
Issue No 92		20 April 2001

LaborNET	Ask Neale	Tool of the Week

History

Sweatshops in America

By Neale Towart

Since the dawning of the Industrial Revolution, many generations of Americans have toiled in sweatshops.

Then, as now, their labor has been accompanied by widespread debate over what constitutes a fair wage, reasonable working conditions, and society's responsibility for meeting those standards. This exhibition places the current debate on sweatshops in the garment industry in a historical context and explores the complex factors that contribute to their existence today.

Showing how labour history and the Internet can work together, it is an excellent example of using collected relics, mementos and memories in a vibrant online space.

The exhibition moves through time from the 1820s to the present day (at least to 1997 just showing you how behind I am in keeping up with these things, and also the benefit of an on line exhibition. A real time one would have been over within a couple of months but the virtual one remains for viewing for much longer).

You move through the exhibits using the floorplan of the exhibition or just by clicking on parts of pictures representing each era.

An interesting area is the Dialogue section where six individuals from different fields offer their views on what Americans should know about sweatshop production in the USA. Kathie Lee Gifford is one of these people and she designs clothes for her own label and these are available through WALMART. She has been associated with the White House Apparel Industry Partnership (under former President Clinton) and the Partnership has prevented some 100 factories in 16 countries that did not meet fair standards from working on our garments.

The exhibition works by displaying images and allowing visitors to read about that image and also with images that allow you to go to specific parts of the image. The Fashion Food Chain section gives an overview of the economic value of the garment industry in the US and the world, and also shows a map allowing you to go to specific countries.

History is divided into three eras: 1820-1880; 1880-1940 and 1940-1997.

Opening the 1820s is a vignette of a seamstress's life and work with 16 hour days and shop owners all too ready to find fault so as to avoid paying them. They often had to rely on charity to live.

Unions don't get much of a look in until the 1870s, when the Cigarmakers International Union of America initiated one of the earliest anti-tenement sweatshop campaigns.

Fires in factories are some of the horror stories we have been hearing about Asian sweatshops (often with factories contracted to US companies). The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire in 1911 was an event that alerted many people to the neglect by businessmen of the conditions and rights of workers. All 146 people died in the factory, many of them young Italian migrant women.

On of the earliest consumer campaigns is also highlighted by the exhibition, with the National Recovery Administration running a Blue Eagle campaign, identifying to consumers whether businesses complied with NRA standards. It was promoted as the patriotic duty of consumers to buy those products.

In 1938 Life magazine declared the sweatshop war won because of the combined efforts of unions, businesses, government and employers.

However the 1960s saw a resurgence in sweatshops, probably because of the increase manufacture of clothing in so-called Third World economies, as well as Japan, Taiwan and Korea.

The rapid expansion of the US population through immigration provided the fodder for the redevelopment of sweatshops, as well as the growth of mass consumption during the long boom.

The development of computer tracking of sales meant manufacturers wanted fast response time for new orders, also adding to the pressure to have "flexible" workers who can be called on at all times and in all conditions.

A concentrated campaign in California has been developed around the Targeted Industries Partnership Program (TIPP) and its efforts have been ongoing since 1992. One of their victories, at the El Monte Sweatshop, is covered by the exhibition.

Well worth a look, although there is not enough emphasis on the role of worker organisations in combating sweatshops and improving the working conditions.

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Issue 92 contents

Interview: Beyond the Accord
Simon Crean cut his teeth in the trade union movement, now he's gearing up to run the economy.

Politics: In Defence of Della�s List
The proposition that trade unions should ask members of the ALP for a commitment that they uphold Party policy should hardly be controversial.

Corporate: The Real Rorters
The unspoken sore of the WorkCover Scheme is non-compliance by employers. None more so that in the construction industry, as this CFMEU paper details.

Legal: In the Real World
Lawyer Ross Goodridge exposes the defficincies in the new medical assessment guidelines for workers compensation by looking at real case studies.

International: The Docklands and Global Labour
Ma Wei Pin and Jasper Goss recount how the struggle of a group of Indonesian hotel workers effected a lucrative Melbourne contract.

History: Sweatshops in America
Since the dawning of the Industrial Revolution, many generations of Americans have toiled in sweatshops.

Unions: Losers Never Start
At the end of her six week vigil, Grenadier delegate Michelle Booth gave her heartfelt thanks to the trade union movement.

Review: Working Classes: Global Realities
The Socialist Register 2001 looks at class realities and the lives of workers in the new century.

Satire: Democrats Change Leader
The Democrats have a new leader after belatedly discovering that Meg Lees had become the second Democrats leader in a row to defect to another party.

» Costa To Join Della�s List

» Compo Campaign Gathers Steam

» Della�s List: Dissident MPs Targeted

» Day of Mourning to be Compo Focus

» Small Steps in Negotiations � But Hard Yards Still to Come

» Important First Step for E-Mail Privacy

» Outraged Cleaners Continue AXA Axings Protests

» Grenadier Picket Ends � But Legacy Lives On

» Entitlement Dramas in Health and Printing

» Nurses Still Waiting on Olympics Bonus

» IRC Delays Hit Eight Month Barrier

» Claims of Dirty Tricks Conspiracy at Mobil

» Sydney Water Workers On Strike

» MUA Rides Anti-pollution Wave

» Governments Urged On Child Slavery

» Time To Act on Pay Discrimination

» Construction Union Supports Folk Festival

» Activists Notebook