New York Town Adopts Sweatfree Policy

Nov 16, 2006 (New York State Labor-Religion Coalition) — NEW PALTZ ADOPTS SWEATFREE POLICY —

On November 1, 2006 the Village Board of New Paltz, New York (pop. 6,000+) adopted a new sweatfree purchasing policy for apparel and textiles as allowed by New York state law. The Village of New Paltz has some of the oldest houses in North America and was founded in 1678. Its Village Board is led by two Green Party activists, Mayor Jason West and Deputy Mayor Rebecca Rotzler- a National Green Party Co-Chair who also led the effort to pass the sweatfree ordinance.

New Paltz’s new policy establishes a sweatfree advisory committee staffed by the Village Treasurer to implement the policy. This Advisory Committee is also charged to recommend possible membership in the new national sweatfree consortium. Apparel and textile contract information will be made public and the outside parties will be allowed to comment on companies. Contractors and subcontractors who violate the policy, such as being untruthful about actual labor standards, can be fined $5,000. New Paltz joins Suffolk County, Long Island as the second New York jurisdiction to successfully enact a sweatfree ordinance. New York City enacted a sweatfree law in 2001 that was opposed successfully to the New York Supreme Court by Presidential Candidate and former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.

SweatFree Purchasing Policies

To see which of the following policies require factory disclosure, go here.

Sweatfree procurement policies adopted in the United States as of October 2006:
States: 6
Cities: 35
Counties: 10
Dioceses: 4
School Districts: 117
Individual High Schools: 3
Total: 174

CALIFORNIA
State of California
City of Los Angeles – [Report, Ordinance]
Los Angeles Unified School District – [Report, Motion]
Port of Los Angeles
City of San Francisco – [Sweatfree Ordinance, Fair Trade, Organic]
Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District

COLORADO
Jefferson County Open School

ILLINOIS
State of Illinois
Oak Park and River Forest High School

MAINE
State of Maine [2001 law, 2006 law]
City of Bangor
City of Biddeford
City of Orono
City of Scarborough
City of Portland Public Schools
City of Bangor Public Schools

MASSACHUSETTS
City of Boston
City of Fall River

MINNESOTA
City of Minneapolis
Minneapolis Public School District
Saint Paul Public School District
Stillwater Public School District

NEW JERSEY
State of New Jersey
Archdiocese of Newark
City of Camden
City of Clifton
City of Deptford
Township of East Brunswick
City of Neptune
City of Newark
City of Redbank
Bergen County
Cumberland County
Essex County
Gloucester County
Hudson County
Mercer County
Middlesex County
Passaic County

NEW MEXICO
City of Albuquerque

NEW YORK
State of New York – [language renewed in 2006, Apparel, Sports Equipment]
Albany Diocese
Buffalo Diocese
Rockville (Long Island) Diocese
Village of New Paltz

109 school districts, including:
Albany City School District
Averill Park Central School District
Brentwood Union Free School District
Berne-Knox-Westerlo Central School District
Bethlehem School District
Central Islip United Free School District
Edinburg Common School District
Guilderland Central School District
Jordan Elbridge Central School District
Lansingburgh Central School District
Newburgh City School District
North Colonie Central School District
Northport-East Northport United Free School District
Patchogue-Medford United Free School District
Rondout Valley Central School District
South Colonie Central School District
South Glens Falls Central School District
Three Villages Central School District
Troy City School District
Voorheesville Central School District

NORTH CAROLINA
City of Durham

OHIO
City of Bedford Heights
City of Berea
City of Brookpark
City of Elyria
City of Fairview Park
City of Lakewood
City of North Olmstead
City of Parma
City of Toledo
Cuyahoga County

PENNSYLVANIA
State of Pennsylvania
City of Pittsburgh Ordinance (Dec 2004), Proclamation (July 2006)
Northampton County

RHODE ISLAND
City of Providence

VERMONT
Brattleboro Union High School

WASHINGTON
City of Olympia

WISCONSIN
City of Madison – [Resolution, Report, Ordinance]
City of Milwaukee
County of Milwaukee
Milwaukee Public School District

Visit the Worker Rights Consortium website to see the list of affiliate colleges and universities.

Share this:

Like this:

Related

Leave a Reply Cancel reply