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SF Embraces Freedom of Association Language After Last-Minute Negotiations
"San Francisco Standard" Now Strongest in Nation
by Tom Hayden, former State Senator and New College instructor
SAN FRANCISCO. After 36 hours of back-and-forth negotiations, the San Francisco mayor's office agreed to including freedom of association and collective bargaining rights in the proposed sweatfree code of conduct on Thursday morning. Hours later, a supervisors' committee hearing recommended the final version to the full board for passage. Over two hundred supporters cheered the outcome.
Only days before, the negotiations faltered over whether freedom of association language would be included at all. At issue was whether the city could "legislate" for other jurisdictions. Advocates for sweatshop workers were adamant that the city, in its role as "market participant", could attach such conditions to public contracts, and that failure to do so would mean capitulation to repressive states where workers rights are prohibited. Adoption of a meaningful "San Francisco standard" in the marketplace, they said, would require embracing freedom of association. They further pointed out that corporations like NIKE and many universities already had adopted such a standard.
Finally, at ten a.m. Thursday, three hours before the hearing, the mayor's office drafted language to resolve the impasse. As amended, the ordinance now states: "Contractors and subcontractors shall demonstrate commitment to best practices and continuous improvement in management practices to eliminate sweatshop labor, including the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining. No contractor or subcontractor shall subject a worker to harrassment, intimidation, or retaliation as a result of his or her efforts to freely associate or bargain collectively."
The mayor's office also accomodated a continuing concern to include "local preference" in the ordinance, requiring that the proposed sweatfree advisory group examine ways to provide incentives for San Francisco garment manufacturers who comply with the ordinance and report within four months.
The testimony of Sen. Tom Hayden declared that "with adoption of these final amendments, a true San Francisco model has been achieved, one which connects conscience with purchasing power in the marketplace. The standard reflects the best of private sector and university codes of conduct that workers and students have fought for, have been fired for, and have suffered for during a decade. The San Francisco model goes further, because it includes an independent monitor funded with $100, 000 unlike the corporate models, with a community-based advisory board to see that the ordinance goes forward meaningfully. What is needed now is a letter from the Mayor and supervisors to all elected officials across the country urging rapid adoption of the same standards, so that American taxpayers are solidly aligned with the interests of sweatshop workers and not their exploiters."
Email or call us for more details: sweatfree@globalexchange.org 415-575-5541 or 415-558-6938.
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