Video Report: Sweatshop Workers' Tour Comes to Rochester!

On February 7, 2013, at the First Unitarian Church of Rochester, faith, labor and community members heard from garment workers who sew apparel in Honduran and Haitian factories owned and contracted by Gildan Activewear, a Montreal-based apparel company that supplies government entities in addition to companies like Adidas and Walmart.

A worker from Haiti spoke about her union's protracted struggle to force Gildan to honor a nationwide minimum wage increase for some of the poorest garment workers in the world. A worker from Honduras told stories of death threats and intimidation she and her co-workers faced when organizing to improve working conditions in their factory.

Workers spoke out across New York in the backdrop of a mounting campaign demanding New York State eliminate sweatshops from its purchasing supply chain. Thanks to the efforts of sweatshop-free advocates, New York State joined the Sweatfree Purchasing Consortium in 2009 and its representative member is the President of the Consortium. Yet, despite its leadership, New York has declined to pass a meaningful sweatshop-free Code of Conduct and continues to purchase its apparel from sweatshops.

Speakers included: Liana Foxvog - Director of Sweatfree Communities

Casey Sweeney - National Coordinating Committee member of United Students against Sweatshop, member of COLA at Cornell University

Raquel Navarro - General Secretary of the Cintas Star Factory Union, garment worker, Honduras

Yannick Etienne, National Organizer for Batay Ouvriye in Haiti

Telemarque Pierre, General Coordinator of the Union of Apparel and Textile Workers in Haiti

Joy Perkett - Faith Coordinator of the Labor-Religion Coalition

Part I (the event):

Part II (the post-event interviews):