Labour Research December 2003

Reviews

Sweatshops and globalisation - an activist's response

No Sweat, PCS, 26 pages, £1.50

This is an exciting introduction to the campaign against sweatshops, and the wider issue of globalisation. The booklet is sponsored by the PCS civil service union, and introduced by PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka.

Sweatshops are a metaphor for any bad workplace, so they include any job that is low paid, un-unionised, unsafe or where workers work long hours. The No Sweat campaign emphasises minimum labour standards - principally the right of workers to organise their own unions - as the answer to sweatshops.

The booklet includes examples of solidarity work done with Indonesian and Mexican trade unionists, as well as work with the GMB in East London exposing sweatshop conditions.