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Date of publication: February 1, 2006

Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Author: Rich Lord

Anti-sweatshop activists urged City Council yesterday to better enforce a 9-year-old ordinance barring the city from buying goods produced in sweatshops.

Attention to the issue increased late last year when the city began considering folding its purchasing functions into Allegheny County, which has no anti-sweatshop rule. That concern may be moot. The purchasing merger is being renegotiated. County Councilman Bill Robinson told City Council he would introduce a an ordinance banning sweatshop purchases.

That news cheered the 14 activists in attendance but didn't assuage all of their concerns. Celeste Taylor, of the Pittsburgh Anti-Sweatshop Community Alliance, said the city buys uniforms and T-shirts from companies that rely on sweatshop labor in developing countries.

"We have been abiding by the sweatshop ordinance," countered Assistant General Services Director Chet Malesky. He said city contractors sign statements saying they aren't providing sweatshop-made products.

The problem, Mr. Malesky said, is that there is no widely recognized source of information on which companies do or do not buy from sweatshops. City Councilman William Peduto said the city may team with volunteers who could ferret out companies that buy from sweatshops.