August 2006
Newsletter #10
Contents:
1) Endorse the Campaign for a State and Local Government Sweatfree Consortium
2) Sweatfree Kudos!
3) Me and My Uniform
4) Just Garments T-Shirts Ready for Order
5) Campaign Updates
6) Join SweatFree Communities!
Endorse the Campaign for a State and Local Government Sweatfree Consortium
Together with our campaign steering committee, advisers, and local sweatfree campaigns, we have drafted a vision for a State and Local Government Sweatfree Consortium that will direct tax-payer dollars from sweatshop abuse toward worker rights. We invite you to review the vision paper and to share your thoughts with us.
Take action - support the campaign! Click on the links below:
* Endorse the campaign. Help us build our growing list of endorsing organizations and businesses to demonstrate the strength of the movement.
* Organize to get your mayor or governor to join the consortium.
* Spread the word!
Sweatfree Kudos to AFSCME Local 2459, Pittsburgh!
Here's a hat trick that really matters. AFSCME Local 2459 Secretary John Rudiak recently introduced sweatfree resolutions to the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO, the AFSCME Council 13 in Pennsylvania, and the AFSCME international convention. All of them passed unanimously. The resolutions lay the ground for stronger labor-community sweatfree coalitions. This is what AFSCME resolved at its 37th international convention:
* Support state, local, and school board legislation for sweatfree procurement policies to end public subsidies of sweatshop abuses and protect workers' rights in the United States and throughout the world.
* Educate its member unions about the benefits of sweatfree procurement campaigns, and encourage local unions and labor councils to join with community allies in sweatfree procurement campaigns.
Me and My Uniform
We are planning to launch a section of our website titled "Me and My Uniform".
Imagine bus drivers, police officers, postal workers, or students at an inner-city middle school pictured wearing their uniforms and quoted in their own words about why they don't want their uniforms made in sweatshops.
This photo collection will serve multiple purposes: It will be a persuasive visual by showing workers in the U.S. who care about working conditions wherever their uniform is made. And it will provide us with labels for garment workers in the country of production to use in identifying the supplier factory, connecting the dots between producer and consumer.
We need help with the project! Send photos of uniformed city and state employees and students wearing school apparel along with physical labels (or photos of the labels) to Liana (contact info below). Ask your local unions to help. Or propose this as a project to students at a local school. A flier about the project is here.
Just Garments T-Shirts Ready to Order
Starting in October, t-shirts made by Just Garments, a worker-run union factory in El Salvador, will be available for order from a distributor in the U.S. Get your school, church, or organization to commit to an order now! Find out more.
Learn about other sweatfree shopping options.
Campaign Updates
Berkeley, California: On June 28, Berkeley City Council approved funding for enforcement of the sweatfree ordinance which they expect to adopt later this year. Read more.
Colorado: Jefferson County Open School in Colorado became the third high school in the US to affiliate with the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) on June 27. "We do not want our school to subsidize sweatshop conditions in factories where our products are produced. Instead, we are using our power as students and citizens to create positive changes for workers around the world", said Mark Anderson, a student leader of the campaign who worked closely with the Ethical Trade Action Group, a Denver-based grassroots anti-sweatshop organization and a campaign affiliate of SweatFree Communities. Read more.
Maine: Use Maine’s sweatfree purchasing law to create solidarity with sweatshop workers. Click here for a list of the State of Maine’s purchasing contracts for footwear, apparel, and textiles. If you are aware of any health, safety, or human rights violations at any of the factories listed, please contact Sean Donahue at the Bangor Clean Clothes Campaign immediately at 207-947-4203.
The State of Maine Purchasing Code of Conduct Working Group held its first meeting on August 30. Consisting of four Maine-based advocates for worker rights and four Maine-based apparel businesses, the group quickly reached consensus that a multi state and city consortium for monitoring and investigating code of conduct violations is desirable. Read more and see the list of Working Group participants.
New York: Both the New York Senate and Assembly unanimously approved a two-year extension of the state code sections requiring state agencies to purchase sweatfree apparel and allowing local governments to do the same. New York State Labor-Religion Coalition, which led the effort, is now gearing up to pass sweatfree purchasing ordinances in New York City and Albany. Read more.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh Anti-Sweatshop Community Alliance organized activists to rally for fair labor standards in Major League Baseball's supply chain at the All Star Game in July. See the resulting article in The Nation as well as the Sweatfree Baseball campaign page. This month community activists, baseball fans, and stadium workers are came together at the founding meeting of the Human Rights Baseball Alliance.
Portland, Oregon: The Portland Sweatfree Campaign is building a long list of campaign endorsers, planning educational events, and gaining strong support at City Hall. And they've launched a web page with all this info and more.
(SweatFree Communities is glad to provide web pages for any sweatfree campaigns. To set one up, contact us.)
San Francisco: Mayor Gavin Newsom swore in the city's new Sweatfree Procurement Advisory Group on June 23. Read more.
Join SweatFree Communities!
Do you want to join SweatFree Communities? Now you can! If your group is interested in or already is campaigning for sweatfree procurement, we invite you to consider becoming a SweatFree Communities Campaign Affiliate. If your non-profit organization believes that we need to build a strong and unified movement for worker rights in the United States and overseas, we invite you to consider becoming a SweatFree Communities Partner. The goal is to build a strong, unified, and visible sweatfree movement with the resources to match the potential of the strategy. Please consider joining now - click here to learn more.
