A couple weeks ago, I wrote a short article explaining why our Irregular Goods progressive shop will not be selling any black t-shirts through CafePress. They’re not made in the USA. Those black t-shirts are made in Honduran sweatshops for a pittance. We don’t think it’s ethical for us to proclaim liberal ideals on garments made by exploited workers.
Apparently, CafePress has been feeling some pressure about its black t-shirts made in outsourced sweatshops. So, CafePress has decided to supplement its collection of black shirts made in foreign sweatshops with some made in the USA alternatives early next year. Here’s the short message I’ve received from CafePress:
“As an FYI, we’re going to be launching a variety of AA products in dark colors in January/February.”
That’s just fantastic – giving progressives like us the chance to put a good liberal message on a nice t-shirt and not be hypocrites about it. Congratulations to CafePress for doing the right thing. Soon, in the CafePress marketplace, we’ll have the chance to prove that people will pay more for clothes that they know are made under ethical working conditions.
But, until late January or February, the black t-shirts that CafePress is selling are still made in foreign sweatshops. That hasn’t stopped some of the more crass left wing shops from trying to cash in on exploited Honduran labor – the so-called “Liberal Democrat” black t-shirt you see here is a prime example of that.
By the way, I’m glad to report that since my earlier article, the Democratic Underground has recognized the ethical hypocrisy of selling a black t-shirt with its logo on it, and removed the black t-shirt from its collection. However, it still sells several other kinds of shirts made in overseas sweatshops.
Take, for instance, this shirt. The people at Democratic Underground are selling it as a Value T-Shirt. And why is it a value? Well, this shirt is sold cheaply because it’s made in an outsourced factory by workers who are treated cheaply in sweatshop conditions, that’s why.
The Democratic Underground has written many articles criticizing Wal-Mart for using overseas sweatshop factories to sell at their Everyday Low Prices. Yet, here they are, selling a Value T-shirt made in an overseas sweatshop, with their own Democratic Underground logo printed on it.
Hey, Democratic Underground, howsabout selling that design on an organic cotton t-shirt made in the USA by American Apparel – a shop with a good, transparent record on worker rights and compensation? That’s what we do with our CafePress shops, and we sleep better at night doing it. We’ll sleep even better at night when those new CafePress dark t-shirts from American Apparel are available.
If every liberal and Democrat-themed shop on CafePress would make the ethical decision to only sell the shirts made by American Apparel, the economic impact would be huge. The market for sweatshop shirts would take a major hit.
Funny how Made in U.S.A. is turning into a liberal value. Conservatives have abandoned everything, haven’t they?
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Note: CafePress says that they are unable to get their printing technology to work with black t-shirts from American Apparel. So, they will not be offering ethical, sweatshop-free shirts after all.
Did CafePress ever get this to work? Are they finally offering dark shirts that aren’t made with sweatshop labor? I would appreciate an update.
Good question. NO is the simple answer. CafePress never did offer dark shirts made without sweatshop labor, and that’s a real shame.
What about all the other stuff (not just clothing)? Where is it made?
Shouldn’t we be trying to get fair wages raised and working conditions improved world wide rather than taking away what little income people may have? Made in US only buying sounds as much a concern to buy American as it does to be concerned about those who actually live on the meager income and have to work in rotten conditions.
Have any of you ever been in a sweatshop? I have…in the United States. I have been in sew factories in the US, Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, and the Dominican Republic. The only one that was a sweatshop was in the US. Just because third-world countries pay less than the US doesn’t mean that the workers are being exploited or are “sweatshop” workers. Most of the sewing machine operators are thrilled to be working in air conditioning for the first time in their lives, glad to have benefits for the first time in their lives, and are able to provide for their families far beyond the subsistence farming most of them were involved with before they gained the privilege of running a sewing machine.
No, you’re right, it’s not a sure thing that all overseas factories are sweatshops. But if they’re Hanes shirts it’s a pretty good bet it means that.
Are you the Dave McCann who was in charge of Human Relations for PriceWaterHouseCoopers in Beijing, when the staff there got uppity because they said they were being mistreated? Just curious.
No, and I’ve never been to Beijing or worked for PWC. But don’t believe everything you read in the WRC reports; TOS Dominicana is not a sweatshop.
Which part of these stories are lies, Dave?
Yes, Dave. Name the lie. Name it.
Yer just an empty talker, Dave McCann.
Well, Juniper, that might be jumping the gun a bit. Maybe he’s got some evidence I haven’t seen. Maybe can demonstrate verifiably the lie here. But I don’t see it — yet. Show us the goods, Dave.