INFOCUS

• Conduct Unbecoming: Fighting for Freedom in Sweatshop Uniforms
  March 14, 2006
  The Department of Defense is the world's largest purchaser of U.S.-made apparel. Approximately 20,000 American men and women manufacture uniforms for the armed forces and unfortunately, many of these workers labor in sweatshops. "Conduct Unbecoming: Sweatshops and the U.S. Military Uniform Industry", is a new report documenting sweatshop conditions prevalent at factories throughout the United States with government uniform contracts.
  
  
• American Sweatshop Labor Clothes the Military: American Power Source
  July 19, 2005
  American Power Source, also known as American Players, is paid millions of dollars by the U.S. government, workers at the company barely make enough to support their families. "I worked 63 hours last week," said Lois McMillan, a sewing operator at American Power Source, "and made only $397. I am a single mother of four children and their sole provider. Luckily, I have someone helping me out right now, without his help I wouldn't be able to get by."
  
  
• Courage and Determination of Apparel Workers in Central America
  June 22, 2005
  Today these workers are fighting for their right to unionize, demanding that they be paid the back wages owed to them, and calling for the respect that ought to be shown to all human beings. And, even in the face of what seem like insurmountable odds, in some cases, they have won victories. In some of these factories, unions have been successfully formed, and the fight is now to expand these unions and to demand better wages or safer working conditions. Certainly these struggles will be difficult, and there is much that we in the United States can do to provide help and solidarity.
  
  
• Just Garments: Union Made in El Salvador
  June 14, 2005
  Just Garments (Confección de Prendas con Justicia) - one of the first unionized garment shops in El Salvador - is an unusual experiment in garment production.

  Just Garments was formed after a long fight by STIT, the Textile Industry Worker's Union, to organize Tainan Enterprises in El Salvador. As is often the case, when Tainan, a Taiwanese company, became a union shop, management announced the plant's closure three days later.

  But in this case the workers didn't give up and led an international campaign for Tainan to reinvest in El Salvador. The result is a garment-shop with two directors - one selected by Tainan, the other selected by the workers - and the first union contract in the industry.
  
  

• Death and Destruction at Sweater Factory in Bangladesh
  
  
  April 20, 2005
  In the early hours of April 11th, the nine-story factory, Spectrum Sweater Industries Ltd., in Palashbari, Savar, collapsed with no fewer than 450 workers inside working the night shift. Spectrum Sweater produced clothes for brands like Zara and Carrefour. Nine days after Bangladesh's deadliest building collapse, the government has officially ended their search for bodies at Spectrum Sweater - death figures are 61 dead and 97 missing.
  
  
• Come to the SweatFree Communities National Conference!
  March 15, 2005
  This conference is for both new and experienced sweatfree campaigners. Join us in Denver, May 6-8. Remember to register by April 15. Download the registration form.
  
  
• An intimate look behind Gelmart's sweatshops
  February 23, 2005
  In 2003, 33 year-old Pearly Gonzales collapsed from heat exhaustion while working a 13-hour shift at a garment factory in the Philippines. The day was hot, and as usual, the industrial fan was broken. Sweating and working through the heat, she was working furiously to finish assembling as many bundles of bras as she could - which was essential because her wage was set on a piece rate scale.
  
  
• Agreement at the Ouanaminthe free trade in Haiti
  February 9, 2005
  The union and the company agreed to establish a permanent dialogue in the form of a joint commission.
  
  
• The Truth Behind American Apparel: Sweatshop free or Union buster?
  January 3, 2005
  American Apparel is a leading t-shirt and apparel manufacturer and one of the fastest growing apparel companies in the United States. The company has aggressively promoted itself as a socially responsible company and purported that its products are manufactured "sweatshop free." However, for the over 2,000 American Apparel employees, the workplace is not without significant problems.
  
  
• Buy Sweatfree
  December 1, 2004
  Recently, anti-sweatshop organizations and sweat-free producers launched a new strategy - and a new web site - to connect consumers who want to be part of the fight against sweatshops with workers who either own the factories in which they work (worker-owned cooperatives) or have organized themselves into democratic unions.
  
  

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