According
to the U.S. General Accounting Office, a sweatshop is an employer
that 'violates more than one federal or state labor law governing
minimum wage and overtime, child labor, industrial homework,
occupational safety and health, workers’ compensation or industrial
registration'
(
Kim Bobo, "Sweatshop Complaints are Hard Work,"
Chicago Tribune, March 23, 1998).
The conference
brought together a diverse group of participants to learn about
the nature
of sweatshop conditions in Metropolitan Chicago. The results of
the Sweatshop Working Group Project survey and the direct experience
of workers were presented. The conference provided a forum to describe
ways in which individuals, private agencies and public bodies can
address and work toward the elimination of the problem. Issues addressed
included: action steps, resources and programs to direct workers
to safe and reasonable employment, how to increase enforcement of
workplace protections, and how to eliminate the viability of sweatshop
operations.
Attendees:
Employers, occupational safety and health professionals, community
based organization representatives, community members, researchers,
worker advocates, union representatives, workers, federal, local
and legislative representatives and members of the religious community.
Sponsored
by: Great
Lakes Center for Occupational & Enviornmental Safety & Health
at the School of Public Health of the University of Illinois at
Chicago, Center for Impact
Research, and Center for Labor
and Community Research.
Endorsed
by: Center for Impact Research,
Center for Labor and Community Research, U.S. Department of Labor-Women's
Bureau, U.S. Department of Labor-Occupational Safety and Health
Administration, U.S.-Department of Labor-Wage and Hour Division/ESA,
Chicago Interfaith Committee on Worker Issues, Chicago Jobs Council,
Chicago Federation of Labor-AFL-CIO, American Federation of State
County and Municipal Employees Council 31, United Electrical Workers
District 11, Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees
(UNITE!)-Chicago and Central States Joint Board, Mujeres Latinas
En Accion, Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights,
University of Illinois-Urbana-Chicago Labor Education Program, Cook
County Bureau of Health Services, Department of Occupational and
Environmental Medicine, Cook County Bureau of Health Services, Department
of Trauma, of the University of Illinois-Chicago, School of Public
Health.
PROGRAM
WELCOME
Daniel
Hryhorczuk, MD, MPH, Director, Great Lakes Center
Rebekah Levin, PhD, Deputy Director, Center for Impact Research
Robert
Ginsburg, PhD, Research Director, Center for Labor and Community
Research
Timothy
Leahy, Assistant to the President, Chicago Federation of Labor-AFL-CIO
OVERVIEW,
EXPECTATIONS AND GOALS
Leslie
Nickels, MEd, Executive Director, Great Lakes Center
Video
of Welcome & Overview (11:06 minutes)
SWEATSHOPS IN THE UNITED STATES
Robert Ginsburg, PhD, Research Director, Center for Labor and
Community Research
Video
(10:11 minutes)
EPIDEMIOLOGY
OF SWEATSHOP INJURIES AND ILLNESSES
Rachel Rubin, MD, MPH, Chair, Department of Occupational &
Environmental Medicine, Cook County Bureau of PROGRAM
RESOURCES Health Services
Video
(19:26 minutes)
Slideshow
(slides will display in your browser)
PowerPoint
Presentation (download the original ppt file)
SWEATSHOP
WORKING GROUP PROJECT SURVEY -
DEVELOPMENT, METHODOLOGY AND FINDINGS
Rebekah Levin, PhD, Deputy Director, Center for Impact Research
Video
(23:27 minutes)
Overheads
(download the html version of the original overheads)
Sweatshop
Working Group Survey (This
is a .PDF file)
QUESTION
& ANSWER-SESSION I
Video
(12:59 minutes)
BREAK
WAYS
TO PROCEED
New
York State Apparel Industry Task Force
Richard Polsinello, New York State Director of Labor Standards,
New York State Department
of Labor
Video
(16:33 minutes)
Interfaith
Organizing in Chicago
Kristi
Sanford, Organizer, Chicago Interfaith Committee on Worker Issues
Video
(12:32 minutes)
Manufacturer
Practices
Elliot
Lehman, Chairman Emeritus, Fel-Pro Incorporated
Video
(18:03 minutes)
U.S.
Department of Labor "No Sweat" Initiative
Bruce
Cranford, Targeted Industry Coordinator, U.S. Department of
Labor/Employment Standards Administration
Video
(11:1 minutes)
"No
Sweat" Initiative
QUESTION
& ANSWER-SESSION II
Video
(8:51
minutes)
LUNCH-NETWORKING
PANEL:
WORKERS AFFECTED BY SWEATSHOP EMPLOYMENT
Introduction
and Trauma Case Studies
by Sue Avila, RN, Nurse-Epidemiologist, Cook County Hospital
Workers'
Stories:
Martha Esquivel, Constantino Garcia, Ly Duoc
Video
(35:44 minutes)
FORUM:
GOVERNMENT, COMMUNITY, AND LABOR: STANDARDS, PROGRAMS AND APPROACHES
Moderated
by Leslie Nickels
Department
of Labor-Wage and Hour-Rob Lisec
Community Based Organizations - Tim Bell-Erie House
Department of Labor-OSHA-Russ Adams and Julie Bakker
Labor-Mary Kay Devine, UNITE
BREAK
WORKSHOPS
1) Public Health Program Responses: Leslie Nickels
2) Workplace Rights and Enforcement: Robert Ginsburg,
Rob Lisec, Joe Zanoni
3) Community Organization Responses: Rebekah Levin
WORKSHOP
REPORT BACK SESSION:
Moderated by Joe Zanoni
FORUM:
OUTCOME, ORGANIZING, EVALUATION AND CLOSING
Leslie Nickels
PROGRAM
RESOURCES (These
are .PDF files)
Copyright
1999, The University of Illinois at Chicago, School of Public
Health, Great Lakes Center for Occupational & Environmental
Safety & Health
|