------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- Date: Mon, 17 Nov 1997 19:55:01 -0800 (PST) To: CLR All Campaigns list <clr@igc.org> From: Mike Rhodes <clr2@igc.apc.org> Subject: Next Steps for Holiday Season Of Conscience!
Labor Alerts/Labor News a service of Campaign for Labor Rights 1247 "E" Street SE, Washington, DC 20003 clr@igc.apc.org (541) 344-5410 http://www.compugraph.com/clr Next Steps for Holiday Season Of Conscience! [Information for this alert came from the National Labor Committee, 275 Seventh Avenue, 15th Fl., New York, NY 10001; Tel. (212) 242-3002; Web-Site: www.nlcnet.org] Update on the Day of Conscience: There were major Day of Conscience events on October 4th in at least 40 U.S. cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, San Francisco, Washington, DC, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Milwaukee and also in France, Italy, South Africa and Belgium. There was substantial coverage of the events in the mainstream media including the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and Boston Globe as well as CNN and NPR. "Momentum is building," according to the National Labor Committee (NLC), "and there is no reason that this social movement to defend labor and human rights can't become as strong as the environmental movement in influencing corporate policy. In the same way that companies want to be seen as being 'green' or environmentally friendly, they will also want to be recognized for making products under humane conditions." Holiday Season of Conscience: What's Next? I CARE CARDS AND STICKERS The National Labor Committee is currently printing hundreds of thousands of copies of a small index-sized "I care" shopper's card to be used whenever and wherever you shop. Anytime you shop, leave this card with the store manager or retail clerk, right at the check-out counter. The card states:
To the Store Manager: I like shopping here, but I am very concerned that what I purchase was not made by children or in sweatshops. What is your company doing to guarantee that the products you sell are made under humane conditions? * In which countries do you source production? * Are human rights respected? * What are the conditions and wages? * Is this a living wage? * Will you open these factories to independent human rights monitors? * Will you join the White House Task Force to end sweatshop abuses? I am anxious to hear your response. Thank you. Name:_____________________________________ Address:__________________________________ Everyone can participate in this simple but powerful act. By inundating companies with a steady wave of "I Care" cards, consumers can engage them in a dialogue that is impossible for them to win since starvation wages and systematic human rights abuses can never by justified. It is as easy as dropping off a card when you make a purchase. If you do not want to fill in your own address, you can write in the name of your local organization or of the National Labor Committee. Order plenty of the cards for use by members of your local group and family and friends. The National Labor Committee is also producing 'I Care -- No Child Labor, No Sweatshops' stickers. Shoppers can put them on their jackets. School children can put them on knapsacks. In addition to making companies take notice of consumers' refusal to accept child labor and sweatshop conditions, these stickers will raise the awareness of other shoppers and classmates to the conditions faced by many of the world's poorest workers. NEEDIEST CASES LIST In a return to its traditional method of exposing companies that continue to use child labor and maintain sweatshop conditions in offshore production sites, the National Labor Committee will issue a "Neediest Cases List" in November. Each week, a new concrete case based on interviews with workers and visits to offshore production sites will be released spotlighting ongoing human rights violations by major retailers and manufacturers. These companies and others will appear on the list of "worst companies" to be released the day after Thanksgiving. PETITION CAMPAIGN CONTINUES National Labor Committee staff report that petitions are pouring into their office from towns and cities across the United States. They state that they have nearly 100,000 signatures at this point and that a tremendous network is growing out of the effort to collect signatures. In your continued effort to reach a million signatures: * get the petitions into religious services
* increase efforts to table at high schools and universities * tell your friends about the campaign and the petition via the internet * sign the petition online or download it from the NLC website at www.nlcnet.org * have the petition endorsed and circulated at every meeting and convention you attend. CANDLELIGHT VIGILS FOR CONSCIENCE --DECEMBER 11 At the peak of the holiday season, and in the midst of International Human Rights Week, let's declare Thursday, December 11th a day of candlelight vigils, walks for conscience, caroling, and leafleting across the country. These vigils will call attention to child labor and sweatshop abuses around the world. In New York city, for example, a candle-light procession of students, religious, community and labor groups will start with caroling at St. Patrick's Cathedral and walk up Fifth Avenue at peak shopping time with leaflets and petitions highlighting sweatshop concerns. Check the NLC website (www.nlcnet.org) for new anti-sweatshop songs available for these actions. For more information or to order cards and stickers, contact the National Labor Committee at 275 Seventh Ave., 15th Fl., New York, NY 10001; Tel. (212) 242-3002; Fax: (212) 242-3821; e-mail: <natlabcom@aol.com> website: www.nlcnet.org CAMPAIGN FOR LABOR RIGHTS newsletter subscriptions: Send $35.00 to 1247 "E" Street SE, Washington, DC 20003. For a sample copy, send your postal address to <clr@igc.apc.org>. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- To receive our email Labor Alerts, send a message to <clr@igc.apc.org> with "labor alerts -- all campaigns" in the subject line or specify which labor issues interest you: Nike, Disney, Guess, child labor, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, El Salvador, US farm workers, US poultry processing workers. If you would like to receive information which falls outside those categories (prison labor, workfare, other policy issues, additional briefing material on some campaigns), indicate that you want to be on our Additional Labor Information list AS WELL AS our All Campaigns list. To stop receiving this service, check to see whether you have received our alerts directly from us or as a reposting via some other list. Send an email message to the address listed in the "return path" saying that you want to unsubscribe. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- IF YOU EXPERIENCE A BREAK IN OUR LABOR ALERT SERVICE, send us an email verifying that you still want to receive our alerts and indicating which lists (see above) you want to be on. For various technical reasons, many email messages are "bounced back." Our largest lists are now on an automated system which drops any address which malfunctions, even if because of a temporary problem with your email server. Although our alert system is becoming automated, YOU CAN STILL COMMUNICATE WITH A REAL PERSON at Campaign for Labor Rights. Send your messages to <clr@igc.apc.org>.
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