Lucas County enacts anti-sweatshop policy

by Jonathan Nawn, Daily Reporter Staff Writer

Lucas County Commissioners unanimously approved an initiative on Tuesday limiting county contracts for prison uniforms and sundry apparel to companies without ties to overseas sweatshops.

"The use of sweatshop labor is unacceptable in the 21st century. Our community values human rights and workers rights and, as such, we should not be spending taxpayer dollars on businesses that rely on inhumane and unsafe labor practices to make a buck," stated Commissioner Ben Konop.

According to Konop, the initiative is partly in response to the 2006 deaths of more than 300 young women in a fire at the KTS Textile factory in Bangladesh, a sweatshop that manufactured prison uniforms for the North Carolina-based Bob Barker Co., a current contractor with Lucas County.

When Konop and his fellow commissioners learned of the incident several weeks ago, they contacted the Sweat Free Communities advocacy group for assistance in drafting a policy.

"Lucas County has passed one of the most aggressive and progressive sweatshop initiatives in the nation," said Victoria Kaplan, Sweat Free Communities' Midwest regional organizer.

With the policy's ratification, Lucas County joins seven states, 38 cities and 14 other counties in a national consortium opposed to spending taxpayer dollars on sweatshop labor, organized by Sweat Free Communities.

The consortium allows for the pooling of resources needed investigate claims of poor working conditions in overseas factories.

"Lucas County on its own might not have the resources to send an investigator to Bangladesh. Joining the consortium will enable them to do the kind of monitoring that is necessary to actually give teeth to a sweat-free policy," said Kaplan.

The Bob Barker Co., however, will not be shut out immediately from contracts with Lucas County as the policy is prospective. New contracts must fit the policy profile, but current contracts will run to completion, which could be another six months to a year, according to Konop.

In a statement, the company neither confirmed nor denied ties to KTS Textile and asserted that all suppliers are certified by the Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production program. Compliance with that program entails that the factories produce textiles under lawful, humane, and ethical conditions. In addition, the company claims to conduct regular on-site inspections and audits of supply facilities.

Meanwhile, Kaplan said that Sweat Free Communities is actively pursuing a statewide adoption of the policy and several recent meetings with Gov. Ted Strickland's staff indicate that that may be forthcoming.

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