Local coalition promotes No Sweat shopping
Calgary Herald
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Page: B6
Section: City & Region
Byline: Bryant Kerrison
 
When Calgarians shop for a new outfit or purchase a new pair of shoes, it isn't often they think about where it came from or who made it.
 
The Calgary No Sweat Coalition wants them to start thinking about it now.
 
At a forum held Wednesday at the University of Calgary on sweatshops and the global economy, attention was paid to the people who labour, often under deplorable conditions, to give us the clothes we wear.
Estelle Kuzyk of the Calgary No Sweat Coalition, a non-governmental organization, said Calgarians need to be aware of sweatshop industries. "It is important as individual consumers to be aware of the issues," said Kuzyk. "But with this awareness there has to be the will to seek options and to do something about it."
 
Kuzyk said she is excited by interest in the issue and people's desire to help, including researching and finding places to buy clothing and other goods that have not be manufactured in harsh, sweatshop conditions.
"As the demand grows, the choices will increase," said Kuzyk.
 
Claudia Quintanilla of the University of Western Ontario recently visited sweatshops in her native El Salvador. She said Canadians have to do something to improve the conditions for sweatshop workers. "We are the people on the top of the hierarchy," said Quintanilla. "We as consumers can demand change and ask questions. There has to be an awareness of the life of the people so that we can maybe have an effect on their lives."
 
Quintanilla doesn't want to completely close down sweatshops because there often is no other option for people to work. But she said conditions have to improve so the workers, often single mothers, receive better treatment.
 
The No Sweat Coalition wants public institutions such as universities, which have considerable purchasing power, to start pressuring companies to be more accountable and let the public know where and how their products were produced.
 
Also in attendance at the forum was Sergio Pichardo, vice consul for Mexico in Calgary. He said his government has laws in place to protect workers from human rights violations when complaints are filed, but Mexico needs investment to overcome its economic problems.