Updates 2004
November 10, 2004 (from No More Sweatshops) -- LA COUNCIL PASSES ANTI-SWEATSHOP ORDINANCE -- After two years of lobbying by local unions, sweatshop workers, clergy and activists, the Los Angeles City Council yesterday unanimously adopted the nation's most aggressive sweatfree purchasing policy. The policy includes coverage of all city procurement, a sweatfree code of conduct with a "procurement living wage," funding for an independent monitor, and creation of an oversight committee including advocates. Download the city's report and ordinance. Press coverage: Eastern Group Publications: "Los Angeles Goes 'Sweat' Free"; LA Times: "Council Adopts Anti-Sweatshop Law"; Associated Press: "City Council Approves Sweatshop-Free Police Uniforms" For more information: Erica Zeitlin, No More Sweatshops Coordinator.
March 23, 2004 (from No More Sweatshops) -- LA SCHOOL DISTRICT PASSES HISTORIC ANTI-SWEATSHOP MEASURE -- The Los Angeles school board today adopted a sweeping anti-sweatshop procurement measure impacting $600 milion in goods and services, and established a policy of preventing public dollars from subsidizing poverty wages. The victory came after 14 months of negotiations witha coalition of garment worker advocates, unions, religious and student groups coordinated by the No More Sweatshops! campaign. ... The new District code of conduct will require a "non-poverty wage" standard, first proposed by UNITE, based on data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and, for offshore production, World Bank purchasing power ratios by country. "This standard, if seriously implemented, means the end of public subsidies for poverty wages," said former Senator Tom Hayden, director of the coalition.
... For more information: Erica Zeitlin, No More Sweatshops Coordinator.
March 10, 2004 (from South Sound Clean Clothes Campaign) -- OLYMPIA, WASHINGTON PASSES CLEAN CLOTHES RESOLUTION -- After more than two years of research, organizing, educating by the South Sound Clean Clothes Campaign, the Olympia City Council yesterday unanimously adopted the nation's first sweatfree purchaing policy based on sweatfree list. The measure is to be implemented incrementally, starting with bulk purchases of T-shirts, sweatshirts, and baseball caps from "manufacturers proven to be free of sweatshop conditions." Download the resolution. For more information: Dick Meyer, campaign coordinator.
February 2004 (from SweatFree Communities)-- SFC National Conference on May 14-16 2004-- This conference is for local anti-sweatshop activists working to persuade cities, schools, and other institutions to adopt sweatshop-free purchasing policies. For more information, contact Bjorn Claeson, SweatFree Communities National Coordinator.
