tagged w/ Garment workers
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Appeal from the Clean Clothes Campaign for solidarity with Cambodian garment workers
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LOS ANGELES — A clothing maker with a vast garment factory in downtown Los Angeles is firing about 1,800 immigrant employees in the coming days — more than a quarter of its work force — after a federal investigation turned up irregularities in the identity documents the workers presented when they were hired.
The firings at the company, American Apparel, have become a showcase for the Obama administration’s effort to reduce illegal immigration by forcing employers to dismiss unauthorized workers rather than by using workplace raids. The firings, however, have divided opinion in California over the effects of the new approach, especially at a time of high joblessness in the state and with a major, well-regarded employer as a target.
Immigration officials said they would now focus on employers, primarily wielding the threat of civil complaints and fines, instead of raids and worker deportation.
“Now all manner of companies face the very real possibility that the government, using our basic civil powers, is going to come knocking on the door,” Mr. Morton said.
The goal, he said, is to create “a truly national deterrent” to hiring unauthorized labor that would “change the practices of American employers as a class.”LOS ANGELES — A clothing maker with a vast garment factory in downtown Los... more
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A look into the lives of two young, female garment workers in Bangladesh, a country where women were historically excluded from public life. The garment industry has been a mixed blessing for Bangladeshi women - while it has allowed them to finally assert themselves in Bangladeshi society, the conditions they work under in the factories are often oppressive.A look into the lives of two young, female garment workers in Bangladesh, a country... more
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by Malayna
If you've ever paid attention to the tags on your clothing, you might have found yourself cringing as you envision sweatshop conditions in places you've never been. In Sri Lanka though, the apparel industry has gotten together to let us all know that we can buy their Garments Without Guilt. That's what they've named their mission-turned-movement, and you join them at www.garmentswithoutguilt.com.
The garment business in Sri Lanka changed a few years ago with the lifting of quotas, giving individual manufacturers reason to look at what they could do make their business stand out. Sri Lanka's Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF), an association of garment manufacturers on the teardrop-shaped island in the Indian Ocean, realized that they were already meeting and often exceeding international standards in terms of human rights, women's rights, labor rights, and corporate social responsibility.
"Children have no business in our business" is one of their slogans, and they not only refrain from hiring children, they invest in education as well, for children and for adults, allowing them to improve their circumstances and their lives. Sri Lanka Apparel's community programs run the gamut from providing drinking water to rural towns to hiring and empowering the differently-abled. They also have eco-friendly factories in operation and others being built.
The organization had an international certification company verify standards at individual garment factories, and now they can claim with confidence and conviction (as they do on their website) that their "ethical sourcing and sustainable development practices aim to empower women and support their communities--through poverty alleviation and offering opportunities for education and personal growth. With the development of sustainable eco-friendly solutions to apparel manufacturing, we have endeavored to make the 'Made in Sri Lanka' label synonymous with quality, reliability and social and environmental accountability."
With their new website design launch at the Colombo Fashion Week on Jan 27th, they've taken the first steps toward expanding the idea to make it into a movement with a global mission. Join them. It's green, it supports the empowerment of women, it helps children and funds education, and it promotes fair trade and human rights. So look out for "Made In Sri Lanka" when you're looking to buy clothes, and encourage other countries to enforce similar standards with the power of the green-for-a-reason dollar in your wallet.
http://www.dailymantra.com
http://www.myspace.com/thedailymantraby Malayna
If you've ever paid attention to the tags on your clothing, you might... more
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Globalization, unionization and profit sharing. In recent years many American textile companies have had to outsource their operations to "sweat shops" around the world to compete in the global market. The documentary "No Sweat" takes us inside the walls of two clothing companies that decided to keep their business in the U.S. We look at the managers, employees and cultures behind American Apparel and Sweat X as they struggle to turn a profit.Globalization, unionization and profit sharing. In recent years many American textile... more
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