Clean clothes

Maine garment and shoe industry workers lost 3,800 jobs over the last decade or so as companies found cheaper labor overseas. As long as a ready market and lack of protections for this labor persist, Maine will continue to lose. That’s one of the reasons the Bangor Clean Clothes Campaign is so important and deserves local support.

The campaign is based on the simple idea that dignity and respect for workers should come before maximizing profits. Manufacturers make clean clothes, according to the campaign, when children are not subjected to conditions that jeopardizes their health and safety; when workers are allowed to organize; when they can receive a living wage and benefits; and when working conditions include freedom from excessive hours and workplaces are free from physical, sexual or emotional abuse. The Bangor campaign has asked local retailers to join them in identifying sources of goods that meet these conditions, and the response has been encouraging.

The campaign tomorrow will announce retailers who have joined the effort and will describe a consumer network designed to provide a competitive advantage to participating stores. The ceremony announcing the retailer partnerships begins at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, at Norumbega Hall, 40 Harlow St. These shopkeepers should find a positive response in the community. A television poll last spring found that 76 percent of Mainers were more likely to shop in a store which can guarantee that clothes they sell are not made in sweatshops.

The point in this campaign is not to shun retailers who do not participate, but to let consumers know that information exists to help them understand the conditions where their clothes were made. If they can buy with greater confidence, the participating retailers should benefit.

Ignoring the problem of sweatshop labor presents Maine with future problems. Dianne Willete, a Hathaway Shirt Factory worker, commented before the recent changes at that company: “We did everything we were told to do. We went from 2,100 dozen to over 3,000 dozen shirts a day. We brought the price of making the shirt from $125 a dozen to $59 a dozen.” And then half the workers were fired.

The campaign tomorrow presents an important way for local retailers and shoppers to work together to keep that from happening elsewhere.