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1. What is the Sweatshop Free Campaign and what are Upper West Side Businesses pledging to do?

The Sweatshop Free Campaign was created by residents, students, community organizations and other supporters to eliminate sweatshops from our community. We are asking Upper West Side businesses to pledge to maintain a sweatshop free business, comply with labor laws, and be a fair labor workplace.

2. What is a sweatshop? Is it just immigrant workers who are affected by sweatshops?

People commonly associate sweatshops with restaurants or garment factories and think that only immigrant workers face conditions such as long hours, wage violations, and hazardous work environments. On the contrary, we created this campaign because we see that more and more workers, whether immigrant of U.S.-born, are forced o work longer hours for less pay. Employers are increasingly cutting benefits and forcing us to work under unsafe and unhealthy conditions. While these conditions proliferate throughout all industries, hurting both blue-collar and white-collar workers, bosses continue to make record profits. 

3. What have been the issues involving sweatshop conditions and unfair labor practices on the Upper West Side?

Workers in the Upper West Side have been coming together to fight rampant sweatshop conditions, such as failure to pay the minimum wage and overtime pay, tip stealing, and discrimination. Many times, employers will illegally fire ad retaliate of fire workers who stand up for their rights and organize.

4. How did this campaign come about and what has been the prior history and results of organizing?

I many workplaces, workers have already had victories, winning back pay from the employers’ failure to pay minimum wage and overtime. This includes workers from: Flor De Mayo, Ollie’s Noodle Shop & Grille, Tomo Sushi, Café Con Leche, Artie’s Deli, Cottage Restaurant, Kim’s Vegetable, and Saigon Grill. The 2007 struggle of workers at Saigon Grill inspired and motivated workers at other workplaces in the area to take a stand against exploitative employers. They brought together workers from all different industries– restaurant, beauty salon, grocery and clerical– along with residents, students, and politicians to make vast improvements in the community. In the past few years, workers’ pay has increased and their hours are shorter, going from 80 hours a week to 50 hours a week, giving people more time to take care of their health and their families. 

How will we know which business have signed the pledge, which ones have been approached, and which ones have refused?

At our weekly Sweatshop Free Upper West Side Free community meetings, participating members and organizations are reporting back on business outreach. We will keep an updated central website with this information that the community can turn to. We will also issue updated lists and flyers of businesses which have signed the pledge.

6. How will we know is a business is complying with its pledge?

The Sweatshop Free UWS Campaign is an educational campaign to raise the awareness of community members, students, and workers of sweatshop conditions in the community and to embolden people to come together to stop out sweatshop conditions form the community. Through this effort, community and workers will be able to put public pressure on business owners to comply with labor laws and show that we do not support sweatshops in our communities. Ultimately, it is up to the workers and the community to make sure the business continues to comply with their pledge. We will continue to encourage workers to come forward and stand up for their rights.

7. Who is sponsoring and supporting the Upper West Side Sweatshop Free Zone?

Through the present, the endorsing elected officials and community groups include: NYS Assembly member Linda Rosenthal, NYS Senator Tom Duane, NYS Assembly member Danny O’Donnell, NYS Senator Bill Perkins, Democratic State Committeeman DAniel Marks Cohen, NYS Senator Adriano Espailat, NYC Council member Gale Brewer, Community Free Democrats, Three Parks Independent Democrats, Democracy for NYC, Greater New York Labor-Religion Coalition, Rabbi Neil Kaunfer-Director of Judeotutor Service, Rev. Heidi Neumark of Trinity Lutheran Church, Second Presbyterian Church, Rev. Elise Brown of the Advent Lutheran Church, Columbia University Asian American Alliance, Columbia University Students for Environmental and Economic Justice, Columbia University and Barnard College LUCHA, and the Justice Will be Served! Campaign. 

8. What can individual members of the community, churches, synagogues, neighborhood organizations, and political clubs do to create a sweatshop free Upper West Side?

Organizations and individuals can endorse the campaign and ask neighborhood businesses to sign the pledge. This campaign will encourage businesses to see that this is in their interest to sign the pledge, as it will attract new customers who wish to support sweatshop free establishments.