Why do we fast, but you do not see?
Why do we humble
ourselves, but you do not notice?”
Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day, and
oppress all your workers. …Such fasting as you do today will
not make your voice heard on high. …
Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of
injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed
Workplace Justice
go free, and to break every yoke?
-- Isaiah 58: 3, 4b, 6
WHAT TO DO ABOUT SWEATSHOPS
A sweatshop is a business, often a factory or production facility, where local laws governing the workplace are
broken and employees are exploited by their employer. The employee abuse may be related to very low wages,
unsafe working conditions, humiliating or degrading treatment, excessively long hours of work, or other factors.
Sweatshops are pervasive in the global economy. They exist in most, if not all, countries including the U.S., and are
used by most, if not all, multinational firms. They harm workers’ bodies, minds, and spirits. As people of faith, we
are called to love our neighbors, especially those on the margins of society. We are called to end sweatshop abuse.
Globally, there are too few jobs. But the choice between no job and a sweatshop job is a false choice. What workers
need and want are good jobs. Multinational corporations and their suppliers need to know that sweatshops are not
permissible. Firms must shun and international norms must prohibit those practices that exploit workers.
The world has changed dramatically in the past 20 to 30 years. The global assembly line is a reality. International
laws and treaties have been put in place to protect corporate investments, profits, and patents. But protections for
workers (and the environment) are lagging far behind. One indication of this gap is the prevalence of sweatshops.
Consumers and concerned global citizens can end sweatshops. We can start by examining our individual choices to
be sure they promote justice for workers. We can buy sweat-free apparel and fair-trade coffee and tea. If we have
investments, we can support socially responsible firms. Because trade unions are an important force for worker
justice, we need to support the right of workers, in this country and around the world, to form or join a union. And we
must lobby Congress to modify existing treaties governing trade and investment so they uphold international labor
standards.
Much has changed in the global economy, but much has stayed the same. Workers still need a living wage, safe
working conditions, and dignity on the job. As consumers and global citizens, we have power to bring the needed
changes. Another world is possible!
1. Buy sweat-free and fairly traded products
Roughly two million apparel workers located in 150 nations make products for American retailers. Some 80% of
these are working in sweatshops, under conditions that systematically violate international or local labor laws.1 Just
three cents of every dollar spent on apparel by consumers in the U.S. goes to pay the workers who make the clothes.2
So even if workers’ wages doubled, and if this cost increased was entirely passed along to consumers, the price of a
$10 item would rise by just 30 cents and a $100 item would become $103. This is a small price to pay to ensure a
decent life for those who make the things we buy.
There is an alternative to apparel produced in sweatshops. Consumers can use their buying power to send an anti-
sweatshop message. We can buy clothing, including sweat-free t-shirts and other items, from sweat-free vendors,
often at prices similar to those of sweatshop-produced goods. A list of sweat-free vendors is posted at
[Link]/justice/worker-justice/[Link]. Find sweat-free t-shirts at [Link]/sweatfree.
UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST JUSTICE AND WITNESS MINISTRIES, 700 Prospect Ave, Cleveland OH 44115
Another way to support living wages for workers is to buy fairly traded goods. Fair trade, in contrast to “free”
trade, is a form of sustainable development helping farmers and other producers (such as crafts-men and
-women) in the global south. Certifying organizations ensure that farmers or producers receive a fair price for
their products. Fair trade organizations also help producers gain direct access to international markets,
eliminating “middle men” who often take much of the profit. Consumers who purchase fair trade products like
coffee, tea, or chocolate may pay slightly more, but the higher price provides a living wage to a small farmer. In
addition, most products sold through fair trade networks are organic and/or grown with concern for the
environment. The United Church of Christ Coffee Project ([Link]/justice/coffee-project) is a way for
congregations to support small farming communities by serving fairly traded coffee, tea and cocoa.
2. Pressure multinational companies to use their power responsibly
Large multinational corporations operating around the world could be a force for improving labor (and environ-
mental) conditions. These large companies often contract for products produced by smaller, supplier firms that,
in today’s global economy, are often located outside the U.S. For example, Nike and Adidas contract with firms
in Indonesia for athletic shoes. Wal-Mart purchases 10% of the goods sold in its stores from firms in China.3
A large multinational firm sets the terms of its contract with a supplier firm and typically includes detailed
specifications governing the materials and production processes to be used. But usually the contract is silent
regarding labor and environmental practices. However, consumers concerned with workers and the environment
are encouraging corporations to establish codes of conduct for their suppliers, specifying the standards to be
meet. Independent monitors then observe the suppliers to ensure their compliance. In this way, consumers are
pressuring multinational firms to acknowledge their “supply chain responsibility” and require that their
suppliers treat workers and the environment in just, humane, and sustainable ways.
These agreements take constant monitoring. A multinational firm may adopt a code of conduct that requires fair
treatment of workers but it may not be enforced. Or the people who monitor compliance with the code may be
inept or corrupt, reporting the suppliers to be in compliance when they are not. Wal-Mart and other firms have
been found to pay their suppliers so little that they cannot afford to improve conditions for workers.4 In this
case, Wal-Mart must be pressured to increase its payments to the supplier.
One important organization that monitors and enforces firms’ codes of conduct is the Workers’ Rights
Consortium (WRC, [Link]), a non-profit organization created by college and university
administrators and students, and labor rights experts. Its purpose is to assist in the enforcement of manufacturing
codes of conduct adopted by colleges and universities. These codes are designed to ensure that factories
producing clothing and other goods bearing college and university names respect the basic rights of workers.
There are more than 100 colleges and universities affiliated with the WRC.
3. Socially responsible investing and shareholder activism
Many faith bodies have significant savings and investments, for example in endowments and pension funds.
These funds can be, and many people argue they should be, invested in ways that are consistent with our values.
This is called socially responsible investing.
The Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility (ICCR, [Link]), is a membership organization of
some 275 faith-based institutional investors, including national denominations, religious communities, pension
funds, and endowments, with a combined portfolio worth some $110 billion. ICCR is a leader in the corporate
social responsibility movement, pressing companies to be socially and environmentally responsible. Each year
ICCR members sponsor over 100 shareholder resolutions on major social and environmental issues, calling on
corporations to improve their practices. The UCC Pension Boards and United Church Foundation are members
of ICCR.
For example, in 2006, ICCR members sponsored shareholder resolutions addressing a number of their concerns
with Wal-Mart including: 1) excessive executive salaries, 2) the impact of uninsured employees and their
children on states’ Medicaid programs, 3) discrimination, 4) product safety, and 5) “sustainability.”
Sustainability refers to Wal-Mart’s practices (and the practices of its suppliers) that impact economic, social,
and environmental conditions in the locations where they operate, that is, whether the working conditions,
wages, and environmental impacts promote healthy and “sustainable” communities. For more information, see
the ICCR report “Investing for the Long Term: Faith-Based Investors Engagement with Wal-Mart, 1993-2006,”
at [Link]/news/press_releases/pdf%20files/[Link]., and two articles from Social
[Link]: [Link]/news/[Link]/[Link] and
[Link]/news/[Link]/[Link]
4. Labor unions
One of the most important ways in which workers around the world can prevent abuses and improve their
working conditions is to form or join a labor union. The right to organize (that is, the right to form or join a
union without retaliation by an employer), is a fundamental human right under the United Nations’ Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. But it is not well protected in trade agreements or the laws of many countries. In
many places, including the U.S., workers may be discouraged or blocked from forming unions, and leaders in
the struggle to organize may be illegally fired. In some countries, union leaders are even killed.5 If workers are
to be protected and working conditions improve, then the right to form a union must be strengthened and
protected.
5. International labor standards
The International Labor Organization’s 1998 Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work
established international labor standards that have been accepted by nearly every nation in the world. (See
[Link]/dyn/declaris/[Link].) These rights include:
• Freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining (that is, workers have a right to form a
union and bargain with their employer over wages and working conditions without fear of retaliation),
• the elimination of forced and compulsory labor,
• the abolition of child labor, and
• the elimination of discrimination in the workplace.
Note there is no mention of wages, work hours, or working conditions in this agreement. These standards vary
greatly by country. But the expectation is that workers’ trade unions will bargain with employers to raise wages
appropriately, and establish safe and equitable conditions of work.
But international organizations like the ILO lack the power to enforce these standards. International trade
agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) could rigorously enforce labor
standards but, almost without exception, fail to do so. Any protections that are included are typically relegated
to “side agreements” that lack the enforcement and oversight mechanisms used in the main body of the treaty.
Future trade agreements must include strong labor standards with provisions for rigorous enforcement.
With labor standards in place, competition among firms to reduce prices would rest on improved production
techniques (for example, worker training, improved use of technology, increased investments, and/or reductions
in waste and environmental degradation) not on squeezing labor.
6. New global governance systems and agreements
To fully address the problem of sweatshops and the abuse of workers (and the environment) we need new global
governance structures. Currently, the global economy is structured by rules established in trade agreements
written primarily by governments and corporations in the global North. It is directed by the unelected managers
of institutions like the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and World Trade Organization. Workers
around the world, small producers, and environmentalists are neglected by these institutions and seldom
participate in the decision-making process. This undemocratic process fails to protect their interests.
There is another way. For example, the Alternatives Committee of the International Forum on Globalization
([Link]/alt_eng.pdf) has proposed a set of principles on which a new global governance system could be
based:
• Democratic processes – people, not corporations nor technocrats serving corporate interests, must make
the rules that govern the global economy;
• Ecologic sustainability;
• The more local the decision making, the better;
• Our common heritage – seeds, forests, water, air, fisheries, culture, knowledge – must be honored and
respected;
• Human rights must be recognized including education, food, health care, housing, security in face of
unemployment, civil rights, political rights, and the right to organize;
• Everyone has a right to livelihood (a job, employment);
• Food security and food safety;
• Equity among countries (cancel unjust debts, establish fair international institutions);
• Diversity of all types – cultural, biological, social, and economic – is central; and the
• Precautionary Principle: if something might cause harm, then precautionary action should be taken to
restrict or ban it, even if there is scientific uncertainty about the harm.
Also see Alternatives for the Americas at [Link]/docs/alternatives%20dec%[Link].
Under a new governance system, the abusive conditions that currently exist in sweatshops and other workplaces
around the world (including the U.S.) would be banned, the prohibition would be enforced, and the penalties
would be sufficient to deter the abusive behavior.
As people of faith and citizens of the world, we are called to eliminate sweatshops and provide just workplaces
for all people who labor. We are also called to create global structures that honor all God’s people and God’s
creation. This work is well begun and we who seek to live into a new, more just society, continue to do what we
can to further this process. God is doing a new thing. Do you not perceive it? (Isa. 43:19)
Additional Resources
Behind the Label Corpwatch
[Link] [Link]
Campaign for Labor Rights International Labor Rights Fund
[Link] [Link]
China Labor Watch National Labor Committee
[Link]/[Link] [Link]
Clean Clothes Campaign NikeWatch (info on many makers of athletic apparel)
[Link] [Link]/campaigns/nike
Coop America United Students Against Sweatshops
[Link]/programs/sweatshops [Link]
For additional information: Edith Rasell, Minister for Workplace Justice, Justice & Witness Ministries, UCC;
Phone (toll free) 1-866-822-8224, ext 3709, or 216-736-3709; raselle@[Link].
Endnotes
1
Behind the Label. “U.S. Retailers: Responsible for the Global Sweatshop Crisis”
[Link]
2
Ibid.
3
Petrovic, Misha and Gary Hamilton, “Making Global Markets: Wal-Mart and Its Suppliers,” in Lichtenstein, Nelson, ed,
Wal-Mart: The Face of Twenty-First Century Capitalism, New York: The New Press, 2006, p. 140.
4
Bonacich, Edna with Khaleelah Hardie, “Wal-Mart and the Logistics Revolution,” in Lichtenstein, Nelson, ed, Wal-
Mart: The Face of Twenty-First Century Capitalism, New York: The New Press, 2006, p. 177.
5
For more information about the brutal suppression of labor leaders around the world, see 2006 Annual Survey of
Violations of Trade Union Rights by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions at
[Link]
