Gonna Make You Sweat-Free, Baby
September 12, 2007 Willamette Week
Letter to the Editor
I was surprised and slightly confused when I saw that Willamette Week attempted to stake out a position to the left of workers' rights advocates, accusing us of "surrender" in the campaign for a sweatshop-free purchasing policy for the City of Portland ["Sweat Surrender," Sept. 5, 2007].
Labor rights activists in Portland, overwhelmingly volunteers, initiated this campaign over a year ago because we care about workers' rights around the world. We are confident that the Sweatfree Resolution passed in City Hall—which directs the City Council to pass a sweatfree ordinance within a year—is a firm step in this direction.
I am happy that the Willy Week so intensely shares our desire for a Sweatfree ordinance. I only wish that you had aggressively editorialized to that effect before the resolution was brought before council in the first place.
The resolution is an important first step in passing an ordinance that will ensure that all goods purchased by the city are made under decent working conditions. Making sure that all city contractors respect workers' rights and pay a respectable wage will be, of course, a complicated process. I am proud that Portland is at the forefront of the effort to make cities ethical consumers in the global economy.
Dan Denvir
North Chatham Avenue
