Date of publication: June 13, 2006
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Author: Rich Lord
A group opposed to sweatshop labor plans to hold a "carnival" on the Roberto Clemente Bridge during the All-Star Game, and has not ruled out disrupting festivities if the Pirates do not take a stand against bad garment industry labor conditions, its leaders said yesterday.
The Pittsburgh Anti-Sweatshop Community Alliance intends to hand out leaflets, hold a puppet show, display posters colored by children, and conduct a "wheel of wages" game illustrating the low pay and long hours some overseas workers face, said one of its organizers, Michelle Gaffey of Homestead.
The group alleges that Major League Baseball buys official apparel and promotional items, like bobblehead dolls, made in factories that underpay young women and work them upward of 15 hours a day.
"We want the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball club to say to the league, 'We want you to do the work to make sure the apparel and giveaways are not made under sweatshop conditions,' " she said.
Kenneth Miller, another organizer for the group, said some 200 universities and colleges have agreements with their clothing providers that disclose the locations of the factories where collegiate apparel is made. That allows monitors to check on working conditions at those factories, and to urge a university to push for improvements where necessary.
The Pirates could ask the league to do something similar, he said.
"The specifics of our plan will evolve depending on whether the Pirates respond responsibly to our concerns," he said. If the Pirates do not respond, it's possible that "a group of Pittsburghers will make a decision to block the red carpet parade" on the bridge, or find other ways of "disrupting the All-Star Game."
He said the group is "100 percent peaceful."
Requests for comment from the Pirates were referred to Vice President for Communications Patricia Paytas, who had no immediate comment.
Mayor Bob O'Connor's administration has proposed temporary security rules around All-Star Game event venues July 6-11. City Council is considering the rules this week.
The restrictions affect the sizes and types of signs people can carry near the venues, among other things.
Mayoral spokesman Dick Skrinjar did not respond to requests for comment on the group's plans.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the National Lawyers Guild have talked with the city on the group's behalf. The city has said it does not oppose leafletting on the bridge, said lawyers for both organizations.
The group does not believe it needs a city parade permit to conduct its carnival, said Ms. Gaffey, even though it is hoping for "a couple hundred" participants, including some from other cities.
(Rich Lord can be reached at rlord@post-gazette.com [1] or 412-263-1542.)