The archdiocese plans to use research from the National Labor Committee in Support of Human and Worker Rights, a New York-based organization, to investigate the overseas manufacturers, including some in the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Still, he encourages consumers to educate themselves as best they can and use that knowledge in their purchasing decisions. Don't just buy something because it's cheap. Think of the common good. That, too, was Cardinal Francis George's message in kicking off the anti-sweatshop campaign last Lent.
People possess the basic human right to decent work and fair wages.
The economy exists to serve the people, not the opposite. In addition to investigating the uniform manufacturers, the No Sweatshop Campaign also aims to educate people in the pews and students in the classrooms about the issue. The archdiocese's Office of Catholic Education has developed a curriculum on sweatshops, child labor, and the dignity of work for students in primary grades, junior high, and high school. In addition, Purcell is working with the National Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice to train workers' rights advocates in Chicago parishes. Similar campaigns are underway in the Archdioceses of Philadelphia and Newark, New Jersey.