November 2008

Newsletter #20

Contents:
1) Shop with a Conscience this Holiday Season
2) SweatFree Communities Needs Your Help!
3) Support Striking Workers for Thanksgiving
4) The Newest Sweatfree City: Portland, Oregon
5) Ohio Becomes Eighth Sweatfree State
6) SweatFree Communities and Made in L.A. Collaborate
7) Just Where is that Police Uniform Made?

Shop with a Conscience this Holiday Season

SweatFree Communities and International Labor Rights Forum are excited to bring you the 2009 Shop with a Conscience Consumer Guide filled with excellent products made in good working conditions. We believe that one of the most important criteria for meaningful and dignified work is that workers have an effective, collective voice in determining their wages and working conditions. Therefore all the products in this shopping guide are made by workers organized into democratic unions or worker-owned cooperatives. All retailers and wholesalers listed in the guide have undergone a rigorous application process to give us and you the confidence that their products truly meet our sweatfree criteria. Please support organized workers by shopping with a conscience this holiday season and by helping publicize this guide.

SweatFree Communities Needs Your Help!

As you know, when times get tough economically, it's toughest for workers who face downsizing, pay-cuts, and lay-offs. Recent news reports show that consumers are cutting back on holiday shopping this season. How will this impact garment workers? Will it mean that workers get evenings and weekends off, instead of having to work through the night or thirty days in a row? Or will it mean that workers lose their jobs because companies overestimated consumer demand? Either way, workers' lives shouldn't be at the mercy of market fluctuations. That's why SweatFree Communities is working to put real enforceable worker rights standards in the global economy.

As you give thanks this week for all that you value in life, and as you gather with your family and community, please also show that you value SweatFree Communities by making a donation now. We're concerned that less shopping may also mean less giving -- something we cannot afford, and that will ultimately hurt garment workers. If you're shopping less this season, we hope you use that as an opportunity to give more!

Read our blog for further reflections on why a new economy must be a sweatfree economy.

Support Striking Workers for Thanksgiving

Workers at Oak Harbor Freight Lines have been on strike since September 22 because the company cut health benefits for its retirees. In solidarity with the Teamsters, SweatFree Communities has asked major apparel brands (Gap, JC Penney, K-mart, and Ralph Lauren) to suspend their business relationship with Oak Harbor Freight Lines until there is a just resolution to the labor dispute.

Teamsters is asking supporters to contact Oak Harbor Freight Lines. Take action this Thanksgiving in solidarity with Jeff the Trucker and his fellow workers by sending a message to the company now.

The Newest Sweatfree City: Portland, Oregon

Portland, Oregon, has adopted an ordinance that requires the city to apply sweatshop-free criteria when buying public employee uniforms and other apparel. A grassroots campaign in Portland, endorsed by 45 organizations, made the victory possible. The initial victory came a year ago when the campaign won a resolution, providing start-up funding for the State and Local Government Sweatfree Consortium and establishing a city committee that was given a year to draft policy language. The ordinance, approved unanimously by City Council on October 15, 2008, is one of the strongest in the country, and the campaign is already planning to duplicate this victory in other cities in the Pacific Northwest.

Ohio Becomes Eighth Sweatfree State

Companies engaged in sweatshop violations may not do business with the State of Ohio, according to an Executive Order signed last month by Governor Ted Strickland. The signing comes after the SweatFree Ohio Campaign, an alliance of 30 religious, labor, student, human rights and community groups around the state, called on Governor Strickland to end tax dollar support for sweatshops by joining with other state and local governments to enforce sweatshop-free procurement policies.

The SweatFree Ohio Campaign commends Governor Strickland and looks forward to working with the Governor and his administration to craft a strong, enforceable policy that will bring real results for workers in Ohio and elsewhere. How will Ohioans achieve that strong policy? Well, today a high school field hockey team are showing off their new sweatshop-free gear at the State Capitol, thanking Governor Strickland for the Executive Order and calling on him to join the Sweatfree Consortium as a next step.

SweatFree Communities and Made in L.A. Collaborate

Last week the filmmakers of Made in L.A. toured the Pacific Northwest in support of sweatfree campaigns in Oregon and Washington. The tour featured five nights of packed film screenings. Made in L.A. just won an Emmy, and tells the remarkable story of three Latina immigrants working in Los Angeles garment sweatshops as they embark on a three-year odyssey to win basic labor protections from trendy clothing retailer. More than 600 people attended the tour events, and each screening featured organizers who gave participants concrete ways to get involved with local sweatfree campaigns and to support immigrants' rights.

Made in L.A. is available to anyone who would like to host a screening, and the filmmakers offer an innovative "screening kit" that contains everything needed for a screening. DVDs of the film make great Christmas gifts. A portion of the proceeds benefits Sweatfree Communites.

Just Where is that Police Uniform Made?

And in what conditions? Some of our partners in state governments are beginning to ask the question in earnest and will be seeking help from independent factory monitors to find out. Working closely with the Sweatfree Consortium, Pennsylvania state officials are currently drafting a request for proposal for a multi-state independent monitoring contract which all states can join. Many cities and counties will be able to join as well, giving them access to independent reports about working conditions in factory suppliers. To learn more and to help your state or city benefit from independent factory investigations contact us.

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