Index

NEWSLETTER 22, Oct 2006 In Brief

SweatFree Communities in the US

SweatFree Communities was set up in the US to encourage the exchange of resources and information and build a national "sweatfree" movement there. Their conference in Minneapolis on April 7-9, 2006 was attended by around 150 activists and organisers from the US, as well as Haiti, Mexico, Hong Kong, Nicaragua, Spain and the Netherlands, all keen to exchange experiences on campaigning, strategising and organising.

Workshops were held, amongst others, on "Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives", fair trade and ethical trade, organising in the age of CAFTA (Central America Free Trade Agreement), and the marketing of local and sweatfree products as a campaigning tool. The CCC International Secretariat gave a presentation on ethical public procurement campaigning in Europe (see also page 4).

The 74-page conference report has chapters on "The Strategy of Sweatfree Organizing", "Connecting Consumers to Empowered Workplaces', and "Worker Organizing and International Solida-rity". It can be found at:
www.sweatfree.org/docs/conferencereport2006.

Brazil: What fashion is this?

The well-known Brazilian labour research body Instituto Obser-vatorio Social has accused the Dutch-based retailer C&A of knowingly sourcing clothes from clandestine sweatshops in Brazil that exploit undocumented illegal immigrants.

In the latest edition of their magazine, the Social Observatory reports that C&A, which has 113 stores in Brazil, has known for about a year how its contractors sub-contract out to un-registered workshops. Here, many migrants from neigh-bouring countries work in highly degrading conditions, brought in by people-smugglers known as "coyotes". At least 100,000 Bolivians are said to be in this situation in the city of São Paulo.

The report draws on investigations by the Brazilian Public Labor Ministry into clandestine sweatshops, where police found hundreds of C&A labels. Under Brazilian law, C&A can be deemed the principal beneficiary of illegal conditions and be held responsible.

C&A representative in Brazil, Vladimir Almeida Ramos, admitted to a Sao Paulo city council investigation in October 2005 that C&A only checks its suppliers, not their subcontractors. The Dutch CCC will be following this up with C&A; a meeting will take place between C&A, the CCC and other Dutch stakeholders to discuss the situation.

"Que moda é essa?" (Portuguese)
Observatório Social Em Revista, 10th edition, May 2006
www.os.org.br/download/er10/c&a.pdf

"What fashion is this?" (English)
www.cleanclothes.org/ftp/06-05-Is this in fashion.pdf

MicroRevolt

An international collective of knit and crochet hobbyists has stitched a 14 foot wide blanket of the Nike Swoosh to act as a petition for fair labour policies for Nike garment workers. The initiative, started off in the US by microRevolt, has brought together hand-made squares and virtual signatures from over 20 countries.

So far the blanket has been shown across the US and in the UK. Another microRevolt project, Knitoscope - "a knitted animation of labour activists" - has been to Brazil and Russia, and later this year will go to Italy. MicroRevolt is looking for more opportunities - from museums to labour/community groups - for the Swoosh blanket and Knitoscope.

The campaign's website also contains "knitPro", a web application that translates digital images into knit, crochet, needlepoint and cross-stitch patterns - potentially for use with other logos.

After its journeys in early 2007, the Nike Blanket Petition will be delivered to Phil Knight, chairman of the board of Nike Corporation.

For more information see www.microrevolt.org,
or e-mail inquiry@microrevolt.org.

Singapore: Stitch Initiative Against Sweatshops

Stitch Initiative Against Sweatshops was formed by young professionals and students in Singapore in May 2005. It is targetting young consumers with messages about the sweated labour behind the clothes they wear.

Founder Amin Suwari explains:

"Consumer culture is a lifestyle amongst many young Singaporeans. We think it is important to bring the voices of the sweatshop workers to their hearts and minds. Youth represents our future, and as consumers they have more power than they think to shape the things to come.

As youth is our main target, we use 'cool' designs to decorate our booths, reading materials and posters. We also design our own merchandise such as buttons, stickers and locally-made shirts as a more ethical alternative.

It is difficult to stage a protest in Singapore, and so we have to think creatively to get our messages across. We just organized a mini film festival called 'Underneath The Radar', or UTR for short, showcasing documentaries that highlight the effects of corporate globalization on developing nations. We talked to UTR filmgoers about sweatshops and the effect on our neighbours like Thailand, Indonesia and Cambodia, as well as other parts of the world. Highlighting these issues couldn't come at a more important time as in September the World Bank and the IMF are holding their meetings in Singapore.

We would like to make UTR an annual event, to get more activists/ filmmakers to showcase their work to Singaporeans, opening more minds to a different world altogether. We are also hoping to hold an art exhibition in 2007, involving local artists/activists to express their concerns on human rights issues like sweatshops and poverty. We are looking for local or international partners to work with us on this exhibition."

For more information see www.stitchinitiative.org
or contact Amin Suwari at amin@stitchinitiative.org.