No Sweat: Changing Our Clothes to Change Lives

A sweatshop is a work environment where employees toil for long hours in unsafe conditions for low pay.  Sweatshop conditions are the norm in the apparel industry around the world and exist globally in many sectors.  It doesn't have to be this way.  Around the world, garment workers are organizing in their workplaces and communities to improve working conditions and end sweatshop abuses.  One of the best ways for us to support these workers is to become more conscious of what we buy and how it is made.  Better still we can change how our employers or governments purchase clothes and goods and services to pressure an industry to change. 'No Sweat' purchasing policies restrict a workplace to purchasing uniforms, goods and services that are made in factories that comply with internationally recognized labour standards based on Conventions of the United Nations and the International Labour Organization.  A 'No Sweat' policy says "no" to child labour, forced labour, discrimination, harassment and abuse, and "yes" to fair wages and hours of work as well as workers rights and safe, healthy working conditions.