Resolution sponsor, Commissioner Sam Adams, said: "Our goal with this resolution is to act on our community's values and improve conditions for sweatshop workers."

Portland, Oregon—At 9:30am on Wednesday the 29th, Portland's Sweatfree Resolution was passed with X votes. Approximately 100 people crowded City Hall, including union representatives, former sweatshop workers, and community members to testify in support of the Resolution. Speakers included, Rev. Lynne Smouse Lopez (Ainsworth United Church of Christ), State Senator Brad Avakian, State Rep. Brad Witt, former GAP sweatshop worker Chie Abad, James Hester, President of the District Council of Trade Unions (DCTU), Carol Stahlke, President of AFSCME 189, Heidi Carlson, President of Foundation Garments, Inc., among others.

The Sweatfree Resolution sets in motion a process to create the City of Portland Sweatshop Free Procurement policy for uniforms and clothing purchases to be fully implemented in 2008. The policy will require disclosure of supplier factory names and locations, provide funding for the State and Local Government Sweatfree Consortium to pool resources for investigations and monitoring of supplier factories, and establish a committee to craft a code of conduct for the city's contractors, subcontractors, and vendors.

As lead Sweatfree campaign organizer, Deborah Schwartz stated: "Today is a victory for the City of Portland. Our City took a huge step to end sweatshop labor abuses on city contracts. Portland's commitment to independent monitoring and a policy committee free from industry interests puts Portland on the map as a leader in worker-friendly initiatives."

First and foremost, the Resolution will protect local businesses that have fair labor practices whose competitive ability to win Portland contracts has been undermined by businesses with cheap labor costs and lax environmental standards, and workers whose employers will be required to adhere to International Labor Organization standards, to give non-poverty wages adjusted by labor markets, to provide safe working conditions, and to offer the rights to assembly and collective bargaining.

The goal of the Resolution, as explained during the hearing by the Resolution's sponsor, Commissioner Sam Adams, "...is to act on our community's values and improve conditions for sweatshop workers." The City of Portland spends approximately $2 million annually in public funds on uniforms and clothing. The only way to assure that the city is not supporting cruel and illegal working conditions is by asking for the city's vendors to observe a code of conduct and be added to a national association that monitors these commitments.

Between 1995 and 2001 the U.S. Department of Labor surveyed cutting and sewing shops in the major U.S. apparel centers -- New York City, northern New Jersey, and Los Angeles, in particular. Each of these surveys found that 50-60% of the shops failed to pay either the minimum wage, or overtime, or both. Furthermore, schools, cities, counties, and states across the United States often subsidize sweatshops through buying garments and other products and services from vendors that underbid responsible businesses by contracting sweatshops. As Tom Chamberlin, President of the Oregon AFL-CIO, testified during the hearing, "when we support sweatshops, we hurt working families at home and across the globe. That is not an Oregon value."

The Sweatfree Labor Procurement Policy is supported by Ainsworth United Church of Christ, Metanoia Peace Community United Methodist Church, AFSCME Local 189, International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 5, Portland Jobs with Justice, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, International Union of Elevator Constructors Local 23, Oregon Fair Trade Campaign, the Northwest Oregon Labor Council, Global Exchange, the Portland Fire Fighters Local 43 and many more groups, organizations and community members. ###