HUMOUR:

WHAT'S BEHIND THE PRICE TAG:

Another good one from Kirktoons.

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR:

THE OLYMPICS AND SWEATSHOPS:

A broad coalition of labour and human rights groups, including Play Fair, the Maquila Solidarity Network and the Clean Clothes Campaign have been organizing around each Olympics in past years to try and raise public awareness about the atrocious conditions for many workers involved in producing Olympic clothing and other items. The upcoming Vancouver/Whistler Winter Olympics are no exception. Here's an item from the Maquila Solidarity Network about a series of videos detailing the issue, and a campaign to pressure manufacturers to "play fair".

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New Play Fair at the Olympics video launched:‏
Here's how you can help push sportswear brands to clear the hurdles on worker rights: watch our new video and take action at http://secure.civicrm.ca/maquilasolidarity.org/sites/maquilasolidarity.civicrm.ca/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=359&qid=25805

As the February Vancouver Winter Olympic Games draw nearer, we've just released a second short video highlighting the failure of major sportswear brands -- including Olympic sponsors -- to eliminate sweatshop abuses in their global supply chains.

The campaign's second video links to a new website rating commitments by Nike, Adidas, Puma, New Balance and others on clearing the main hurdles that obstruct progress on worker rights in their supply factories: an anti-union environment, poverty wages, precarious work, and factory closures.
» See http://secure.civicrm.ca/maquilasolidarity.org/sites/maquilasolidarity.civicrm.ca/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=359&qid=25805.
» en español: http://secure.civicrm.ca/maquilasolidarity.org/sites/maquilasolidarity.civicrm.ca/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=360&qid=25805
» en Français: http://secure.civicrm.ca/maquilasolidarity.org/sites/maquilasolidarity.civicrm.ca/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=361&qid=25805
You can help the campaign by:
» sending an email to the brands
» hosting the video ads on your own website or facebook page.
» sending a short message about the campaign to your friends and networks
»Take Action Now

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Here's what the Clean Clothes Campaign has to say about this campaign.

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Unfortunately, Olympic skiers aren’t the only ones in a race to the bottom…‏:
Dear all,

In the run-up to the February Vancouver Winter Olympic Games, several groups involved in the Play Fair Alliance last week released its rating of commitments made by major sportswear brands to eliminate sweatshop abuses in their global supply chains. The ratings are based on the responses of the sportswear companies, including Nike, Adidas, Puma and others, to a series of demands put forward by the coalition on the eve of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Please take a moment now and join us in sending a message to key sportswear brands telling them “It’s time to up your game and start clearing the hurdles for workers’ rights”.Go to: http://www.clearingthehurdles.org/content/take-action

The demands were conceived to overcome four major hurdles to ending labour rights violations in sportswear supply chains: anti-union environment, poverty wages, precarious work, and factory closures.The ratings are being released on the newly launched Clearing the Hurdles website. The new website will allow users to see how each brand has responded to 12 key demands that brands should commit to in order to overcome the four hurdles. Users will also be able to compare the various brands at a glance based on their commitments to overcome these hurdles: http://www.clearingthehurdles.org/response-chart

The coalition, which includes Canada’s Maquila Solidarity Network, the International Trade Union Confederation, the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers Federation and the Clean Clothes Campaign is also posting a series of web ads accusing the brands that profit off the Olympics of engaging in a “race to the bottom” on wages and working conditions.

The ad campaign is running on dozens of websites in British Columbia, Canada and globally. The first ad, which features a montage of skiers and sweatshop workers, says: “Unfortunately, the Winter Olympics aren’t the only place we’re seeing a race to the bottom. Sportswear companies are also in a race to the bottom … on wages and working conditions.” New ads with a variety of similar messages will be launched every ten days in the run-up to the Olympics.

You can also help the campaign by distributing this appeal and by hosting the video ads on your own website or facebook page! Go to:http://www.clearingthehurdles.org/content/upload-or-embed-our-race-to-the-bottom-video

As a result of Play Fair 2008 Indonesian unions recently had a direct dialogue with sportswear brands and suppliers, we will send you an update on the outcomes shortly.

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THE LETTER

Please go to one of the links above or to this link to send the following message to Asica, Lotto, Mizuna, New balance, Nike, Adidas, Pentland and Puma.

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Hello;
I’ve reviewed the way your company responded to Play Fair 2008’s proposals on ways to clear the four major hurdles impeding progress on worker rights in your factories.

From what I’ve read at www.clearingthehurdles.org, very few of the targets set by Play Fair will be met unless you take action now to:

• develop a positive climate for freedom of association and collective bargaining;

• Eliminate the use of precarious employment in sportswear supply chains;

• Lessen both the frequency and negative impacts of factory closures; and

• Take steps to improve worker incomes, with the goal of reaching a living wage for all workers.

I believe the proposals and targets put forward by Play Fair are reasonable and necessary. Despite more than 15 years of codes of conduct adopted by major sportswear brands like your own, workers making sportswear products still face extreme pressure to meet production quotas, excessive, undocumented and unpaid overtime, verbal abuse, threats to health and safety related to the high quotas and exposure to toxic chemicals, and a failure to provide legally required health and other insurance programs. Many are facing precarious working arrangements, overwhelming obstacles to their right to unionize, and poverty wages.

It’s about time we set some deadlines for progress to be made on these critical issues. It’s time to undertake a set of actions with specific targets to ensure that when the next Olympic Games come around in 2012, workers can expect tangible improvements in their wages and working conditions rather than two more years of talk about vague commitments. It’s time to up your game and start clearing the hurdles for workers’ rights.

AMERICAN LABOUR:

"MADE IN THE USA"...IN SWEATSHOPS:

Here's a little reminder that atrocious working conditions are not solely found in "developing" countries. They exists in so-called "developed" ones as well. From the Sweatfree Communities group....

☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼

Toxic Uniforms
Behind the 'Made in USA' Label:
Dec. 10, 2009-- “Made in USA” requirements provide little insurance against poor working conditions and low wages, according to a new report by SweatFree Communities released today, International Human Rights Day.

The new report, Toxic Uniforms: Behind the ‘Made in USA’ Label, exposes poor working conditions at nine government contractor factories including poverty level wages, pressure on the job, poor benefits, health and safety problems, and discrimination. Nine of the factories are sole suppliers to Propper International and one (recently shuttered) was a sole supplier to Eagle Industries, held by parent company Alliant Techsystems (ATK). Propper International is the largest manufacturer of soldiers’ uniforms for the U.S. Army. Eagle has supplied the federal government and New York State. While outsourcing of jobs is prevalent in the cut-and-sew industry, as Department of Defense contractors, Eagle and Propper are required to produce in the U.S. or its territories under the Berry Amendment. However, as the new report shows, workers in Massachusetts and Puerto Rico, who manufacture goods purchased with our tax dollars, are far from immune from abusive working conditions.
Download the report
Low resolution for online viewing
Higher resolution for printing
Print copies (color cover, black & white inside) are $10 each. For 5 copies or more, $5 each. Shipping included.

To order send a check to SweatFree Communities, 140 Pine St #10, Florence MA 01062, specifying the number of copies requested and mailing address. Contact liana(at)sweatfree(dot)org or 413-586-0974 with inquiries.
Executive Summary:

view online

PDF for printing
Media
Press release
Media inquiries: Bjorn Claeson, 207-262-7277, or Liana Foxvog, 413-586-0974
Research links
Propper contracts with federal government in 2008
Propper contracts with federal government in 2009 (fiscal year in process, not fully up-to-date)
Major contractors in Puerto Rico in 2008 (Propper is 2nd largest)
Major contractors in Puerto Rico in 2009 (Propper is largest; fiscal year in process, not fully up-to-date)

CANADIAN LABOUR:

THE DIRTY SOCKS SECRET:

Investigation for Catholic School Boards uncovers worker rights violations in factory producing school uniforms:

Toronto- For years, students have been asking questions about where and under what conditions their school uniforms are being made. A new report on a factory investigation conducted by the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) for Catholic School Boards in Ontario confirms their worst fears.

The recent investigation revealed that a Chinese factory, Lianglong Socks Ltd in Zhuji City, China, which produces socks for many Ontario Catholic schools, violates Chinese law, school uniform manufacturer RJ McCarthy's Code of Conduct and Ontario Catholic School Boards' fair labour policies. The investigation was conducted by the WRC on behalf of an association of nine Catholic school boards in Ontario that employed the WRC to help it implement its fair labour policies.

"School Boards have taken a big step in uncovering these abuses. This report must be a catalyst for change," said Lori Ryan, Chair of the Ontario Catholic No Sweat Network (OCNSN). "The factory conditions must improve, and the supplier held accountable," she added.
The WRC's investigation documents flagrant violations of workers' rights, including:
near or below freezing temperatures in the unheated factory and dormitories;
*forced, excessive and unpaid overtime;
*the withholding of a portion of workers' pay for up to a year at a time;
*the failure to pay all workers the legal minimum wage;
*dirty, hazardous, illegal and unsafe conditions in the dormitories, bathrooms and factory;
*labour contracts that violated local law; and
*failure to provide legally required benefits like workers' injury compensation and maternity leave.
The WRC also concluded that factory management:
*falsified payroll, time and employee records; and
*coached workers to lie to inspectors about working conditions.

"It's outrageous that our socks are being made under such terrible conditions," said Natasha Vaz, a Grade 12 student at Cardinal Newman Secondary School in Toronto, and one of the thousands of students in Ontario wearing RJ McCarthy uniforms. "The intensive campaign against sweatshops is close to our hearts and consistent with all the values we are taught in school. It's extremely hypocritical for our school apparel to be produced under such cruel conditions," she contends.

"For years now, clothing brands and manufacturers have insisted their clothes are squeaky clean," said Kevin Thomas, Director of Advocacy at the Toronto-based Maquila Solidarity Network (MSN). "This report is a warning to all schools, municipalities and provincial governments that, in dealing with an industry that relies heavily on outsourced manufacturing, you need mechanisms like this to verify manufacturers' claims. ‘Just trust me' isn't good enough."

In response to the investigation, the WRC reports, R.J. McCarthy has now promised to "provide factory management with a letter asking for concrete commitments, with clear deadlines, with respect to each area where corrective action is needed." R.J. McCarthy has also pledged to revise its approach to monitoring to include a thorough review of factory records - something it hadn't done in the past.

The Lianglong Socks investigation is the second of two independent uniform factory investigations conducted by WRC on behalf of Ontario Catholic School Boards. The first investigation of the Empresas T&M factory in the Dominican Republic, which produces uniforms for Halpern's, exposed violations including unpaid wages and unhealthy drinking water. Halpern's and Empresas T&M management agreed to work to remedy the violations. The remedies still need to be verified.

The sustained effort of students, teachers and school board trustees caused twelve Ontario Catholic School Boards to adopt no-sweat uniform policies in recent years, and will continue to encourage all boards to develop policies and collaborate in this joint monitoring project.
Ontario Catholic No Sweat Network (OCNSN) is a network of students, teachers, and trustees across Ontario working with the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace and the Maquila Solidarity Network (MSN) to promote the adoption and enforcement of "No Sweat" purchasing policies.

The Maquila Solidarity Network is a labour and women's rights organization that supports the efforts of workers in global supply chains to win improved wages and working conditions and a better quality of life.
Read the WRC report
The Catholic school boards in Ontario that have joined together to contract the WRC to help implement their fair labour policies are: Durham Catholic District School Board, Dufferin Peel Catholic District School Board, Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario, Halton Catholic District School Board, Hamilton Catholic District School Board, Simcoe-Muskoka Catholic District School Board, St. Clair Catholic District School Board, Toronto Catholic District School Board, and the York Catholic District School Board.
For further information contact:
Lori Ryan,

Development and Peace,

Ontario Catholic No Sweat Network,

(416) 922-1592 ext. 230;

[can connect media with students]

Kevin Thomas, Maquila Solidarity Network:

(416) 532-8584

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MSN-RJM Press release-04-07-08.doc