print this page

The global race to the bottom is fueled by corporations that search out the cheapest labor and fewest standards in order to produce their goods.  As we know, these finished products are often bound for the U.S. market.  In this process, workers abroad are exploited, while workers here find themselves unable to compete on this anything-but-level playing field.  Photo: Young workers in Bangladesh were beaten and tied together after speaking out for their rights.  Photo courtesy of the National Labor Committee. What many Americans do not realize is that our trade laws protect corporate interests extensively, with intellectually property, copyright and other protections that meet their needs, but fail to set standards for even the most basic worker rights.  In fact, corporate leaders have argued against worker standards, calling them an “impediment to free trade.”  How is it possible that faceless multinational corporations deserve more protection than the human beings producing the products?   Senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota and Representative Sherrod Brown of Ohio have introduced legislation that the Steelworkers helped craft that will, for the first time, prohibit the import, export or sale of sweatshop goods in the United States.  This legislation, the “Decent Working Conditions and Fair Competition Act” (S. 3485 and H.R. 5635), will hold corporations legally accountable for respecting workers’ rights.    This Act: Bans sweatshop goods.  Establishes strict anti-sweatshop government purchasing standards.  No more taxpayer dollars would be spent on products that supported worker oppression! Is based in established legal precedent.  Includes meaningful enforcement.  While regulated by the U.S. Customs Department and the Federal Trade Commission, the bill also allows investors and competitors of retailers who sell sweatshop-produced goods to sue both corporations violating the law and government agencies if they fail to enforce the law.   If your Representative and Senators are not yet copsonsors of this legislation, please call them and urge them to sign on to the bill! Dial toll-free, 866-340-9281.     Listing of Cosponsors