No Sweat

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This article is about the campaign against sweatshops. For the British TV series, see No Sweat (TV series).

No Sweat is a campaigning organisation based in London, England, which fights for the rights of sweatshop labourers, not only in developing countries but also in Britain - for example in London's East End, in the borough of Tower Hamlets. No Sweat encourages consumers to choose ethically sourced clothing, whilst firmly rejecting boycotts.

The organisation works closely with parts of the TUC and other trade union organisations and cooperates with the Ethical Threads clothing company in Britain, with other campaign groups like Labour Behind the Label, and with "No Sweat Apparel" in the United States.

Among the founders of No Sweat were members of the Alliance for Workers' Liberty and Workers Power. Workers Power split to form their own No Sweat group, which soon ceased activity, but members of the AWL retain leading roles in No Sweat, while No Sweat news features in their newspaper, Solidarity. No Sweat activities are also often covered in trade union publications, and in the daily Morning Star. Supporters have also contributed to various BBC programmes on the theme.

The organisation holds many events in London, Manchester, Glasgow and elsewhere around the United Kingdom, and has a presence at many events such as Glastonbury Festival's Leftfield and many smaller left-wing festivals and gigs.

In Scotland, No Sweat was central to launching the "Ban the Brands" campaign, set up with educational campaigns, teaching unions, the STUC (Scottish Trades Union Congress) with some support from the Scottish Green Party and the Scottish Socialist Party, aiming to stop commercial involvement in schools (sponsorship, advertising, etc.).

[edit] External links

• http://www.nosweat.org.uk
• http://www.ethicalthreads.co.uk
• http://www.labourbehindthelabel.org