Sweatshop-Free NYS

The New York State Labor-Religion Coalition, together with Sweatfree Communities and United Students Against Sweatshops, invite you to participate in the Sweatshop-Free NYS Worker Tour and Week of Action February 3 - 9.

In the wake of November's deadly factory fire in Bangladesh claiming the lives of 112 garment workers, consumers are more aware than ever that something has gone terribly wrong in the global apparel industry – and brands like Adidas and Gildan are to blame. 

Come join students and community members to hear from garment workers who sew apparel in Honduran and Haitian factories owned and contracted by Gildan Activewear, a Montreal-based apparel company that supplies government entities in addition to companies like Adidas and Walmart. A worker from Haiti will speak about her union's protracted struggle to force Gildan to honor a nationwide minimum wage increase for some of the poorest garment workers in the world. A worker from Honduras will tell stories of death threats and intimidation she and her co-workers faced when organizing to improve working conditions in their factory. 

Workers will be speaking out across New York in the backdrop of a mounting campaign demanding New York State eliminate sweatshops from its purchasing supply chain. Thanks to the efforts of sweatshop-free advocates, New York State has joined the Sweatfree Purchasing Consortium in 2009 and its representative member is the President of the Consortium. Yet, despite its leadership, New York has hesitated to pass a meaningful sweatshop-free Code of Conduct and continues to purchase its apparel from sweatshops.

You can learn more here.