How to Put an End to Sweatshops

A short list of the things you can do right now about sweatshops:

1) Talk to your family, friends and neighbors about the things we buy and where they come from, dialog is the first step and getting different perspectives you trust is important.

2) Educate Yourself: Check out these books and films to learn more about Sweatshops: Can We Put An End To Sweatshops?, Low Pay - High Profile: The Global Push for Fair Labor, Making Sweatshops: The Globalization of the U.S. Apparel Industry, People Before Profit: The New Globalization in the Age of Terror, Big Money and Economic Crises. Also read our article Sweatshops: The Reel World of Globalizationfor a review of some of the best documentary films about Sweatshops and Globalization. Or course we've also got to mention Farzin Mojtabai's book Blood, Sweat and Tears, which you can read more about at www.myspace.com/sweatshopbook.

3) Write a letter to your congressional representatives; they get petitions and form letters all day long, give them something personal and meaningful, some will read it. Most importantly Vote, or else your voice means nothing to the politicians, try to remind the 2008 presidential Candidates that Sweatshops are still an issue in the Global work force.

4) Write and call the corporations that make the brands you like; ask if they enforce fair labor practices in their supply chain. Use your voice before you use your money to speak. Also let corporations know if they are doing something right when you hear about their programs to end sweatshops, this keeps the pressure on and lets them know why you are buying their products.

5) Attend a meeting, join a chapter or donate to one of the many organizations dedicated to fighting sweatshops, this can led to local campaigns and activism that you want to be part of. Some include: United Students Against Sweatshops, Oxfam, Sweatshop Watch, The Clean Clothes Connection, Jobs With Justice or The National Labor Committee.

6) Start your own chapter if there isn't one in your town. You'd be surprised how many people have a genuine concern about the issues and want to make a difference.

7) Get your campus or high school to form a club or start a chapter of United Students Against Sweatshops and make learning about fair labor part of your education.

8) When you go shopping ask the sales people if they know if items were made without sweatshops. Aside from fair trade stores and the savvy few, most will have no idea, but it spreads the word and gets people thinking. You can ask to speak with the manager as well and start making your way up the corporate ladder, if you're shopping, they're listening.

9) Start a campaign to get your local schools, governments and public companies to procure only goods made without sweatshops. There are organizations that will help and the people who run these institutions will get behind you. One good resource is Sweat Free Communities at www.sweatfree.org