“When we put on our uniforms and wear city-supplied hats and T-shirts, we need to be assured these products are not produced under sweatshop conditions.” That’s what Richard Beetle, business manager of the Laborers local union, said when the city council of Portland, Oregon, last year decided that the city would purchase only uniforms and other apparel that are “sweat-free.”

Under the heading "Decent Work, Decent Life for Women," the first International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) World Women's Conference brought together 460 delegates from over 100 countries from October 19 to 21 in Brussels. They examined the repercussions of the global jobs crisis on women and mapped out international trade union actions to improve their job security, pay, and working conditions.

(CNN) -- Mexican authorities have freed 107 indigenous people who officials say were being held as slave laborers in a Mexico City factory disguised as a drug rehabilitation center.

Twenty-three suspects were arrested in Thursday's raid, said Miguel Angel Mancera, Mexico City's attorney general. Two more were arrested Friday morning, officials said.

The victims ranged from 14 to 70 years old, and some were tortured, Mancera told CNN affiliate TV Azteca. Some victims also suffered sexual abuse, he said.

When we think of heartwarming tales, they tend to be of the sort like "Miracle on 34th Street," where little Susan Walker gets the house she wanted for Christmas after all, or "It's a Wonderful Life," where George Bailey's neighbors and customers put self-interest aside to save his bank. Those are yummy treats of magical doings and brotherly compassion that the season inspires. But in real life happy endings don't often come so easily or tidily.