In the News

State Police Uniforms Being Made In Dominican Republic Sweatshop

Maine Public Broadcasting Network
04/15/2009

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Excerpt from article:

Some of Maine's tax dollars are being spent on garments made in sweatshops.  That's among the findings of a study released today by the non-profit group SweatFree Communities. The report, Subsidizing Sweatshops 2, is the follow-up to a study released last summer into conditions at some of the factories where police and military uniforms are made.

Berkeley set to vote on sweatshop ordinance

San Francisco Chronicle
04/15/2009

Berkeley has built up a sweat trying to become sweatshop-free.

More than four years after the idea first surfaced, the City Council is set to vote Tuesday on an anti-sweatshop ordinance that has bounced around among three commissions, several City Hall departments and a host of community groups, as they've debated how to pay for and enforce the plan.

But the ordinance - which would prohibit the city from buying goods manufactured in sweatshops - could be delayed five more months or so if City Manager Phil Kamlarz has his way...

Warning on sweatshops issued in Maine

Bangor Daily News
04/15/2009

AUGUSTA, Maine --Anti-sweatshop activists turned out at the Maine State House as part of a national effort to warn about federal, state and local tax dollars being used to buy products made in sweatshops.

According to a new report released Wednesday by a group known as SweatFree Communities, more local and state governments are adopting policies to require government contractors to meet ethical standards...

Rights organization praises Lion Apparel

Dayton Daily News
04/15/2009

Excerpt from article:

DAYTON — An organization fighting what it calls “sweatshops” is praising Dayton-based Lion Apparel for its response to complaints about conditions in a Honduras plant.

In “Subsidizing Sweatshops II,” a report embargoed until today, April 15, SweatFree Communities said its research partners last year fielded complaints from workers, including “below-minimum wages, forced overtime, lack of legally mandated social security payments and pregnancy testing.”

Group chides, lauds Ohio company on factory

The Associated Press
04/15/2009

CLEVELAND (AP) -- An anti-sweatshop group says an Ohio-based uniform company has improved conditions at its plant in Honduras, but there remains more to do.

The factory employs about 500 workers and makes uniforms for Dayton-based Lion Apparel and other companies.

SweatFree Communities said Wednesday that a workers-rights group reported in July that employees at the plant worked for below minimum wage, were forced to work overtime and were not enrolled in social security, and that female workers had to take pregnancy tests...

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