Printer-friendly version

Date of publication: August 5, 2005

Source: San Francisco Examiner

Author: Jo Stanley

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco is close to implementing the nation's most stringent rules against public purchase of products from sweatshops, which supporters of the law hope will result in greater local manufacturing purchases.

At the Budget and Finance Committee hearing Thursday, Supervisor Tom Ammiano called the new legislation "groundbreaking" because it not only imposes a broad set of rules and defines minimum working conditions for companies which The City purchases from, but also sets aside tens of thousands of dollars for enforcement. There will also be an 11-member advisory panel to make sure that local wage and health-safety laws are followed across the board.

Out of San Francisco's $600 million worth of annual contracting, only $2.1 million directly affects garments and textiles. That industry would be the focus for the initial 12 months of the legislation.

Betty Yu, a garment worker, pointed out that thousands of jobs in that industry have left San Francisco in the past decade for overseas production outfits that pay lower wages. The purchasing proposal put together by Ammiano and Mayor Gavin Newsom was modified this week to encourage local purchases.