exception, but the norm, and most garment workers – mostly young women between the ages of 14 to 25 – work long hours in inhumane conditions; and
WHEREAS, The elimination of apparel and textile import quotas to the United States on New Years Eve of 2004, when the nearly 30-year old Multifiber Arrangement expired, accelerates the global “race to the bottom” in wages and working conditions, and threatens the jobs of those who have been sewing the Pittsburgh Pirates logo for many years in the world’s free trade zones; and
WHEREAS, Members of the Pittsburgh Anti-Sweatshop Community Alliance marched across the Roberto Clemente Bridge on New Years Eve of 2004 on the occasion of the expiration of the Multifiber Arrangement, calling attention to the struggles of workers who sew Pittsburgh Pirates logo apparel in a quota-free world, and placed Bread and Roses at the feet of Roberto Clemente, and promising a Civil Rights Bridge from PNC Park to the floor of the Global Sweatshop; and
WHEREAS, Sweatshop conditions are common in regions where Pittsburgh Pirates, 2006 All Star, and other Major League Baseball apparel and merchandise are made; and
WHEREAS, The City of Pittsburgh and the State of Pennsylvania already have adopted sweatshop-free procurement policies, reflecting the values of our city and state, and Allegheny County has introduced anti-sweatshop legislation in 2006; and
WHEREAS, Fans of the Pittsburgh Pirates expect that the Pirates logo represents fair play and decency whether on the baseball field or in the field of business, and that the workers who sew the logo can exercise their human rights in environments free of fear and intimidation; and
WHEREAS, Citizens of Pittsburgh want to support their team without also subsidizing sweatshop abuse with their tax dollars; and
WHEREAS, The Pittsburgh Pirates has a proud tradition of community outreach, charitable work, and humanitarian concern exemplified by Roberto Clemente; and
WHEREAS, There is an “academic standard” of sweatshop accountability, supported by over 150 universities nationwide including the Carnegie Mellon University and Duquesne University, requiring the disclosure of factory locations, and creating a chain of accountability between consumers and the floor of the factories where their garments are sewn; and
WHEREAS, The National Garment Workers Federation of Bangladesh -- leaders in the global struggle in improve sweatshop working conditions -- visited Freedom Corner on October 16, 2004, demanding an end to firings and black listings that unscrupulous employers use to suppress workers’ struggles for fair labor standards; insisting on verifiable payroll records so that workers can know whether or not they have received a fair wage; and calling for licensees to specify factory locations where logo apparel is made so that consumers and workers can insist on dignified working conditions together; and
WHEREAS, The Pittsburgh Pirates and Major League Baseball can help level the playing field for ethical businesses and create significant demand for better working conditions by adopting sweatshop-free procurement and licensing policies requiring vendors and licensees to abide by fair labor standards; and
WHEREAS, The Pittsburgh Anti-Sweatshop Community Alliance (PASCA) has taken a leadership role educating Pittsburgh Pirates fans about sweatshop conditions in the global apparel industry, and demonstrated that Pirates fans are concerned about workers’ rights and identify with the workers who sew their apparel; and
WHEREAS, On July 11, 2006, the Major League Baseball All-Star Game will be held in our City of Champions, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, presenting us with an unprecedented opportunity to improve condition in the global apparel industry.
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED,
The Pittsburgh Pirates will not tolerate any sweatshop or human rights abuses of any worker who labors to provide products and services to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED,
The Pittsburgh Pirates will promote the “academic standard” for sweatshop accountability to Major League Baseball in the spirit of fair play for all. The academic standard includes compliance with international fair labor standards, freedom of association, living wages, public disclosure of factory locations, independent monitoring of factories, and fair prices for factory products.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED,
The Pittsburgh Pirates will work collaboratively and transparently with the community of Pirates fans and the Pittsburgh Anti-Sweatshop Community Alliance listening to sweatshop worker testimony, supporting workers’ efforts to improve working conditions, and developing and promoting sweatfree procurement and licensing standards and policies promoting the human rights of workers who produce Pittsburgh Pirates logo apparel and merchandise.
