October 2005
Newsletter #4
Contents:
1) Report From Anti-Sweatshop Conference for High School Students
2) Local Campaign Updates - VICTORY in San Francisco!
3) Organizers Needed!
4) Mapping the Supply Chain
5) SweatFree Communities Unity Principles
6) USAS' Sweatfree Campus Campaign
Report from Northeast Anti-Sweatshop Conference for High School Students
Over 40 youth participated in our first conference on sweatfree campaigning in high schools, cosponsored by United Students Against Sweatshops and New York State Labor-Religion Coalition. Most of the youth who attended the event at Smith College in Northampton MA, Sept 30 - Oct 2, were high school students. In addition, a few middle school and college students participated."I learned how to start a campaign, how to write a press release, how to maintain an active organization, how to build a coalition, and how to communicate with the school to make sure policies follow through and stay in effect," said one student. Read more here!
Local Campaign Updates
San Francisco: It's official! The San Francisco Board of Supervisors held their final vote on the Sweatfree Ordinance and it passed unanimously. The campaign has received much media attention, see www.sweatfree.org/media_coverage for a compilation of news covering San Francisco and other sweatfree campaigns. Also check out the campaign's website.Maine: In August, over a dozen people, representing sweatfree campaigns, unions, universities, and fair trade campaigns, spoke convincingly and eloquently on the need for strengthening the state’s sweatfree procurement rules, making sure that workers’ voices are heard by the State and that it takes effective action to compel a company that is violating workers’ rights to change its behavior. The campaign received testimony from activists, unions, and human rights groups from as far away as Los Angeles, El Salvador, Haiti, and Hong Kong. The State’s Division of Purchases listened and has improved their proposed rules. Check out the testimony and more.
Denver: Ethical Trade Action Group, a grassroots coalition in Denver, is presenting their Sweatfree Purchasing Policy to the Denver Public School Board on Thursday, Oct. 20th. They are asking Denver Public Schools to become a part of the national movement to put an end to sweatshop labor. For more information on the campaign, see www.e-tag.org or contact info@e-tag.org
[Insert your campaign here! Please be in touch with us with the latest news from your campaign.]
Organizers Needed!
Do you know people in any of the following states and cities? New York, Connecticut, Maine, Vermont, Illinois, Massachusetts, Nashville, Philadelphia, Columbus. These are some of the places where campaigns are currently running or starting. Get in touch if you're interested to hook into a campaign or if you know people who might want to join an organizing effort. Contact liana@sweatfree.orgMapping the Supply Chain
We are working with the Worker Rights Consortium and other allies in the United States and Canada to develop a web-linked public disclosure database that will capture the apparel industry supply chain, from factory to vendor to institutional consumer. The database will reveal common vendors and factory suppliers for cities, states, and schools that have adopted sweatfree policies. It will help workers initiate the complaints process when abuses occur, and make connections with local sweatfree campaigns that in turn will demand that their governments listen to the testimonies of workers that make the products they buy.We need help with the research! We are particularly interested in data from cities that have factory disclosure policies and larger cities and states where there are ongoing sweatfree campaigns. Please contact bjorn@sweatfree.org if you can help.
View the list of sweatfree policies adopted and those with disclosure requirements.
