Date of publication: April 9, 2009
Source: Daily Californian
Author: Genevieve Head-Gordon
Berkeley is considering an ordinance that would prohibit the city from purchasing uniforms and other garments produced in sweatshop conditions.
If the ordinance is passed by the Berkeley City Council on April 21, the city will require clothing vendors to disclose the sources of their goods and guarantee the items they sell to the city were produced in humane workplaces, said Diana Bohn, a member of the Peace and Justice Commission who helped write the ordinance.
The ordinance was first introduced five years ago, Bohn said. But the ordinance experienced numerous delays, and city staff members worked for three years to decrease $60,000 in hidden costs they found in the first draft of the ordinance...