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On September 13, 2005, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously passed the San Francisco SweatFree Ordinance that requires city contractors to guarantee in writing that the uniforms, computers, and other goods they supply were not made by workers exploited in sweatshops. As part of the certification process, contractors who sign the sweatshop-free pledge would have to disclose the names of their subcontractors, where their factories are located, and what workers are paid.

By Alison Maitland in London

Social audits of clothing factories in developing countries are failing to

detect excessive and forced overtime, abusive treatment of workers and violations of freedom of association, says a report by the Clean Clothes Campaign, a coalition of trade unions and pressure groups, to be published

today.

By Steven Greenhouse

The Labor Department's inspector general strongly criticized department officials yesterday for "serious breakdowns" in procedures involving an agreement promising Wal-Mart Stores 15 days' notice before labor investigators would inspect its stores for child labor violations.

By Michael Barbaro

BENTONVILLE, Ark., Oct. 26 - Inside a stuffy, windowless room here, veterans of the 2004 Bush and Kerry presidential campaigns sit, stand and pace around six plastic folding tables. Open containers of pistachio nuts and tropical trail mix compete for space with laptops and BlackBerries. CNN flickers on a television in the corner.

The phone rings, and a 20-something woman answers. "Turn on Fox," she yells, running up to the TV with a notepad. "This could be important."