United Sweatshops of America Tour |
April 17, 2002
Dear Friend,
We invite you to be a part of the United Sweatshops of America Tour to help define and expose sweatshop conditions in this country. We don't need to travel to Haiti or Mexico to find sweatshops. Right here, right now in the U.S., we are being “sweated” for our labor, cheated of our time, robbed of our health, fleeced of our money, and sapped of our humanity. Isn't it about time that we shared our experiences and called a spade a spade? Isn't it time that we stopped complaining to our friends, but considered together what we could do about it?
Most of us never dare to say we are in a sweatshop. In this country, that is a problem of immigrants in garment factories. We are constantly reminded of how we are better off from someone else—and should be grateful: at least we aren't “starving in Africa,” or “working for pennies” in China, or buried in the tragedy of September 11.
Meanwhile, many of us are having a particularly hard time finding a job, making ends meet. Benefits are running out. Those of us with a job feel we've got to work the overtime hours, got to take the second job, got to take the pay cut. We're told it's post September 11, it's the recession, it's the war on terrorism.
Even before September 11, before the recession, many of us here in the U.S. were struggling. We were already dead tired from working or scrambling around for survival. The U.S. now leads all industrialized countries in the number of hours worked each week. Garment workers, home attendants, service workers--even those of us working in offices--know that we are part of that rising statistic. More and more of us are developing serious health problems as a result. At the same time, growing numbers of us can't find good, full-time jobs, and have to settle for temp jobs, part-time jobs, a job here and there. Those of us who are full-time moms are told to leave our children and get a “real” job, like workfare, working for almost nothing and getting no training or respect. Homeless people, prisoners, and many immigrants are also being channeled into cheap-labor programs.
But, that's not “just the way it is”. Some of us are refusing to submit. Garment workers who sewed clothes in New York City for Donna Karan and the Bahari Group are exposing how their clothes made in the USA have been produced under such conditions as forcing workers to work overtime hours with no overtime pay, using the World Trade Center disaster as an excuse for not paying workers, and firing workers who ask for their unpaid wages. Service workers such as those who worked at the Marriott World Trade Center Hotel are not letting Marriott Corporation get away with laying them off and hiring new workers for less pay, but are demanding good jobs for all those displaced on September 11. Injured workers, sick and tired of being denied the benefits they deserve, traveled to Mexico last fall to file a lawsuit against the New York State Workers' Compensation Board and the U.S. for violating the NAFTA labor-side agreement.
These workers will be among those touring the country, beginning on May 15, to talk with other working people. As the United Sweatshops of America Tour, we want to share our experiences and learn from one another's struggles. What sweatshop conditions do you face? How are we as working people challenging these violations of our human rights?
You can be part of this tour by working with us to set up workshops, presentations, house parties, or teach-ins in your school, church, or community. Collect stories, testimonies, oral histories, artwork, video footage, or audio recordings to share with us even before we reach your town. Submit testimony or participate in our International Public Hearing on Workers' Health & Safety in New York City on June 22.
We hope the United Sweatshops of America Tour will continue and strengthen dialogue and action around sweatshops in this country. Perhaps it will spur participation in a campaign to fight for dignity and respect on the job, or spark writing, music or other creative expressions about what working people in the U.S. are facing, or inspire the circulation of struggle and continued connection between us.
Please contact us soon about your participation. The deadline for putting your city on the USA Tour map is May 15th.
Sincerely,
Lea Geronimo
Board Chair
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