When the State of Ohio spends our tax
dollars on uniforms for state police and other public
workers, it contracts with companies notorious for
crimes against workers and the environment—sweatshops.
That’s why human rights, religious,
labor, and student groups are joining together on July
1, 2008, to launch the SweatFree Ohio campaign to end
tax dollar support for sweatshops.
If you were to browse through the
contracts administered by the Department of
Administrative Services you would find many companies
with known sweatshop violations in their supply chains.
One of the many brands contracted by
Ohio is Bob Barker/Leslee Scott. Bob Barker provides
Ohio's correctional and rehabilitation centers with
undergarments. In 2006, 300 workers – mostly teenage
girls – died in a fire that consumed the KTS Textile
factory in Chittagong, Bangladesh, which produces
clothing for Bob Barker. The Ohio Contractor. A boiler
exploded, igniting flammable material throughout the
factory. Workers were forced into a bottleneck as they
tried to push through the one unlocked exit. other exits
had been locked illegally by factory guards to protect
against theft.
The unsafe working conditions of KTS
Textile's factory represent one of the many ways
companies are cutting corners in a global race for
cheaper production. Unfortunately, the corners they cut
affect not only the rights of the workers, but also the
health of the natural environment.
The environment takes a particularly
big hit in the electronics sector. Acids, solvents, and
heavy metals used in the production of electronics like
computers, radios, and batteries, threaten the workers
who use them and the areas where waste is dumped.
Maurilio Sanchez, president of her
neighborhood association, lives in Colonia Chilpancingo,
Tijuana, Mexico beneath an industrial park with over 200
factories. She told her story to the Environmental
Health Coalition: “When maquiladoras [assembly plants]
and other industries first began to arrive, we were
glad. We said to ourselves ‘there will be plenty of work
close to our homes.’ But to our surprise, streams of
contaminated water surfaced from everywhere; our
children began to get sick. No one could tell us why our
children were getting sick.”
Because of working conditions and
water systems, the sweatshop industry has become a
target for both the labor and environmental movements.
What can the state of Ohio, as a customer of these
sweatshops, do to send a message to companies like Bob
Barker that they must provide safe working conditions
and safe disposal of waste? Right now 11 cities and
counties in Ohio have anti-sweatshop purchasing
policies, but they could be even more effective with
proper enforcement.
The State and Local Government
Sweatfree Consortium, which will be formed as soon as
enough public entities commit to being founding members,
will pool resources of public entities to investigate
labor rights abuses in their supply chains. On June 3,
2008, Lucas County passed one of the strongest sweatfree
policies in the nation, including membership in the
Sweatfree Consortium.
“We have a moral obligation to ensure
[the sweatshop] practice is not rewarded through state
contracts and taxpayer dollars,” said Pennsylvania
Governor Ed Rendell. “By using our combined state
procurement power, we can impart real change.”
On July 1, SweatFree Communities and
a growing list of Ohio citizens’ organizations are
launching the Sweatfree Ohio campaign, urging Governor
Strickland to join the State and Local Government
Sweatfree Consortium.
