Sweatshops
Exploitation is never in fashion.

A list of questions to ask your favourite retailers.

• How does your company guarantee your clothes are produced under humane conditions?
• Do you have a list of all the factories that make your products around the world? Does it include the wages and working conditions in each factory? Can I see it?
• Do you have a code of conduct that protects human rights and forbids child labour and unsafe conditions in all the factories that make the clothes you sell? Can I see a copy?
• Is there an independent monitoring agency to ensure everybody lives up to the code?
• What do you do when you discover violations?

There are actions we can take to pressure companies we know into assuming greater liability for the workers who make their products. Here are a few suggestions:

• Join the No Sweat campaign. This is a campaign organized by the Ethical Trading Action Group (ETAG). It encourages us to pressure public institutions, like our schools, to ensure school uniforms, team jerseys, or any other bulk purchased clothes, are made under humane working conditions.
• Spread awareness among other students. Host a Sweatshop Fashion Show at your school.
• Get involved in political campaigns to pressure the Minister of Labour to change the Textile Labelling Act. Call Maquila Solidarity Network, Oxfam Canada or UNITE to get information about current campaigns.
• Let companies know you're concerned about labour practices by writing letters, e-mailing, or calling their head offices. Ask for their mailing address and toll-free number for their head office. Or, get this information off their site.

• We could boycott companies we suspect of using sweatshops but boycotts can also hurt workers more than the company. Boycotts could lead to workers losing their jobs.
• We could buy used clothing but the garment industry will survive whether we buy new clothes or not.
• We could shop at Ten Thousand Villages - a great shop that buys merchandise directly from craftspeople. But, only three of their stores carry clothes and their clothing certainly doesn't include low-rise jeans!
• We could limit our purchases to clothing made in Canada - but this doesn't guarantee that we're not supporting sweatshops.
• We could look for the "union made" label but these are hard to find. Some union-made clothes don't even have a label on them.
• Stage a sit-in at your university president's office. It worked for Students at the University of Toronto. After students held a 10-day sit-in, UofT became the first Canadian University to adopt a No Sweat policy for university-licensed apparel. Soon afterward five other Canadian universities followed suit: Western, Guelph, Trent, Dalhousie and Alberta.