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Date of publication: March 13, 2007

Source: Hampshire Gazette

Author: Liana Foxvog

Excerpt from article:

 

To the editor: Massachusetts Governor Patrick's concern over the care of the illegal immigrants' children from the raided New Bedford sweatshop is commendable but misses the bigger issue - a sweatshop existed in his state.

When federal immigration officials raided Michael Bianco Inc., they discovered horrific working conditions similar to the conditions in New England mills over a century ago. The workers at Michael Bianco are mostly from Central America, a region where so-called "free trade" has eroded local economies and forced people to emigrate for their survival. Unfortunately, the poor working conditions these workers faced in Massachusetts were not much better than sweatshops in Central America.

And what was Michael Bianco, Inc. producing in this sweatshop? Vest and backpacks for the US military...