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A conference to oppose sweatshops |
| Plans announced for national
conference for organizing against sweatshops, Albany, NY, May 14-16.
Schools, Cities, States
Unite to Fight Sweatshops
First-ever "SweatFree" conference to
mobilize activists from across the country
a press release from Global Exchange
[posted here 4-5-04]
On the heels of historic new "sweatfree"
purchasing laws in the State of California and elsewhere, anti-sweatshop and
fair trade activists will gather in a new national landmark, the first "Sweatfree
Communities Conference," to be held May 14-16 in Albany, New York. Tom
Hayden, former California state Senator and lifelong activist, will be
keynote speaker.
Conference organizers expect concerned
citizens from communities nationwide to come together to share lessons and
strategize to call for their cities, school districts and other public
institutions to adopt policies that do not subsidize sweatshop labor or
abusive child labor at the taxpayers' expense. The conference will stress
nuts-and-bolts organizing tools.
"We're moving millions of purchasing
dollars to the workers' cause," says SweatFree Communities Board Member
Brian O'Shaugnessy. "That creates market demand that can force companies to
improve working conditions or face declining sales."
Sweatfree purchasing policies, including a
milestone California state law that just went into effect, require
government vendors and their subcontractors to abide by fair labor standards
when doing business with the taxpayers'' money and supplying goods such as
law enforcement uniforms, college sportswear and footwear. The states of
Maine, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania have also passed
anti-sweatshop legislation, as well as dozens of cities and schools all
sizes, from Boston to Milwaukee to Los Angeles to Toledo to Olympia,
Washington.
According to Kathryn Sharpe, Coordinator of
the Ethical Trade Action Group in Denver: "A lot of people are drawn to
sweatfree organizing because it is positive and proactive. And it's a great
way to have government policies reflect people's personal values."
Participants will also include
representatives from community and nonpofit groups, labor groups such as the
garment workers union UNITE, and workers at the New Era cap factory in
Derby, New York, who recently won a union contract with the help of United
Students Against Sweatshops (USAS).
SweatFree Communities is a network of local
and national anti-sweatshop organizations that are committed to promoting
local sweatfree purchasingcampaigns and to linking efforts against local and
global sweatshops.
For more information about the SweatFree
Communities Conference and to register:
http://www.behindthelabel.org/campaigns/sfc/conference.php
or
http://www.labor-religion.org/sf_sfc_conference_top_may04.htm
Bjorn Skorpen Claeson, Coordinator
SweatFree Communities - A Network for Local Action Against Sweatshops
170 Park Street Bangor, ME 04401
USA
Ph: 207-262-7277
Fax: 603-457-6036
E-mail: info@sweatfree.org
Web: www.sweatfree.org
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Some blogs worth visiting |
|
PVJ's
Facebook page
Mitch Trigger, PVJ's
Secretary/Communicator, has created a Facebook page where
Witherspoon members and others can gather to exchange news and
views. Mitch and a few others have posted bits of news, both
personal and organizational. But there’s room for more!
You can post your own news and views,
or initiate a conversation about a topic of interest to you. |
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Voices of Sophia blog
Heather Reichgott, who has created
this new blog for Voices of Sophia, introduces it:
After fifteen years of scholarship
and activism, Voices of Sophia presents a blog. Here, we present the
voices of feminist theologians of all stripes: scholars, clergy,
students, exiles, missionaries, workers, thinkers, artists, lovers
and devotees, from many parts of the world, all children of the God
in whose image women are made. .... This blog seeks to glorify God
through prayer, work, art, and intellectual reflection. Through
articles and ensuing discussion we hope to become an active and
thoughtful community. |
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John Harris’ Summit to
Shore blogspot
Theological and philosophical
reflections on everything between summit to shore, including
kayaking, climbing, religion, spirituality, philosophy, theology,
politics, culture, travel, The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), New
York City and the Queens neighborhood of Ridgewood by a progressive
New York City Presbyterian Pastor. John is a former member of the
Witherspoon board, and is designated pastor of North Presbyterian
Church in Flushing, NY. |
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John Shuck’s Shuck and Jive
A Presbyterian minister, currently
serving as pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Elizabethton,
Tenn., blogs about spirituality, culture, religion (both organized
and disorganized), life, evolution, literature, Jesus, and
lightening up. |
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Got more blogs to recommend?
Please
send a note, and we'll see what we can do! |
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