No Sweat Groups

Clean Clothes Campaign
The CCC started in the Netherlands in 1990, and is now in nine Western European countries. In each country there are coalitions of consumer organisations, trade unions, human rights and women rights organisations, researchers, solidarity groups and activists. Every national campaign operates autonomously, yet the CCC works together towards international action.

Ethical Trading Action Group
ETAG is a coalition of faith, labour and non-governmental organizations advocating for goverment policies, voluntary codes of conduct and purchasing policies that promote humane labour practices based on accepted international labour standards. ETAG promotes public access to information on where and under what conditions clothes, shoes and other consumer products are made, and greater transparency in monitoring and verification of company compliance with international labour standards and local laws.

International Labour Organization
The ILO is a UN specialized agency which seeks the promotion of social justice and internationally recognized human and labour rights. It was founded in 1919 and is the only surviving major creation of the Treaty of Versailles which brought the League of Nations into being and it became the first specialized agency of the UN in 1946. The ILO formulates international labour standards in the form of Conventions and Recommendations setting minimum standards of basic labour rights

Maquila Solidarity Network
MSN is a labour and women's rights advocacy organization promoting solidarity with grassroots groups in Mexico, Central America, and Asia working to improve conditions in maquiladora factories and export processing zones. We believe retailers must be accountable for the conditions under which their products are made. Since 1995, MSN has supported garment workers' efforts to improve working conditions through policy advocacy, corporate campaigning and engagement, participation in multi-stakeholder initiatives to promote corporate accountability, and local labour rights capacity building.

Oxfam Canada
Oxfam Canada seeks to defend the rights of garment workers overseas and in Canada through collaboration with Maquila Solidarity Network, Students Against Sweatshops-Canada, the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees, and the Canadian Labour Congress. Oxfam Canada supports local community development in twenty countries of Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, where the abuse of workers' rights constitutes a major obstacle to development.

News Links

Behind the Label
Behind the Label is a multimedia news website covering the stories of people fighting for fundamental human and labor rights against the goliath global clothing industry. An initiative of UNITE HERE, this is a venue to share stories of workers around the world who make our clothes, to educate the public of international campaigns where workers are struggling to correct injustices in their workplace, and to engage consumers and activists to take part in solidarity actions with garment workers against the multinational corporations behind the labels.

Labour Start
Labour Start is an online news service maintained by a global network of volunteers which aims to serve the international trade union movement by collecting and disseminating information -- and by assisting unions in campaigning and other ways. Its features include daily labour news links in 11 languages and a news syndication service used by more than 500 trade union websites. News is collected from mainstream, trade union, and alternative news sources by a network of over 230 volunteer correspondents based on every continent.

Sweatshop Watch
Sweatshop Watch is a coalition of over 30 labor, community, civil rights, immigrant rights, women's, religious and student organizations, and many individuals, committed to eliminating the exploitation that occurs in sweatshops. Sweatshop Watch serves low-wage workers nationally and globally, with a focus on garment workers in California. The workers who labor in sweatshops are the driving force for change, and those responsible for the exploitation of sweatshop workers must be held accountable. Our decisions, projects, and organizing efforts are informed by their voices,their needs, and their life experiences.

** information on this site gleaned from each respective website **

University No Sweat Organizing

To read the No Sweat policies of other Canadian universities, school boards, municipalities and community organizations, click here.

Looking for a contact list of other universities working for No Sweat policies? Click here!