Ithaca considers sweatshop-free policy for uniforms

June 1, 2010  The Ithaca Journal

By Krisy Gashler

In March 1911, a raging fire broke out at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City. With factory doors locked from the outside to prevent workers from taking breaks, 146 young workers -- most of them women -- were killed.

The incident served as the catalyst for the United States to enact worker safety legislation. However, because so many garments sold in the U.S. are now made in developing countries, consumers may not know the conditions under which workers toil to produce their clothing, said Andrew Wolf, a recent Cornell University graduate and former president of the Cornell Organization for Labor Action.

As horrific as the Triangle fire was, "the exact same thing happened in the last few years in Bangladesh," Wolf said.

In February 2006, more than 50 workers were killed in a KTS Textile factory in Bangladesh when a boiler exploded and many exits were padlocked.

"After 100 years, these kinds of situations shouldn't be happening," Wolf said. "What we're trying to argue here is that we wouldn't stand for that, morally, in our country, so we can't just send money overseas and ignore those issues as well."

Wolf has been working for the past two years with Cornell students, the Tompkins County Workers' Center, Catholic Charities, local unions, and others, to encourage the City of Ithaca to adopt a policy that would ensure its workers' uniforms aren't made in sweatshops.

Common Council is set to consider Wednesday a resolution that would task the city attorney's office with researching and developing a "sweat-free" apparel policy for the city.

The resolution was supported unanimously by the Council's City Administration committee last week. Committee Chairwoman Maria Coles, D-1st, thanked the many Cornell students who have researched and advocated for the policy.

"I'm really glad that we are finally moving forward with this," she said.

The policy Wolf hopes the city ultimately adopts would commit the city to joining a "sweat-free purchasing consortium," which would hire independent, international monitors who would inspect factories and report whether they are complying with fair labor standards.

While approximately 200 municipalities have adopted sweatshop-free procurement policies, only about 10 have joined the monitoring consortium, Wolf said. Joining the consortium would cost Ithaca $500 per year, he said.

Cornell adopted a similar policy seven years ago, Wolf said.

Common Council meets Wednesday at 6 p.m. in City Hall, 108 E. Green St.