Help Keep the Momentum Going!
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| Coalition Leader Diana Bohn on May 17th |
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To find out about upcoming events or to join the coalition, email the Sweatfree Berkeley campaign coordinator, Diana Bohn, at nicca@igc.org
Sweatfree Berkeley Funding Victory!
Berkeley became the third city in the United States to allocate funding for a "Sweatfree Ordinance" that would prohibit the city government from purchasing any and all goods produced in sweatshops.
The City Council approved $25,00 for initial funding and vowed to revisit the issue again during the mid-year budget review. The Sweatfree Berkeley Coalition requested a recurring $60,000 and it is our hope that this gap in funding will be filled.
Sweatfree Berkeley is endorsed by more than 30 organizations! Click here to see a list of our endorsers.
Make Berkeley Sweatfree!
Help Berkeley join San Francisco in the forefront of local governments seeking to end public taxpayer subsidies of sweatshop contractors and subcontractors. Berkeley has the opportunity to be the first small city in the burgeoning Sweatfree movement to pass an ordinance with adequate enforcement funding. The proposed legislation will include:
- a sweat-free code of conduct to be signed by all contractors, subcontractors and vendors which include: a living wage, adjusted by labor markets, rights to assembly and collective bargaining; non-discrimination and a ban on child labor; safe working conditions;
- enforcement of an independent non-profit monitor
- commitment to a multi-city and state consortium
- preference for Certified Organic and Fair Trade Certified goods
- Community Advisory Committee composed mostly of workers rights advocates
Tell the City of Berkeley what you think! Click Letter to Mayor for a sample letter that you can fax to Mayor Tom Bates.
Read Nicholas Smith's Op-Ed about the importance of a Sweatfree Berkeley here!
Write the Mayor and your city councilmember to thank them for supporting the Sweatfree Berkeley Ordinance, and ask them to make sure it is enforced by allocating adequate funding for an international, independent, non-profit monitor! Feel free to use our sample thank you letter.
Don't know why funding is pertinent and why we need it? Please read the Enfocement funding memo that addresses this question.
Read the lastest revision of proposed Sweatfree Berkeley Ordinance.
Thank you Berkeley Commission on Labor for understanding the importance of funding for Sweatfree Berkeley. On May 17th, 2006 the Berkeley Commission on Labor passed the Resolution for a Sweatfree Berkeley, that included a provision for enforcement funding of up to $60,000, and referred the ordinance to the budget process. Click here to read about our compelling speaker testimonies.