Conference Report 2005
SweatFree Communities National Conference, May 2005
Over 80 participants representing 46 organizations – including local sweatfree campaigns from the United States and Canada (and Quebec), unions from El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and the U.S., religious organizations, United Students Against Sweatshops chapters, high school youth groups, anti-sweatshop organizations, and fair trade groups – got together for workshops, roundtables, presentations, great food, song, and just fun. Denver’s Ethical Trade Action Group (E-TAG) were hosts extraordinaire, making sure workshops and presentations ran smoothly and handling the logistical challenges of lodging and transportation during the Cinco de Mayo celebration with grace and humor.
Do you have ideas for the 2006 conference? Planning is already under way for the 2006 edition, so be sure to let us know, and stay tuned!
A 29-page conference report is available here.
Check what participants said about the conference.
Voices from the Conference
“Learning about the victories of others has inspired me for my work back home.” — Buffalo
“It was such an energizing and inspiring space – I have been riding high ever since.” — Minneapolis
“ I enjoyed having active unionizers speak about their first-hand experiences… I liked the incorporation of religious communities...” — Boulder
“ We had a really positive atmosphere, and really amazing speakers. Hearing first hand the experiences of workers who were affected by free trade, globalization and sweatshops was probably the most powerful for me.” — Bangor, Maine
“ It was great to be pondering with you all!” – Connecticut
“ I learned a lot, met awesome people, got inspired, and put faces on the struggle.” — Denver
“… variety of people from different places, of different ages, working on different campaigns, but all for one common purpose.” – Denver
“ It was kind of fun going through the car wash to find the hotel!” — Los Angeles
“… some great new friends in the movement – the most important thing!” — Los Angeles
“…best of seven conferences we’ve been to this year…” — Portland, Oregon
“Got lots of positive ideas on how to better our campaign… I think we should be able to come home better focused and become a more efficient organization.” — Quebec
“ ...an opportunity to broaden alliances... We plan to improve the exchange of information on an international level.” — Central America
