Be a Conscientious Shopper
Help Eliminate Sweatshops!
The Marianist Social Justice Collaborative just co-sponsored a very successful tour that described the horrible conditions garment workers in Bangladesh endure while making our clothes. The details of the tour and follow up steps are in my letter below.
Now it's your turn to go to work for these women - at the stores where you shop. The National Labor Committee (NLC) has "I Care" shopper cards to give to store managers where you shop. Please contact NLC online (click here) or by phone (212-242-3002) to order copies of these cards.
We can end sweatshop labor, if enough of us tell our retailers that we care. Won't you join us in this good work?
Al Prendergast, Chair, MSJC Sweatshop Labor Team
November 19, 2004
Dear Family of Mary and Marianist community members:
From late September and for all of October the Family of Mary, through the Marianist Social Justice Collaborative, co-sponsored with the National Labor Committee a U.S. tour of garment factory workers from Bangladesh. These workers described the economic enslavement that they suffer everyday to make the clothes we wear. Click here to read a full account of their testimonies. This five week, 17 state tour visited 26 cities, 30 universities, 13 high schools and conducted 10 other presentations and meetings. The attendance at Marianist events was great. We had 400 enthusiastic students attend at the University of Dayton; 1000 at Moeller HS and 75 at Purcell-Marian HS in Cincinnati; 500 at a combined event of Vianney, Chaminade, Ursuline, Visitation, Christian Brothers, Cor Jesu and Clayton high schools St. Louis. MSJC was also successful in bringing the tour to Xavier University in Cincinnati and Marquette University in Milwaukee. The tour was draining on the workers and the translators from Bangladesh and extremely taxing on the staff of the National Labor Committee.
Many of you made financial contributions to the tour. These funds, along with contributions from some of the Marianist schools on the tour and funds from MSJC, were sent to the NLC to help make the tour a success. We thank each of you and your communities for your contributions. The tour ended on October 29th at NYU and these brave young women have returned to Bangladesh. They are now working as organizers with the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity in Dhaka. With your help, MSJC will continue the struggle for a better life for them by carrying their message to the retailers who benefit from their enslavement.
We are asking Family of Mary members who have been touched by the testimony of these brave young women to continue the effort during this Christmas shopping season by ordering "I Care" shopper cards from the National Labor Committee. (See address and website below.) Then take these cards to the managers of the stores where you shop and ask "What is your company doing to stop this economic enslavement?" We believe that economic slavery is as morally wrong as physical slavery was in this country over 150 years ago. Many people touched by slavery in this country suffered greatly. We see a similar legacy emerging as a result of this economic enslavement by retailers.
We only ask that retailers pay the workers a wage that will allow them to live a fully human life. This improvement in wages can be accomplished with as little as 25 cents more per garment being paid directly to the workers. It is not an easy task to make the arrangements needed to respect the human rights of these workers. However, we want retailers to know that we will continue to shop at their stores as long as we see progress in raising the wages of these workers from a level of economic slavery to an existence where they can at least save some money for their future once they can no longer work the 12 to 14 hour days demanded by the garment industry.
We are all in this fight together and we will all benefit together - shopper, retailer and worker. Please email, write or call the NLC and order the "I Care" shopper cards. If possible, order a quantity of the cards for your community, school or parish organization. If you must order them individually then order enough to hand out to as many retailers as possible during this Christmas season. The NLC would appreciate a donation for the cards, but please feel free to give whatever you choose.
We will continue this struggle even after the Christmas season by collaborating with the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility in NYC to take the fight directly to the corporations responsible for the enslavement of people in developing countries around the world. We will keep you updated on the progress we are making in this important movement.
Additionally, NBC Dateline will be airing a show in November or December which will feature the Bangladesh Workers Tour. Watch the MSJC and NLC websites for the time and date of the broadcast.
Thank you for your support for this effort. We pray with you for peace and justice in this complicated world. Please feel free to forward this message to people you think would be willing to help us in this effort.
Sincerely,
MSJC Sweatshop Labor Team
Al Prendergast, Chair
alprendergast@sbcglobal.net
www.msjc.net
Amanda Teckman
National Labor Committee
540 West 48th Street 3rd floor
New York, New York, 10036
212 242-3002
ateckman@nlcnet.org www.nlcnet.org