City bans sweatshop products.

• Author: Nichols, John
• Position: No municipal purchases of such products by officials in North Olmsted, OH allowed

North Olmsted, Ohio

As globalization speeds up, many communities are considering selective-purchasing laws. These suspend city purchases from corporations that produce goods in oppressive countries such as Burma, Indonesia, and China.

But a blue-collar suburb of Cleveland went the rest of the country one better when it adopted a sweeping socially responsible purchasing policy. In February, North Olmsted, population 35,000, became the first city in the nation to ban municipal purchases of products made in sweatshops.

The ban knows no borders--it even covers products made in the United States--and it allows no exceptions.

"Government should not be party to the exploitation of children and adults anywhere in the world," says North Olmsted Mayor Ed Boyle, who thought up the ordinance. "Whether it's children making soccer balls in Pakistan or women making Gap T-shirts in Guatemala, our democracy must not support those in-humane practices. And the best way is not to buy from sweatshops. Period."

While similar policies rarely go beyond the proclamation stage, North Olmsted is aggressively enforcing its new law. City vendors must sign a document attesting that the products North Olmsted purchases, rents, or leases were not made using child or forced labor, which includes prison and indentured or bonded labor.

The vendors must also guarantee that the products were made in factories where employees are not required to work more than forty-eight hours a week, where the workplace is free of physical sexual, and verbal harassment, where employees are allowed to complain about conditions and to form unions of their choosing, where the working environment is safe and healthy, and where employees are provided with wages and benefits sufficient to provide food, shelter, clothing, and medical care for their families.

If a vendor is found to have provided false information, pleads ignorance, or refuses to comply with the city's inquiries, the city will cancel the contact.

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