WHY TARGET RETAILERS?

Today big retailers such as DKNY (a manufacturer as well) or Sears are allowed to walk away with billions of dollars by stripping women of their rights and crushing the life out of them. They sit on the top of a subcontracting pyramid and claim zero responsibility. Whoís responsible for inhuman and illegal working conditions in the sweatshops? Retailers hang back looking innocent, and let the blame fall on the manufacturers. Manufacturers duck and run, leaving the contractors (factory owners) to blame. Factory owners squeeze profits out of their workers while portraying themselves as victims.

Retailers, as the sellers of the clothing made in garment factories, hold the most power in this sub-contracting system as they decide what goods they will accept to sell and at what price they will purchase them. Manufacturers, who design the clothes, must offer them a good deal. Competition among manufacturers to sell their garments to retailers — on top of manufacturersí thirst for profits — drives down the prices for production.

And, who gets squeezed the most in this relentless drive to maximize profits? The women toiling long hours in New York City under oppressive conditions sewing DKNY labels sold at DKNY boutiques and Macy's. The women sewing Street Beat labels that were sold at Sears. The women sewing Kathie Lee labels that sold at Wal-Mart. What happens when they stand up for their rights? The contractor shuts down when Donna Karan pulls out her clothes. The Streetbeat contractor moves around the corner under a new name. Manufacturers take their work to another factory — to another block, or another part of the city, country or world — to exploit someone else.

Working people holding retailers accountable to them cuts to the chase of the sub-contracting system. As the top entity that ultimately holds the purse strings, the retailer has the power to make sure that 100 percent of its goods are made under legal conditions. It also has the power to ensure that its manufacturers don't run away to other states or other countries in their search for cheap labor, punishing workers that organize for their rights and depriving local factories and workers of work.

On to..."Women's Work & the Sweatshop Economy"
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