Who would support a sweat-free policy in Seattle?
● Working people: Sweatshops represent a general decline in wages and working conditions. From 2001 to 2004 Washington State has lost 66,700 manufacturing jobs. At least 27,000 layoffs, more than 40 percent of the net total manufacturing jobs lost in the state, were trade-related, as determined by the AFL-CIO Industrial Union Councils Job Export Database Project. (2) Many sweatshops have appeared overseas due to cheap labor costs and lax environmental standards. ● Local business owners: Sweatshop exploitation undermines local economies and the competitive ability of companies with fair labor practices. ● Women: 85% of sweatshop workers are young women between the ages of 15-25.(3) ● Human rights activists: Everyone deserves dignity, respect and to work free of exploitation. ● Civil rights activists: People of color and women are the majority workforce in sweatshops. Sweatshops deny workers basic human rights.
