Construction of All Star Sweatshop Carnvial

Tuesday June 20 @ 7 PM Friends Meeting House  - - Sweatshop Carnival preparations: “Toss That Worker a Peanut,” “The Wheel of Wages,” “Close This Factory,” “Baseball for Workers,” and a “No Sweatshops Bucco!” - Pirate coloring contest.  Constructoin and Pirate costume supplies... bring'em to the meeting.

We have anti sweatshop all stars CONFIRMED attending the 2006 All Star Game from Coopertown NY, New York City, the Ft Wayne Workers Project a the United Workers Association of Baltimore... All Star Advocates from all over the WORLD will be attending the 2006 All Star Game to hit a home run for workers rights.  Please join the welcoming committee... housing and food donations are needed.  "Adopt and anti sweatshop All Star"

Plan the car pool and solidarity message from Pittsburgh at the FREEDOM FROM POVERTY MARCH at Camden Yards on June 23 and 24 - www.unitedworkersassociation.org 

other agenda items - All Star Defense report -  Blue Priate Major League Sweatshop Eduaction - Welcoming the Major League Sweatshop All Stars - MORE!

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Read the June 17 EDITORIAL from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette!

Editorial: All-star effort / The Pirates should speak up about sweatshops

Saturday, June 17, 2006

Would you mind if that Pittsburgh Pirates shirt you bought last week was sewn by a 14-year-old girl in Bangladesh during her 12th hour of labor in a factory that pays her in pocket change and certainly no overtime?

Polls have shown that most Americans do mind. And certainly Pittsburghers, with their long tradition of improving labor conditions through collective bargaining, are even more likely to balk at their hometown team's shirts being manufactured in sweatshops.

Major League Baseball, not the Pirates, signs the contracts with the companies that sell the stuff bearing team logos and arranges for its manufacture. The Pittsburgh Anti-Sweatshop Community Alliance has asked the Pirates to ask Major League Baseball to take the same measures that hundreds of universities across the country have to ensure that merchandise sporting their names isn't made by people trapped in grotesque working conditions.

The Pirates have responded by asking Major League Baseball to take a look at the issue of sweatshops -- not to resolve it, just mull it. Major League Baseball has assured the alliance that the players' uniforms and caps are made in the United States and that it requires companies contracting for manufacture of fan merchandise, almost always overseas, to "comply with all applicable labor laws."

Is it fine, then, if the local labor laws in Bangladesh allow 14-year-olds to work 12 hours for pennies without overtime?

Nearly 160 universities, including Duquesne, Penn State and Carnegie Mellon, deal with this by including a code of conduct for labor conditions in their contracts with these companies and by joining an organization that investigates workers' complaints.

It's not perfect. The group checks only a few of the thousands of factories around the world. Still, it's some policing.

The alliance plans to conduct a sweatshop information "carnival" on July 11, the day of the All-Star Game in Pittsburgh. The Pirates should head it off by asking Major League Baseball to make a real attempt at enforcement. It's not too much to ask.

Take a few minutes to review the comprehensive report from the 3rd annual International SweatFree Communities Conference that took place in May in Minneapolis.  It is one of the most comprehensive looks at organizing in the global apparel industry and a well documented discussion about anti sweatshop strategies.   Members of the Pittsburgh Anti Sweatshop Community Alliance thank those that participated in the SweatFree Baseball All Star workershop transcribed here on page 54. - www.sweatfree.org - PDF file is on the right hand column half way down

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There will be meetings on TUESDAY June 20 AND TUESDAY JUNE 27 at the Friends Meeting House at 7 PM.  There will also be a FAN FEST DIRECT ACTION discussion at the Roberto Clemente statue at PNC Park 45 minutes before the start of the fireworks on the 4th of July. 

HERE WE GO!