Vendor picked for Milwaukee police uniforms

But sweatshop allegations must still be resolved

Dec. 28, 2009  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

By Dave Umhoefer 

Hoping the third time is the charm, city purchasing officials once again have picked a vendor to supply replacement uniforms for Milwaukee police officers.

The selection process has dragged on for a year because of tussles over allegations of Chinese sweatshop labor and price concerns. The city tossed out two earlier rounds of bidding.

The apparent winner - amid continuing criticism about the process - is the incumbent vendor: Badger Uniforms, a south side Milwaukee supplier. The deal, though, is not final yet.

Badger was not the low bidder, coming in $157,000 higher on a bid of about $1.18 million compared with local competitor Goldfish Uniforms. A third vendor, Lark Uniform Outfitters, submitted a price in between those of Badger and Goldfish.

City purchasing officials this month disqualified Badger's competitors, saying the American-made trousers and shirts they proposed did not precisely meet Milwaukee Police Department standards outlined in bid specifications.

Badger would supply uniforms made in Foshan City, China, for New York City-based apparel-maker I. Spiewak & Sons. City police officials favor the all-polyester Spiewak uniforms, with their hidden cargo pocket and other features.

Rhonda Kelsey, city purchasing director, recommended the award to Badger after a review of the bids. She said police thought the Spiewak uniforms would be more durable and safer.

A continuing issue in the year-old uniform bid saga is whether Spiewak's production of the uniforms in China runs afoul of the city's anti-sweatshop clothing ordinance.

Kelsey, in fact, said she would not sign off on the contract with Badger until the city attorney's office decides on that question. A decision is expected by the end of the year.

Spiewak has pledged to city officials that its work meets the requirements of the ordinance. The company says the workers making the Milwaukee product are in a separate unit at the Chinese factory and are paid a special rate.

Skeptics of Spiewak's claim include Steve Watrous, a local member of the Clean Clothes Campaign, which successfully pushed for the anti-sweatshop ordinance.

Watrous said Spiewak's pledge of a segregated unit of higher-paid workers needed more investigation.

"It seems preposterous on the face of it," Watrous said. But he added: "If it were true it would be a minor victory."

A workers' rights group has made allegations about labor-law violations at the garment factory in China, based on a preliminary investigation, Kelsey said in a letter to City Attorney Grant Langley.

Spiewak official Sol Jacobs declined to comment.

Watrous and other workers' rights activists also worked to get City Hall to rewrite the original bid language, which called specifically for the Spiewak-made uniforms. That brand-name preference last year prompted cries of foul from other manufacturers interested in the Milwaukee contract.

Even though the new bid language allowed alternatives to Spiewak, critics say it still was tilted to give Spiewak an advantage.

"It was written so that it was tailored to get a certain product they were looking for," said Goldfish co-owner Debbie O'Brien.

Goldfish and Lark bid trousers and shirts made by Elbeco, a Pennsylvania-based uniform manufacturer. The company has overseas plants but has pledged to make the Milwaukee uniforms at its unionized U.S. plants.

But the Elbeco uniform sample was not 100% polyester, meaning it did not meet the bid specifications.

Apples and oranges?

Linda Robison, general manager at Badger, said it was misleading to compare bid prices because the uniforms are different - and the police want the Spiewak version.

"The guys on the department like the (Spiewak) uniform," Robison said.

Badger already has started supplying the Spiewak uniform to officers, under its previous contract with the city.

That contract expired, prompting the bidding process for a local vendor. The contract was extended until Dec. 31.

J.D. Devine, Elbeco's director of sales and business development, said his firm had no hard feelings about the Milwaukee competition.

"We respect what the Milwaukee Police Department wants to do," Devine said.