Don't want to be a sweatshop santa? - Openers - guidelines from Canadian Labour Congress - how to be an "ethical shopper" and avoid products made in sweatshops - Brief Article

A new guide prepared by the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) can help Canadians shop without selling out their values. A recent Leger Marketing poll found that a strong majority of Canadian shoppers wanted to know more about where the products they buy come from. Sixty-six percent of us would avoid products made in a sweatshop.

However, being an "ethical shopper" is not easy. Information about where clothing and other goods are manufactured is hard to find.

Rather than waiting for improved labelling regulations from government or better disclosure practices from retailers and importers, the CLC has come up with a guide for consumers just in time for the year's busiest shopping season. Ethical Shopping is a quick guide for people about how to get the information they need to avoid supporting sweatshop factories.

"Every day, millions of people--men, women and children--work under sweatshop conditions with low pay, long hours, no benefits and little protection from abuse or injury. Choosing to purchase items that are not made under these conditions is perhaps one of the best gifts of solidarity Canadians can offer to sweatshop workers in Canada and in other countries," says CLC President Ken Georgetti. As further evidence of Canadian values, he noted that a poll prepared for the CBC showed that 85 percent of Canadians wanted basic labour standards to be included in free trade agreements.

Ethical Shopping is available from the CLC at www.clc-ctc.ca or by calling 613-526-7415.

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