About
OVERVIEW
Our logo assures you that
the products in this shopping guide are made by workers organized into democratic unions or worker-owned cooperatives. If there isn't a union or co-op, then the production facility has signed a neutrality agreement indicating that they will not interfere with any efforts by workers to form a union or cooperative.
The social impact statements that most closely apply to our organization's mission statement
Economic empowerment and value, Quality of life in the community, Self-empowerment
Our organization screens
Production process, Business practices
How often our organization monitors compliance of our standards
Annual, At random
How our organization monitors compliance of our standards
Peer review, Self reporting
Our mission statement
The Shop with a Conscience Guide features products produced by democratic and independent worker associations where workers have an effective, collective voice in determining their wages and working conditions.
The history of our organization
Overwhelming demand from our members and consumers in general prompted us to create the Shop with a Conscience Consumer Shopping Guide in 2004. Consumers told us that they knew what they should not buy, but how about some positive options? "I need a pair of jeans. Is there anything out there I can buy in good conscience?" people told us. At the same time we knew of plenty of businesses in the United States and overseas struggling to do the right thing in a global sweatshop economy. The Shop with a Conscience Consumer Shopping Guide is our attempt to connect consumers and producers who want to make a difference in this world. The Guide is a project of: SweatFree Communities (sweatfree.org), Sweatshop Watch (sweatshopwatch.org), and the International Labor Rights Forum (laborrights.org).
Our organization's standards for producers, products, or sellers
We expect workplaces producing products listed in the Shop with a Conscience Consumer Guide to have achieved or be striving towards international fair labor standards, including healthy and safe working conditions; wages and benefits sufficient to support the basic needs of workers' families; and treatment with respect, dignity, and justice.
We believe that when workers have a meaningful right to freedom of association, they are most fully protected against sweatshop conditions. Therefore, we promote clothing produced by democratic and independent worker associations where workers have an effective, collective voice in determining their wages and working conditions.
Such associations can be labor unions, that is, associations of workers recognized by law that have the power to negotiate a contract with management which specifies workers' rights, wages, and benefits, and that allow workers to file formal complaints alleging violations of the contract. Another type of association that provides workers with an effective voice in the workplace is a worker-owned cooperative, that is, an entity in which the workforce owns the company; decisions regarding significant matters are made democratically by the worker-owners; and both the labor involved in running the enterprise and the proceeds that result are shared on a democratic basis.
In the event that a democratic and independent worker association does not exist at the production facility, an authorized representative of the production facility must agree to take proactive steps to ensure that workers can freely exercise their associational rights without fear of retaliation.
Although we only require information about the production facilities involved in the manufacturing of the products to be listed in the Shop with a Conscience Consumer Guide, we urge featured retailers to sell only sweat-free products as defined above. We reserve the right to reject an application based on either a) credible information that any of the retailer's products are made in sweatshop conditions and/or are made in places where workers are not free to exercise their associational rights without fear of retaliation; or b) the lack of reliable information about the conditions under which any of the retailer's products are made.
Companies may not claim that listing in the Guide is equivalent to a product or a company being certified or guaranteed sweat-free. We do not allow any commercial use of the Shop with a Conscience Consumer Guide without our express written permission. This policy prohibits companies featured in the Guide from advertising or promoting their inclusion in the Guide.
How we developed our standards
A conference at the University of Michigan in April 2004 brought together advocates from the anti-sweatshop movement and the fair trade movement to see if there were lessons that could be shared across the two movements which, surprisingly, had had little direct overlap to date. One outcome of this cross-fertilization was broad agreement on the concept of a "worker voice" certification criterion. This concept reflects the priorities of both the fair trade movement - which supports democratically owned and controlled producer cooperatives - and the labor movement - which promotes independent and democratic unions with the power to influence working conditions and workplace policies.
Summary of our process for screening new producers, products, or sellers
We ask all businesses interested in having their products listed in the Shop with a Conscience Consumer Guide to complete the online application form at: http://www.sweatfree.org/shopping_supplierinfo.
After we receive their completed application, we contact them within 30 days. During this period we will attempt to contact an independent monitor, local union, and/or other non?governmental organization that is familiar with working conditions at their factory or in the region where their factory is located and has expertise in the human rights and labor rights of workers, regarding their application. We will list their product(s) if and only if workers at their factory can easily and confidentially report violations of their rights to a credible union, non-governmental organization, and/ or independent monitor.
How we regularly monitor compliance of our standards
All retailers and wholesalers profiled in the Consumer Guide have undergone a rigorous application process to give us and you the confidence that their products truly meet our sweat-free criteria. Yet, conditions may change, and we do not have the capacity to monitor any factories in person. We encourage you to help us by lending us your eyes and ears, letting us know if you hear of any concerns about human rights or worker rights violations in the workplaces below. We will bring such concerns to the attention of the companies, knowing they will work in partnership with us and the workers to ensure that conditions improve.
The Consumer Guide is intended solely for the benefit of consumers, to help them make informed choices and decisions about purchasing apparel products. Toward this end, we will consider all company disclosures that we receive to be public information, available upon request.
Our monitoring process including who performs the monitoring
Workers are the best monitors in their workplaces. Our standards promote clothing produced by democratic and independent worker associations (such as labor unions and worker-owned cooperatives) where workers themselves have an effective, collective voice in determining their wages and working conditions. That means that workers themselves can monitor their conditions, and report worker rights violations to a worker representative or to an independent third party.
The fee structure for our monitoring system
Our organization does not charge fees to the businesses listed in the guide.
Monitored regions
Workers themselves can monitor their conditions, and report worker rights violations to a worker representative or to an independent third party at all the production facilities in the Guide at: http://www.sweatfree.org/shoppingguide.html#map.
More information about our organization
We'd also like to tell you...
For businesses or producers that want to work with us, we recommend you do the following...
Read through our criteria which is available at http://www.sweatfree.org/shopping_suppliercriteria and if you meet this criteria, consider reading more about the application process and instructions at http://www.sweatfree.org/shopping_supplierinfo. Finally you can submit your application at http://www.sweatfree.org/shopping_supplierform.