The Consortium will pool resources for investigations and monitoring of supplier factories and coordinate the implementation and enforcement of sweatfree standards to ensure compliance with codes of conduct established by states and localities.  The Consortium will begin working in the apparel sector, and consider expanding its scope to other industries where sweatshops are of concern.

The Sweatfree Campaign in Olympia was organized by The South Sound Clean Clothes Campaign, to which Marigold is a member. The Campaign is a coalition of Olympia, Tumwater, and Lacey students, union members, people of faith, and concerned citizens raising awareness about the sweatshop industry, and challenging individuals as well as public and private institutions to create positive change by altering their purchasing practices. Since 2000, SSCCC has been active in organizing numerous events such as an annual anti-sweatshop film festival, press conferences, informational meetings and events. SSCCC will continue to work closely with the City Council as an information resource and to assist in guiding the Council as they work with the Consortium.

The positive impact of each city’s sweatfree policies is maximized by collaborating across jurisdictional boundaries.  By consolidating our purchasing power and coordinating enforcement, our cities can better assure that anti-sweatshop policies achieve their intent.
– Mayor Gavin Newsom, San Francisco

There’s power in numbers. …  If we team up with other states we’ll have even more influence in the global marketplace.   Workers around the world deserve any influence or leverage we can bring to the table.
– Governor John E. Baldacci, Maine

We have a moral obligation to ensure [the sweatshop] practice is not rewarded
through state contracts and taxpayer dollars.… By using our combined state procurement power, we can impart real change.
– Governor Edward G. Rendell, Pennsylvania

Read more about the Consortium at; www.sweatfree.org!

We are showing Made in LA (a 2008 Emmy Award Winner) with Almundena Carrecedo, Director, Producer, Writer and Cinematographer and Robert Bahar, Producer, Co-Writer in attendance!

This feature event of our festival not only includes the showing of this award winning film but a discussion with the filmmakers. The documentary itself focuses on the story of three immigrant workers Lupe, Maria and Maura, as they toil 14 hours a day in a garment factory in LA for a sub-contractor who avoids minimum wage laws or a safe working environment. Acceptance of these conditions changes as activists from the Garment Worker’s Center help them to organize and challenge the large retailer whose clothes they sew. Both drama and humor weave this true tale into a powerful story. “An excellent documentary…about basic human dignity” New York Times. “A rousing true story of solidarity, perseverance, and triumph” Variety.

Film begins at 7, discussion to follow. Location: Traditions Fair Trade, Olympia, WA.

Other films in our series include:

The Story of Stuff : From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It’ll teach you something, it’ll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever Visit it: www.thestoryofstuff.com (Nov 10th showing, 7pm Traditions)

Behind the Swoosh: examines working conditions for workers at a Nike factory. Visit www.behindtheswoosh.org (Nov 10th showing, 7pm Traditions)

Made in China: this film follows the lives of a typical migrant couple, Heqing and Heping Fan, including their first trip home after two years in the city. They both work in the Cixi Industrial Zone, a manufacturing center with over 1,000,000 workers, mostly former peasants, south of Shanghai, in a plant making bathroom products for export. They work seven days a week, twelve hours a day for approximately $.45 an hour or about $250 a month. Each month they save about $150 dollars to send back to their village. The factory owner feels he is doing his workers a service; rural China is overpopulated and industrialization is the only answer for surplus peasants. (Nov 24th showing 7pm Traditions)

Rosy is one of the co-op’s longest members! She first learned to sew and embroider making children’s toys. As her skills developed over the years, she was given the position of coordinator of the training center. Now Rosy is a quality checker, responsible for making sure that Marigold’s products are of the highest quality. Rosy talks about her experience over the years:

“It’s hard to imagine when I think back. Before, no one (in my household) was listening to me. Now if there is an issue and I am not there, they wait for me to hear what I have to say. I feel as if I am an independent woman taking care of my family and children.  I feel as if the co-op has given me a platform on which to stand”

~  U.S. states, counties, and cities are inadvertently using taxpayer dollars to purchase goods from companies engaged in serious human rights and labor violations.

~  includes in-depth case studies of 12 factories in 9 countries that produce and sell goods such as uniforms to vendors who, in turn, sell to state, county and city entities.

~  reveals abuses, such as:  child labor; illegally low poverty wages; forced and unpaid overtime; verbal, physical, and sexual abuse; pregnancy testing; excessively long work hours that cause physical ailments; disregard for freedom of speech or association; and elaborate schemes to deceive corporate auditors.

~  includes examples of abuse, such as:  women in El Salvador who sew $165 North Face jackets and $54 shifts for Eddie Bauer cannot afford milk and other basic necessities for their children as their wages fall behind soaring food costs.  The women are paid 94 cents for each $165 North Face jacket they sew-meaning that their wages amount to less than six-tenths of one percent of the jacket’s
retail price.

~  states that local vendors such as Blumenthal sell goods to the State of Washington and the City of Olympia that are produced by companies, including: Fechheimer Brothers Company, Lion Apparel, and Rocky Shoes.

Marigold is an active member of The South Sound Clean Clothes Campaign, an anti-sweatshop community campaign, was formed in 2000.  We are members of SweatFree Communities, the author of this report, and we continue to work on behalf of human and labor rights. For more info: www.sweatfree.org.