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April
2005
FEATURES
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Temple students learn first-hand about sweatshops,
solutions
by A. H.-B. and C. R.
Most of us wear the clothing. And some of us even
know the stories of how name brands are made by kids
enslaved in sweatshops. We can boycott, but does that
work? And if boycotting isn’t the answer, what
can we do to help create fairer working conditions
worldwide? Congregation Dorshei Tzedek (CDT) has an
answer.
CDT members and friends gathered together on Sunday,
March the 13th to be a part of an event, entitled "Behind
the Labels" devoted solely to raising awareness
and taking a stand against sweatshops.
Each Hebrew school class ran an area of the room,
covering topics ranging from Kitah Vav’s (6th
grade) posters on the history of sweatshops and various
fair trade clothing companies to a mock sweatshop in
which Kitah Zayin (7th grade) students sewed diligently
at sewing machines, in a dimly-lit, fenced-in room.
In addition, the event stressed the importance of
recognizing the many types of goods produced in sweatshops.
Although clothing is a common item, the Kitah Hay (5th
grade) class chose to focus on chocolate.
Among the many companies who use sweatshops to manufacture
their goods is Hershey’s chocolate. Since Hershey
does not own any cocoa bean fields itself, the company
employs farmers in poor African regions, including
Ghana and South Africa. The farmers are offered a small
amount of money per every ton of cocoa that the farm
produces. These farmers then hire child slaves, usually
referred as “laborers,” to work for them.
The children often earn three cents per hour, while
some of them are actually slaves, receiving no wages
at all.
However, the presentation demonstrated that there
is a way to produce chocolate without worker exploitation.
Divine chocolate is one example of a fair trade chocolate
company. Two students displayed a poster on Divine
chocolate, explaining the information, and offering
samples. Divine chocolate can be purchased at Sainsbury's,
the Co-op, Somerfield, Morrisons, Safeways, Asda, NUS
shops, and independent, whole food and fair trade shops.
In addition to the posters displayed throughout the
room, a table of student-made crafts were sold, including
knit cell phone cases, bookmarks, and scarves. By the
end of the event, only three items remained.
Also provided was a “Make a Non-sweat Bag” table
where younger children could weave baskets for a suggested
donation of $2.
Two raffles were sources of additional fundraising.
One raffled off items and services donated by CDT members,
including soccer lessons, a homemade dog bed, math
tutoring, and overnight babysitting. The other raffle
had only fair trade products, such as olive oil, socks,
homemade stationary and cashews. Raffle tickets were
$5, and the event earned a total profit of approximately
$700.
A highlight of the afternoon was a "Behind the
Labels" Fashion Show, performed by 7 of the 8th
grade post b’nei mitzvah students. But unlike
conventional fashion shows, all of the models wore
clothing from their very own wardrobes. All of the
outfits had one thing in common: they were all produced
in sweatshops.
As each model strutted down the runway, the announcers
shared information "behind the labels" of
the clothing being modeled. The fashion show displayed
a variety of clothing, everything from sporty Nike,
Adidas and Puma outfits to a stylish skirt and blouse
from Wet Seal, all of which were produced in sweatshops
across the world.
Catching much of the audience’s attention was
a red shirt from Abercrombie and Fitch, a particularly
well-known and popular store. But not quite as popular
as the brand name was the story of Chinese workers
in Saipan sewing clothing up to 12 hours a day, 7 days
a week. These factories have been known to lock fire
exits, while breaching many other important safety
measures.
Model after model displayed clothing made by Gap,
Old Navy, Timberland, Polo, and even a brightly colored
Disney t-shirt. But instead of admiring the outfits,
the eyes of audience members were opened to the horrific
stories of inhuman working conditions in the sweatshop
factories.
The fashion show concluded with the announcers encouraging
the audience to actively support safety and fairness
for all workers.
Two guest speakers preceded the fashion show. The
first speaker, Chie Abad, spoke of her brutal experience
as a sweatshop worker in Saipan. Liana Foxvog, National
Organizer for Sweat-Free Communities was the afternoon’s
final speaker, and shared advice on organizing the
public to take action against sweatshops.
The afternoon ended with the attendees of the event
joining together to sing labor songs both in English
and Yiddish.
Baseball manufacturer Rawlings
Corporation, uses brutal sweatshop
labor. Workers in Costa Rica and Haiti are
required to sew at least 156 baseballs a week,
roughly 4 baseballs an hour @ 28-cents a ball.
With each baseball having 108 stitches, a rate
of 432 stitches per hour is obligatory. And
the 97 degree factory temperature makes the
task no easier. Few workers last longer than
3 - 4 years at Rawling’s factories.
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Nike spends
$1 billion every year advertising their products.
Indonesian women sew clothes for the unimaginable
wages of $35 - $42 a month, while many people
pay over $100 for a single pair of Nike sneakers.
Fashion show announcers told Nike, "Just
improve it!”
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Polo clothing
is stitched in Honduras where workers face constant
pressures to reach production goals. Bathroom
visits are monitored and speaking during working
hours is prohibited. Workers who meet with union
organizers are fired and other workers are threatened
with closure of the company.
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Wet Seal is
another company which has continually violated
worker rights. In 2003, 800 workers from a factory
in Mexico held a work stoppage to demand improved
health and safety conditions, and an end to forced
overtime. When they formed a union to address
these problems, 8 union leaders and over 250
workers were fired. In 2004, the company closed
the plant and unfairly dismissed 450 more workers.
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In 1995 Gap workers
in El Salvador received 27-cents to sew a shirt
that sold in the US for $30. Working conditions
included shifts of up to 18 hours and verbal
and physical abuse. The good news, however, is
that pressure from student activists, religious
groups, and unions have brought significant changes
to working conditions for many of the GAP workers.
However, we need to keep up this pressure to
maintain and continue to improve these conditions.
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Adidas has
been caught physically abusing their Indonesian
laborers and forcing them to continue working
past standard shifts without even receiving their
minimum wages. However, after the world’s
attention was brought to Adidas’ horrific
factory conditions, improvements are beginning
to be made.
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Disney merchandise
may be “fun and cute,” but just about
the opposite of “fun and cute” are
the Haitian workers earning 6 cents to sew a
$20 Disney item. |
Factories in China
and Vietnam produce footwear for Timberland and
other major shoe companies. They are notorious
for forced overtime for their workers. Workers
often spend 13.5 hours in the factory every day.
They were also instructed not to punch their
time cards on Saturdays and Sundays so that there
would be no record of those violations of work
time.
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by A. H.-B.
Sweatshop labor is a devastating reality, which makes
it even more vital that each of us takes a step toward
improving working conditions and wages. But how do
we get these giant corporations to change?
The obvious answer is to boycott all products of
any company that exploits its workers. But unfortunately,
the solution is not so straightforward.
While the companies heavily rely upon customer purchases
to stay in business, so do the foreign workers. Boycotting
the company can eventually lead to factory laborers
becoming unemployed. Despite the appalling conditions
and wages little more than nothing, workers need to
save every cent. They may not enjoy them, but they
need their jobs.
So, the question returns: what can we do?
First, it is important to remember that “not
boycotting” does not mean buying exclusively
from corporations that use sweatshops. It is still
effective to support non-sweat organizations so that
they can become widely-known. For example, encourage
your school and/or community to buy equipment, clothing,
and other products from sweat-free companies. Such
large purchases can be greatly beneficial to the smaller,
sweat-free companies.
Not only big purchases are important, though. While
conducting your personal shopping, keep your eyes open
for Fair Trade Certified Items, especially coffee,
tea, fruit, and chocolate. If your local supermarket
or health food store does not carry any fair trade
products, encourage them to do so. While dining at
your favorite restaurant, suggest fair trade coffee
on their menu.
Ten Thousand Villages is a non-profit organization
which sells crafts from Third World artisans for fair
prices. These stores are located across the country,
including outlets in Cambridge and Brookline.
Finally, spread the word about sweatshops. Tell your
family, friends, and community about the stories behind
the labels, and give them advice on the action that
they can take, and why it is important to do so.
Write letters to large corporations pressuring them
to develop fair working conditions, and most importantly,
be aware. Always remember the workers who labor to
produce everything from your food to your clothing,
and make an effort to help them.
by J. R.
Cinco de Mayo is the commemoration of the “Battalla
De Puebla” which happened during the French occupation
of Mexico in the mid 1800’s after the Mexican-American
War of 1848. After the War, Mexico had to put up with
many problems within its boundaries. Since the country
was in such turmoil, the president of Mexico said that
no debts would be paid for two years, then the payments
would start again.
Unfortunately for them England, Spain, and France
decided to force Mexico to pay anyway that they could.
Eventually England and Spain backed down, but France
refused. In 1862 the French Army took action against
the Mexicans, but was in the end defeated by 5,000
badly-armed Mexicans and groups of Indians at their
side.
Some say that the holiday should be recognized as
a day of Mexican Independence, as well as an American
holiday. This ties into the “Battalla De Puebla” directly.
Once Napoleon III was defeated, he was forced to pull
out of North America completely. During his time spent
in the Americas he had been supplying the Confederate
Army in the South for most of the Civil War. Once he
was defeated, and the supply lines cut for a year,
the Confederacy suffered a weakening blow that would
impact them greatly. Since the Confederates could no
longer support the same numbers of troops, the Union
was given time to amass a great army that would go
to Gettysburg fourteen months later and smash the Confederate
Army signaling the end of the Civil War.
This opinion is contested though for it has been
called, “...an historical stretch to credit the
survival of the United States to those brave 4,000
Mexicans”. While this is true it is just one
of the many events in history surrounded by an air
of mystery. One way or another, if it is true, Mexico
has not forgotten its friends because as recently as
the Persian Gulf War Mexicans have tried to help our
United States as best they can.
Hence Cinco De Mayo is such a celebrated party; it
celebrates freedom and liberty. Both of these ideals
have been fought for by Mexico and the United States
ever since the 5th of May of 1862 and probably will
long into the future.
In modern time Cinco de Mayo is more of a regional
holiday than a nationwide one. Although the holiday
is still recognized with different degrees of intensity
all over the country and even in parts of the southwest.
The holiday is growing within the United States as
many people in the south have a Mexican heritage and
several cities in the United States hold parades and
concerts all during the week for the holiday.
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