November 2005
Newsletter #5
Contents:
1) SweatFree Communities Needs Your Support
2) Sweatfree eBay Auction
3) Sweatfree Holiday Gifts
4) Local Campaign Updates
5) Support Just Garments
6) New Resource! Non-Poverty Wages for Countries Around the World
7) New Resource! Independent Monitoring Pilot Programs with the Worker Rights Consortium
SweatFree Communities Needs Your Support
Many of you are working hard on local campaigns to make sure your community demands respect and dignity for all workers. SweatFree Communities would like to support and coordinate even more sweatfree campaigns to make us all stronger. We need your support. Please give to SweatFree Communities this holiday season. Click here to donate. Thank you.
SweatFree eBay Auction
Shop for sweatfree holiday gifts at SweatFree Communities' eBay auction. Beautiful fair trade artwork and textiles, sweatfree clothes and footwear, revolutionary Zapatista coffee, inspiring books and much more! Bid online between November 25 and December 5. The auction benefits SweatFree Communities and sweatfree campaigns that donate to the auction. Make a bid now!
More Sweatfree Holiday Gift Options!
One year after the historic launching of the “Shop with a Conscience” sweatfree purchasing guide created by a network of anti-sweatshop organizations, the list of sweatfree retailers has grown to eleven, up from eight last year. All retailers on the list sell clothes made by workers represented by a democratic union or a worker-owned cooperative. Featuring a variety of apparel from overalls to yoga pants, from T-shirts to camisoles, and even underwear, the guide is a resource for consumers who want quality apparel at fair prices that is also sweatshop-free. Shop here!
Local Campaign Updates
Madison, Wisconsin: The Madison City Council unanimously adopted a sweatfree purchasing ordinance on October 11. As a next step, organizers are planning to ask the city to allocate funding for independent monitoring. Read the press release. See the full list of places with sweatfree policies.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: On October 16, 1997, the City of Pittsburgh became one of the first U.S. cities to adopt sweatfree procurement legislation. Now the Pittsburgh Anti-Sweatshop Community Alliance (PASCA) is calling for a public hearing to ensure workers at Pittsburgh supplier factories can make their voice heard. See PASCA's petition for a public hearing here.
San Francisco, California: After championing a groundbreaking sweatfree procurement ordinance adopted by the City Council in September, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is calling on mayors across the country to join him. "By consolidating our purchasing power and coordinating enforcement, our cities can better assure that anti-sweatshop policies achieve their intent," Newsom writes. "Along those lines our city is interested in organizing a consortium of public jurisdictions to advance sweatfree policies." Read Newsom's letter here.
Activists in Austin, Texas, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, are kicking off new sweatfree campaigns in early December.
[Insert your campaign here! Please be in touch with us with the latest news from your campaign.]
Support Just Garments
Just Garments, a unionized sweatfree factory in El Salvador, hopes to make the transition from subcontractor to producing "complete package" orders. To succeed, Just Garments needs donations and orders. Learn more about Just Garments' plans and how to support the effort.
Subcontracting work is still vital for Just Garments. They have been making thousands of chef uniforms every week for a Salvadoran factory called ICAT, which is a contractor for the Superior Uniform Group. However, this week ICAT has ceased orders from Just Garments. Superior Uniform Group is a significant supplier to states and local governments. Please write Superior Uniform today to urge them to direct ICAT to place more orders with Just Garments. ACT NOW!
New Resource! Non-Poverty Wages for Countries Around the World
Several cities and states have adopted sweatfree procurement legislation that requires suppliers to pay workers a non-poverty wage that is higher than the legal minimum wage. Michelle Marolis, intern with the Milwaukee Clean Clothes Campaign, has created a table of 2005 non-poverty wages for countries around the world. Down load it and learn how to use it to hold companies accountable for poverty wages.
New Resource! Independent Monitoring Pilot Programs with the Worker Rights Consortium
How can you really know if workers' rights are respected at supplier factories to public purchasers? You can campaign for your school, city, or state to join an independent monitoring pilot program with the Worker Rights Consortium. How does it work? What role can you play in monitoring public contracts? Find out here.
