Organizing to Ensure Fair Labor Practices

Thomas K. Duane

March 28, 2011

On March 26, I joined the Chinese Staff and Workers’ Association, community and faith-based organizations and other elected officials in announcing the launch of the Sweatshop Free Upper West Side campaign, an effort to compel area businesses to enforce fair labor practices.  As I said at the event, “100 years after the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire—the worst industrial disaster in the history of New York City, which became the rallying cry for workplace safety standards and spawned the international labor movement—we must honor the legacy of those who perished by ensuring that the rights of workers are respected by every business and for every employee.”