Other Canadian Anti-Sweatshop Sites

 

Canadian Labour Congress Information in English and French on the CLC's sweatshop and child labour campaigns.

Common Threads A great resource for teachers. Classroom-ready materials about globalization, sweatshops and the clothes we wear, prepared by the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF).

Oxfam Canada Information on Oxfam's food and income security work.

Quebec Coalition Against Sweatshops Information in French on the anti-sweatshop campaigning activities of a Quebec-based coalition of labour, student and international development organizations.

UNITE HERE Canada Information in English and French on UNITE HERE's Stop Sweatshops Campaign.

Workers United Canada: Includes a "buy union" directory.

International Labour Rights Campaigns

 

Clean Clothes Campaign (Netherlands) Includes information on specific campaigns, including Nike, Burma and the World Cup 2002 championship.

Comité Fronterizo de Obrer@s (Mexico) A worker-controlled organization that educates, organizes and empowers other maquila workers along the Mexican-US border. Information in English and Spanish.

Oxfam Australia: working hard to ensure that the big brands like Nike, adidas and Puma treat their workers with respect and pay them enough to meet their basic needs.

L'Éthique sur l'étiquette (France) Information in French on the Clean Clothes Campaign in France.

FairWear (Australia) Information about the Australian campaign to end the exploitation of home-based workers.

Fashioning an Ethical Industry (UK) an education project of Labour Behind the Label. The project works with tutors and students of fashion-related courses to give an overview of how the fashion industry positively and negatively impacts on working conditions in garment manufacture and to inspire students - as the next generation of industry players - to raise standards in the for garment workers in the fashion industry of the future.

Goodweave (US) Learn about their carpet labelling program and rehabilitation centres for former child labourers in India, Pakistan and Nepal.

Independent Monitoring Team of Honduras (EMIH): EMIH is an Independent Monitoring Team with capacity to contribute to the welfare of workers, using a strategy that links gender analysis and the promotion of human rights to achieve social and economic justice.

IndustriALL Global Union represents 50 million workers in 140 countries in the mining, energy and manufacturing sectors, bringing together affiliates of the former global union federations: International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF), International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) and International Textiles Garment and Leather Workers' Federation (ITGLWF).

International Labor Rights Forum (US) Working to overcome the problems of child labour, forced labour and other abusive labour practices.

Labour Behind the Label (UK) Coalition working to pressure retailers in the UK to take responsibility for the conditions under which their clothes are produced.

National Labor Committee (US) Excellent background information on worker rights violations in Central America and Asia and various corporate campaigns including Nike, Wal-Mart, Gap and Liz Claiborne.

National Mobilization Against Sweatshops (US) Information on their "Ain't I a Woman!" campaign.

Solidarity Center (US) A non-profit organization that assists workers around the world struggling to build democratic and independent trade unions. An allied organization of the AFL-CIO.

SweatFreeCommunities (US) Founded by anti-sweatshop organizers in Maine, Minnesota, New York, Wisconsin and elsewhere to facilitate the sharing of resources and information and built a national sweatfree movement.

United Students Against Sweatshops (US) Information on how to launch anti-sweatshop campaigns at your campus.

UNITE HERE (US) Information on UNITE HERE's work in Textile, Manufacturing, and Retail.

War on Want (UK) Information on garment workers' struggles in several Asian countries.

Women Working Worldwide (UK) works internationally with women’s labour rights organizations and trade unions to support and empower women working in international consumer goods supply chains to claim their rights as workers.

Resources on Monitoring and Verification

COVERCO (Guatemala) Information in English and Spanish on the independent monitoring group "Commission for the Verification of Codes of Conduct," including monitoring reports on Liz Claiborne and Gap supply factories.

Ethical Trading Initiative (UK) Information on the implementation of codes of conduct which cover supply chain working conditions. ETI works to ensure that the working conditions of workers producing for the UK market meet or exceed international labour standards.

Fair Labor Association (US) Information on the third-party factory monitoring system developed by industry and some human rights organizations following the US Apparel Industry Partnership.

Fair Wear Foundation (Netherlands) Information on the independent monitoring foundation formed by industry, trade unions and NGOs in the Netherlands.

GMIES (El Salvador) Information in English and Spanish on the independent monitoring "Grupo de Monitoreo Independiente de El Salvador," including monitoring reports on factory conditions in El Salvador.

Social Accountability International (US) Information on the SA8000 Standard and commercial social auditing.

Verité (US) Information on independent monitoring of codes of conduct.

Worker Rights Consortium (US) Information on the code verification system developed by United Students Against Sweatshops.

Other Resources

 

Asia Monitor Resource Centre (Hong Kong) Information on labour struggles across Asia and campaigns in support of toy workers.

Asia Pacific Currents podcasts: APC broadcasts stories and issues from the Asia Pacific region from a labour and grassroots perspective.

Americas Program of the International Relations Centre (US) Their "Americas Updater" and "Boletin Americas" e-zines cover current Latin American issues.

Brandworkers International, a nonprofit organization that advocates for the rights of food and retail workers.

Centro de Derechos Humanos "Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez" (Mexico)

Centre Europe - Tiers-Monde (Europe) Check out the "Files" on transnational corporations and human rights for publications in English and French on workers' rights.

China Labour Bulletin (Hong Kong) Founded in 1994 in Hong Kong by independent trade unionist Han Dongfang, China Labour Bulletin (CLB) has been actively promoting independent, democratic union organizing, and the protection of labour rights and standards in mainland China.

China Labor News Translations (China/Australia) A free collection of English translations of Chinese-language reports, commentaries and blogs on labor issues. Initiated by Anita Chan, an academic researcher and labor rights advocate at the Australian National University.

Confederation of Canadian Unions (Canada) Through the CCU's relationship with global solidarity organizations, the CCU supports the right of workers to participate in and form unions without fear of intimidation, interference or loss of liberty.

Corporate Watch (US) Mini-online magazine dedicated to monitoring the activities of transnational corporations. Check out their sections on Sweatshops, and Globalization and Corporate Rule.

Frontera NorteSur (US) Online magazine covering issues on the US-Mexico border.

Global Labour Inspectors Network (Denmark) Information about issues encompassing labour inspection around the world. Promoting International Labour Organization Conventions on labour rights.

Globalization and Labour Standards (US) Based at Cornell University, an online database of abstracts from recent law journal articles pertaining to global labour issues.

Human Rights First (US) Working to ensure that human rights laws and principles are enforced in the United States and abroad.

Human Rights Watch (US) Fact-finding investigations into human rights abuses in all regions of the world.

International Centre for Trade Union Rights (UK) Articles and campaigns focusing on core labour rights.

International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) An international organization focused on the protection of human rights globally.

International Labour Organization Information on international labour standards, labour statistics and export processing zones.

Maquiladora Health & Safety Support Network (US) A network of occupational health & safety professionals volunteering to improve working conditions for maquiladora workers in northern Mexico.

Mexican Labour News and Analysis is produced in collaboration with the Authentic Labor Front (FAT) of Mexico and the United Eletrical Workers (UE) of the US.

Sim*Sweatshop (UK) Online sweatshop simulation game.

Toronto the Better (Canada) Toronto's socially responsible business directory.

Workers' Assistance Centre (Philippines) The Workers’ Assistance Center (WAC), a Filipino church-affiliated labour rights organization, provides advice, support and legal assistance to workers in the country's Export Processing Zones (EPZs).