Date of publication: September 16, 2006
Source: Sweatfree Communities
Author: Sweatfree Communities
Joint Statement:
By joining the Governors' Coalition for Sweatfree Procurement and Worker Rights, Governor Rendell has taken a significant step to ensure our tax dollars no longer subsidize human rights abuses in factories that sell to state governments and creating a level playing field for ethical businesses in Pennsylvania and elsewhere. Sweatshops with poverty wages, forced overtime, hazardous working conditions and no labor unions by which workers can protect their rights are an affront to our values as Pennsylvanians. State purchases that amount to public subsidies for human rights abuses benefit no one. The Governors' Coalition for Sweatfree Procurement and Worker Rights will help our state enforce Governor Rendell's earlier sweatfree procurement Executive Order, and can become a significant force for good jobs in Pennsylvania and a more humane global economy, benefiting workers everywhere. We applaud Governor Rendell's vision, and call on him to take a leadership role in the Coalition in order to bring on-board every governor in the nation.
Signed by:
AFSCME Council 13
AFSCME Local 2459
Atlantic Apparel Contractors Association
Dennis Brutus, Professor Emeritus, African American Studies, University of Pittsburgh
The Black Political Empowerment Project
Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, Harrisburg Chapter
Pennsylvania AFL-CIO
Pennsylvania Joint Board UNITE HERE
Pennsylvania State University United Students Against Sweatshops
Pittsburgh Anti-Sweatshop Community Alliance
Philadelphia Joint Board UNITE HERE
SweatFree Communities
United Students Against Sweatshops