No Sweat Garments for Manitoba Government

Province's 'no sweatshop' policy a first for a Canadian province.

Manitoba will soon be the first province in Canada to ensure none of the clothes it buys are produced in sweatshops. The move follows five-years of lobbying on the issue by a number of groups and individuals, including the Manitoba Federation of Labour. Resolutions on the topic have been passed at three Manitoba NDP Conventions in the last five years.

The new policy is expected to go into effect sometime this fall. As most labour activists know, sweatshop is a term used to describe garment factories paying extremely low wages, without much heed, if any, to workplace safety. Often, child labourers are employed in them. These factories are usually, but not always, located in Third World Countries.

The Manitoba government spends an average of $1.6 million a year on clothing, including uniforms for security guards, prison guards and natural resource officers, as well as on clothing for inmates at provincial jails, and safety clothing such as work gloves and lab coats.

Upon hearing of the province's commitment to go 'sweatshop free' in its clothing purchases, MFL President Darlene Dziewit wrote to Ron Lemieux, Minister of Transportation and Government Services to congratulate him and the NDP government for "leading the way for senior governments in Canada by finalizing a meaningful 'No Sweat' policy.

"When the policy goes into effect, I am confident that it will contain strong requirements for clothing suppliers to disclose the names and locations of the factories where their product is produced. The suppliers need to ensure that these factories comply with labour laws and accords of the International Labour Organization in order to do business with the Government of Manitoba."

President Dziewit pointed out that sweatshop abuses are rampant in the garment industry. Abuses include low wages, long hours, poor and sometimes dangerous working conditions, sexual abuse and harassment, to mention just a few of the problems.

China is the leading source of clothing imported to Manitoba. It's a country noted for abusive labour conditions in the garment industry including 12 to 14 hour work days seven days a week, and wages that leave workers in desperate poverty.