Catholic schools' uniform purchasing part of anti-sweatshop effort

Published: 2004-02-25

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Since the mid-1990s, in an effort to practice what they preach about social justice, Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Newark, N.J., have asked prospective vendors of school uniforms to certify that the clothing is not made under sweatshop conditions. The effort spread to the Philadelphia and Chicago archdioceses, and now to eight dioceses in New York. The New York dioceses are using in some of their schools a series of new state laws aimed at eliminating sweatshop-made goods from public schools and colleges. The efforts were discussed during a Feb. 24 workshop, "Clean Clothes! Promoting Worker Justice Through Anti-Sweatshop Campaigns," at the annual Catholic Social Ministry Gathering in Washington, co-sponsored by three agencies of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and 10 national Catholic organizations.

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