Date of publication: June 9, 2007
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
A plan to expand Milwaukee's so-called sweat-free purchasing ordinance to items beyond clothing raises valid questions about cost and delays, but California's experience show the proposal is doable.
No politician wants to come down on the side of sweatshop labor, especially in a heavily unionized manufacturing state such as Wisconsin, which has lost so many jobs to countries where labor is cheap and benefits questionable. The question, and it is legitimate, is how far are politicians prepared to go?
Four years ago, the Common Council put Milwaukee in the vanguard of the growing anti-sweatshop movement by approving a so-called sweat-free ordinance for city clothing purchases. Ald. Tony Zielinski now wants to apply those standards to all city purchases above $30,000...