How to Take Action Against Sweatshops

Donate money or other items to anti-sweatshop campaigns. - How?

Select some items that you buy frequently (such as clothing, coffee, beauty products, toys etc.) and decide to purchase them only from a responsible business. - How?

Find several stores that you do not wish to purchase from any longer due to their involvement in sweatshops, and let them know that you are ceasing your support of their company. - How?

Let others around you know about your concerns. Tell your children, students, friends, relatives, co-workers, and church.

Ask stores in which you frequently purchase if the merchandise they sell was produced without exploiting anyone. Ask how they know. - How?

E-mail multiple companies that you buy, or could potentially buy from. Inquire about their business practices. - How?

Ask your church, school or workplace to make a conscious effort to purchase no-sweat items. - How?

Create a website, poster or piece of art to get your message about sweatshops across. - How?

Design, make and wear a tee-shirt with a message about sweatshop labor. - How?

Join an anti-sweatshop organization. - How?

Start your own local anti-sweatshop group. - How?

Start putting out a newsletter or magazine which discusses the sweatshop issue, and specific cases. - How?

Start on-going e-mail discussions with companies about their labor practices. - How?

Produce a quantity of flyers, music, posters, tee-shirts, or artwork with a message about sweatshops. Sell them, pass them out, or hang them up where people will notice. - How?

The following is a list of links to anti-sweatshop campaign donation/membership pages. Most of them allow you to make a donation or purchase a membership online, but they also include other contact info:

Campaign for Labor Rights
- A campaign which takes action against sweatshops,
racial discrimination, and more.

Co-op America
- An organization that works toward ending sweatshops,
as well as helping maintain the environment.

Corp Watch
- A group dedicated to bringing news about corporations'
labor, and environmental practices to the public.

Free Burma Coalition
    - A coalition organized to help stop the oppression
       caused by the military regime currently ruling in Burma.
       Click on "Support our work" if you wish to donate.

Global Exchange
    - "A human rights organization dedicated to promoting
        environmental, political and social justice around the
        world."

Maquila Solidarity Network
- An organization working to improve labor conditions in
factories in Central America, Mexico and Asia.

National Labor Committee
    - A committee working to "promoting and defending the
       rights of workers," with a focus on those in Latin
       America.

National Mobilization Against Sweatshops
- An organization focused on fighting for workers to
receive a living wage, as well as healthy work hours.

Sweatshop Watch
     - A coalition of labor and civil rights activists, as well as a
        variety of organizations and concerned individuals who
        are committed to stopping sweatshops.

(to Level 4)

If you're going to make the effort to start purchasing a particular product from a responsible business, you should be aware that you will probably have to buy it from a company you've never heard of before. This is because most of the popular companies that we typically buy from do not make an effort to keep their products sweat-free. Below is a list of webpages that may help you find a sweat-free place to make your purchases:

Fair Trade Federation

Global Amen - Earth Aware Clothing Companies

Global Exchange - Fair Trade

Green Pages Store

PEOPLink

(to Level 4)

How can I find out if a particular company is involved in sweatshops?

Most large companies use sweatshop labor. Often, it's just a matter of finding the details. There are several ways to do this. One would be to use a search engine, typing in the name of the company and the word "sweatshop." Another method would be to go to the webpages of organizations that are anti-sweat. They usually have lists of companies that use sweatshop labor. Try to make sure that the news of the company producing in a sweatshop is somewhat recent.

I recommend using the search engine, Google:
http://www.google.com

To find a list of anti-sweat, or related organizations, go to:
http://www.geocities.com/Issues/sweatshoplinks.htm

How should I inform the company that I will not purchase from them any longer?

There are several ways to do this. You can choose one of the methods, or do them all. Be sure that whichever method(s) you use, you have information to support your decision to stop purchasing from the company.

Method 1: Go to the store and tell them.
Ask to speak to a manager and tell them about your concern regarding sweatshop labor. Share with them some of the information you found on their company, and tell them of your decision to stop purchasing from the company. Tell them to ask their corporate headquarters to stop using sweatshop labor so that you can start buying from them again.

Method 2: Call the company.
Most large companies have a webpage. If you do a search for them, you should be able to easily find their site. From there, try to find a phone number to customer service, or another appropriate department. Call, and tell them about your concern regarding sweatshop labor. Share with them some of the information you found on their company, and tell them of your decision to stop purchasing from them. Tell them to ask their corporate headquarters to stop using sweatshop labor so that you can start buying from them again.

Method 3: E-mail the company.
Most large companies have a webpage. If you do a search for them, you should be able to easily find their site. From there, try to find an e-mail address to customer service, or another appropriate department. Call, and tell them about your concern regarding sweatshop labor. Share with them some of the information you found on their company, and tell them of your decision to stop purchasing from them. Tell them to ask their corporate headquarters to stop using sweatshop labor so that you can start buying from them again.

(to Level 4)

Take time out to go to a store, or two, or twenty. . . not to buy, but to ask questions. Ask a store employee, preferably a manager, if they can guarantee that all of their merchandise was produced without exploiting anyone.

If-Thens:

If they ask what you mean by "exploiting" . . .
Then tell them that exploiting workers can involve under-paying, forcing to work long hours, physical, verbal or sexual abuse, forced birth control or abortions, banning of unions, or an unsanitary working environment.

If they say that they cannot make that guarantee. . .
Then you could reply with an "I'm sorry to hear that," a "That's too bad," or a "Then I can no longer support this store."

If they say that they can guarantee it . . .
Then ask them how they can make that guarantee.

If they say that they have a policy which all their manufacturers must agree with and/or sign. . .
Then ask them how they know that their manufacturers abide by the policy guidelines after they sign.

If they say that they don't have any way of knowing, they just hope that manufacturers will abide by the policy standards. . .
Then tell them you're dissapointed that they don't have any follow-up to make sure workers aren't mistreated. A policy is worthless if the people don't follow through.

If they say that they have a monitoring program which monitors the conditions of their factories. . .
Then ask them if the monitoring agency makes "surprise" (un-scheduled or undercover) visits to the factories to get a real picture of what it's like.

If they say that the monitoring agency doesn't make surpise visits . . .
Then ask them how they know that the people in charge of the factory don't just "clean up their act" whenever a monitoring visit is scheduled to come in, and abuse their workers to rest of the time.

If they say that the monitoring agency does make surprise visits . . .
Then ask them if the agency regularly visits all the factories, or just some of them.

(to Level 4)

First of all, you're going to need the company's e-mail address. The quickest way to do this is to go the company's website (do a search on a search engine), and look there.
Once you've got the e-mail address, you'll want to type your e-mail. A short and sweet e-mail might go something like this:

Dear Ma'am or Sir;

I am concerned about the treatment of workers in factories today. Can THE COMPANY guarantee that all of its merchandise was produced without exploiting anyone?

Sincerely,
YOUR NAME

You might be interested in looking at the "If-Thens" located here. They should help you answer to typical responses and inquiries that companies make when you send an e-mail like this.

To see some e-mail formats that other anti-sweatshop organizations recommend, click on one of the links below:

Corporate Action E-mails

Sample Letter to a Retailer or Manufacturer -
scroll to the bottom of the page

(to Level 4)

Discuss the importance of encouraging companies to produce sweat-free products. If you can, try to get a meeting time with whomever necessary to discuss the subject. Once you can convince them to start moving in this direction, choose, as a group, a few items frequently used in the church, school or workplace, and decide to begin purchasing them from a sweat-free company.
If you're going to make the effort to start purchasing a particular product from a responsible business, you should be aware that you will probably have to buy it from a company you've never heard of before. This is because most of the popular companies that we typically buy from do not make an effort to keep their products sweat-free. Below is a list of webpages that may help you find a sweat-free place to make your purchases:

Fair Trade Federation

Global Amen - Earth Aware Clothing Companies

Global Exchange - Fair Trade

Green Pages Store

PEOPLink

(to Level 4)

Website:
Today, it's fairly easy to get a place on the web for yourself, and it's not too difficult to design a page either (the free geocities editor "PageBuilder" is ideal for beginners). There are many free web-space providers that will give you some room to post a page. Keep in mind that any free-site will display ads. Some free providers are:
Geocities
Tripod
Fortune City
Top Cities
A website can be as big or as small as you want it. Be sure to include some basic info on sweatshops and links to other webpages that discuss the matter further.

Poster:
The key to making a poster that will get noticed is a catching visual or headline (or both). Focus on what message you are trying to get across and go from there. You don't necessarily need to produce a lot of posters, just a couple well-made ones that are placed right will do the trick. Adbusters has some ideas in the poster-making area:
How To Create Your Own Print Ad

Artwork:
First decide on the message you want to get across. Putting actual words in the art piece may be helpful, but isn't necessary, as long as your image is easy to understand. I like doing a combination of collage and acrylic paint. Some people like to alter ads from companies that have been known to produce in sweatshops as protest art.

(to Level 4)

First you need a message and/or image to put on the tee-shirt. Use short, to the point, and catchy phrases or facts. If there is a particular company you wanted to give a message about, you may want to start a well-known slogan or the company name and alter it to fit your message. For example:

If You Buy Nike, You Support Sweatshop Labor . . . Just Don't Do It

WAGES: Gap CEO: $24,000/hour . . . Worker in Gap Factory: $0.11/hour . . . That's a Gap.

After you've got your design, you'll need to decide how many shirts you want to make. If they're just for yourself and maybe a couple friends or relatives, you might want to just iron on the design to a plain tee shirt you've already got . . . or purchase some for the occasion (see below). Some copy-shops can make iron-on transfers for you. If you want to produce a greater quantity of shirts, to sell or pass out, you should get them printed professionally. Click below to see links to sites that offer sweat-free and/or organic clothing:

Earth Aware Clothing Links

(to Level 4)

Below is a list of links to anti-sweatshop organization's volunteering pages.

Campaign for Labor Rights
- Scroll down to the bottom to see how you can get in
contact with a group of activists near you.

Global Exchange
      - If you live in the Bay area, you could volunteer here.
        There are also interships available (maybe for people
        outside the Bay area too).

United Students Against Sweatshops
- If you're a college student, you may want to check and
see if there is a USAS branch near you.

You might also want to try getting in contact with the organizations listed on this page. Although they don't have a page about how to volunteer in the organization, they might still want help!

(to Level 4)

Starting your own anti-sweatshop group isn't terribly hard, as long as you know a few other people who have similar concerns, and are willing to take action. The group could be church, school, or home-based depending on how accessible each location will be to the members. Once you have one or two others who would like to participate in the group with you, you'll need to decide some things.

1. Set a Mission.
     Decide who you're trying to reach out to (friends,
     church members, students, shoppers, company
     employees, or the general public). Then decide what
     sort of action(s) will best reach the target audience.
     Postering? Newsletter? Discussion? Signs?
     Presentations? Artwork? Protesting outside a store?

2. Name Yourselves.
Pick a name for the group.

3. Decide Member Roles.
    Determine who is going to be in charge of what
    (research, art, writing, public relations etc.). Figure out
    what needs to be researched, and what materials will
    be needed to take action.

4. Make a Schedule.
Decide how often you wish to meet/take action.

Once you've got the preliminary things decided, just go to it! If appropriate, "advertise" your group on a church or school bulletin board so that others might join the group later.

(to Level 4)

You'll need a lot of time on your hands to do this one. Decide if you want the newsletter to be current sweatshop news, or just sweatshop information in general (the latter will most likely be easier to do). Think of a name for the publication and decide on whom you're going to distribute it to. It would be easiest to initially distribute it only to interested family members, friends, classmates or co-workers. Try starting that way and let others subscribe as they hear about it or see it. The easiest and most cost effective method of creating the newsletter or magazine would be to do it in wordpad or notepad as a text or html file, and then send it via e-mail. A program like Microsoft Publisher or Adobe PageMaker could be used if you want to create a more traditional newsletter format. Below are is a link to Global Amen's sweatshop research page so that you can find information for your newsletter.

Global Amen's Sweatshop Research Links

(to Level 4)

This one requires a fair amount of time, patience and politeness. Find the companys' e-mail addresses by doing a search for them on the web and visiting their websites. Almost every large company has one now-days. Once you have all the addresses, figure out what exactly you want to ask them. Here is a sample e-mail. Feel free to use it if you like!

To whom it may concern;

I am concerned about the use of sweatshop labor today, and have decided to thoroughly research many of the products I buy before I continue to purchase them. I would be extremely grateful if your company would supply me with the following information:

1. A complete list of the factories/countries from which your company purchases its products, as well as the sweatshop monitoring agency used to monitor the condition of each.

2. A list of lawsuits the company has been involved in.

Thank you for your time!

Once you've got your e-mails sent out, you may or may not receive a response. Be persistent! Sweatshop labor is not something to be ignored! If you haven't heard back in a week's time, e-mail them again. . . and again . . . and again, until you get a response (although in some cases you may never get one). When you do get a response, you may find it helpful to use the following "If-Thens" to guide you in your reply to their e-mail:

If they say that the information you requested is proprietary (private). . .
Then ask them if their product says the country where it was made anywhere on it (tag, label, on the product itself etc.). Also ask them why the information you requested is not given out to customers.

If they say that their products do have a country of origin on them somewhere . . .
Then ask them to give you a list of the countries in which their product is made, seeing as it is public information.

If they say that their products do not supply customers with a country of origin . . .
Then ask them why they don't and tell them that you'd appreciate it if they'd supply them in the future.

If they say that they cannot give out the information you requested to customers because they keep their trade secrets confidential . . .
Then ask them why this information is considered a trade secret, and why customers should trust that the company's product is made in a sweat-free environment when the company hides even the name of its factories.

(to Level 4)

Global Amen's Sweatshop Research Links

(to Level 4)