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For Immediate Release
September 22, 2008
Contact: Jordan Wells, Sweatfree Coordinator, 845/ 891-7046
Martha Schultz, Communications Coordinator, 518/ 213-6000 ext. 6294
Department of Labor report opens door to stronger sweatshop-free action by New York State
Following last week’s release of a report acknowledging that New York state’s sweatshop-free purchasing law has failed to achieve its intended effect, the Labor-Religion Coalition calls on Governor Paterson to take deliberate and effective action to end taxpayer support for sweatshops by proclaiming New York’s support for the State and Local Government Sweatfree Consortium.
The report notes that the state does not have a mechanism to monitor apparel suppliers and verify safe and fair working conditions. It cites the Subsidizing Sweatshops report by SweatFree Communities as evidence that government purchasing can inadvertently increase the downward pressure on labor rights, wages, and working conditions, and undermine U.S. manufacturing and service jobs. It suggests that the State consider both establishing a sweatfree procurement policy and joining with a growing number of like-minded state and local governments "...to form a Consortium to maximize and better focus resources on this problem."
"The Department of Labor report clearly demonstrates that New York's sweatfree procurement law has failed to prevent taxpayer dollars from being spent on sweatshop apparel. By joining the Sweatfree Consortium, New York can help bring transparency and accountability to an industry hell-bent on cost-cutting regardless of human consequence," said Jordan Wells, sweatfree coordinator for the Labor-Religion Coalition of New York State.
“The effort to decrease sweatshops is a moral issue directly related to a new “wage theft” campaign in the U.S. These initiatives are long overdue, and New York needs to be in the leadership of both,” said Brian O’Shaughnessy, the Coalition’s executive director.
New York 's sweatshop-free purchasing law expired September 1. Former Governor Spitzer vetoed a bill to extend it and asked the Labor Department to evaluate its effectiveness. Both the “Report on the Impact of the September Eleventh Bidders Registry and the Apparel Workers Fair Labor Conditions and Procurement Act on State Procurement” and Commissioner Smith’s letter to Governor Paterson summarizing its findings are available by request or at www.labor-religion.org.
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The Labor-Religion Coalition of New York State , with a statewide staff and seven local coalition affiliates, educates and advocates for economic justice. In addition to the Sweatshop Free Campaign, its programs include an Annual 40-hour Fast for Worker Justice, Border Witness delegations to the Texas/ Mexico border and a Fair Trade Project. The LRC was one of the founding organizations of SweatFree Communities.
SweatFree Communities coordinates a national network of grassroots campaigns that promote humane working conditions in apparel and other labor-intensive global industries by working with both public and religious institutions to adopt sweatshop-free purchasing policies. Using institutional purchasing as a lever for worker justice, the sweatfree movement empowers ordinary people to create a just global economy through local action. For more information, contact Executive Director Bjorn Claeson, 207/ 262-7277 & visit www.sweatfree.org
The State and Local Government Sweatfree Consortium will facilitate sweatfree purchasing policy enforcement by pooling resources, sharing knowledge and expertise, and coordinating standards and code compliance activities. Learn more at www.sweatfree.org/sweatfreeconsortium
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Last Updated:09/22/2008
© Labor-Religion Coalition of New York State
