Movement grows to push for American union-made uniforms

Lots of PSRPs wear uniforms on the job--custodians, bus drivers and food service workers, to name a few. Unfortunately, few of their uniforms are made in the United States, much less by unionized American workers. If your district is looking to buy new uniforms or change suppliers, now's the perfect time to start asking questions about who makes the uniforms.

A small but growing number of unions around the country are starting to do just that. In Chicago, the union that represents workers at the Chicago Transit Authority demanded that the employer buy union-made uniforms when it was looking for a new supplier. In New York City, a law on the books prevents tax dollars from being used to buy products made in sweatshops, such as uniforms for police officers, firefighters and other city employees. And in Cleveland, the AFL-CIO central labor council launched a successful campaign to get all major uniform vendors in the city--who tend to carry a number of different brands--to follow a policy that gives preference to union-made products.

As the New York City legislation shows, pushing for union-made uniforms is as much an effort to fight sweatshops as it is to protect good union jobs in this country. But the connection is clear: Workers in unionized American textile factories are constantly in danger of losing their jobs to low-paid non-union workers overseas, so it's important for the union companies here to stay in business.

UNITE (the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees) represents most unionized textile workers in this country. The union has lots of resources available for the activist looking to press for union-made uniforms, including an extensive list of unionized companies that make uniforms. UNITE also publishes a newsletter, "Sweat-Free Uniforms," which is available on the union's Web site.

For more information, go to www.uniteunion.org/.