January 1, 2007

Effective January 1, 2007, Manitoba’s new “Purchase of Clothing from Responsible Manufacturers” policy will govern Manitoba’s bulk apparel purchasing. The policy is the first Canadian provincial government No Sweat policy and the result of years of effective campaigning by MSN volunteer Jennifer DeGroot and No Sweat Manitoba activists. The policy governs between $1.3 and $1.6 million dollars of annual purchasing. This is a precedent-setting victory for No Sweat policies in Canada.

The policy sets out minimum labour standards that Vendors and their subcontractors are required to meet, based on International Labour Organization (ILO) standards. The minimum standards cover forced labour, child labour, freedom of association and collective bargaining, discrimination, and health and safety. On wages and hours of work, however, the policy only requires companies to meet local legal standards.

On the positive side, Manitoba’s policy requires companies to publicly disclose factory locations. Factory information, along with affirmations that the goods will be produced in compliance with the minimum labour standards, is required as part of the competitive bidding process. Once a bid is accepted, the factory disclosure information will be made public.

Complaints about non-compliance with Manitoba’s policy by any particular Vendor, along with evidence backing up the complaint, may be made to the Procurement Services Branch. In response to a credible complaint, Manitoba will create a Review Team made up of staff from departments like Manitoba Labour and Immigration, the Human Righs Commission, Civil Legal Services and others with expertise in the subject matter of the complaint. The Vendor will be required to respond in writing to the complaint, and the entire matter will be decided either by the Deputy Ministers Committee on Procurement, or the Ministers of Infrastructure and Transportation or Manitoba Labour and Immigration, as appropriate. Non-compliance with the policy “may be a factor affecting future awards.”

On the negative side, there is no specific commitment to independent investigations by third parties, and there is no commitment to time frames for remediation. Nor are there clear consequences for non-compliance. Lastly, given that long overtime hours and poverty wage levels are serious, endemic problems in the apparel industry, the failure to include standards on hours of work and wages is an unfortunate omission.

Overall, however, the Manitoba policy is a huge step forward for No Sweat policies in Canada and should be seen as a precedent that other provinces (and the federal government) should follow. The Manitoba policy is available at http://www.gov.mb.ca/gs/psb/rm.html.

• Learn about No Sweat policies and what you can do