Most likely you do, but if not click here to download and install Acrobat Reader . Local governments spend millions of dollars each year on uniforms for police, firefighters and other public employees, most of whom are members of unions. But much of this money is going to companies such as Horace Small that have been found using sweatshops to make uniforms, subjecting workers to unacceptable conditions and poverty wages. We are fighting back through legislation and other efforts to ensure that city workers uniforms are made under decent conditions, in union shops instead of sweatshops.
Campaigns are underway in more cities as well.
Below are summaries of our campaigns in New York and Cleveland. The ordinance will prevent New York City from buying uniforms made in sweatshops. This legally binding bill has strong disclosure requirements for any uniform suppliers that want to do business with the City, so that they cannot hide their factory conditions. The bill also mandates that contractor factories must obey workplace laws and pay decent wages that keep their workers out of poverty. Passage of this ordinance is especially significant because of the historical importance of the garment industry in New York City, and because there are union shops in New York that could be making uniforms for the City s employees.