Testimony of New Jersey Labor Commissioner David J. Socolow

 

Hearing before the United States Senate

Sub-Committee on Interstate Commerce, Trade and Tourism,

Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation

 

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

 

 

Chairman Dorgan, Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for this opportunity to come before you to discuss what states like New Jersey are doing to help stop workers from being abused in sweatshops.  I am David Socolow, and I serve as the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

 

As this committee has heard from the compelling personal stories of witnesses at today’s hearing, workers continue to be exposed to sweatshop conditions around the world, leading to horrendous child labor abuses, dangerous working conditions and unconscionably low wage levels, as global manufacturers produce low-cost apparel for the world’s most affluent nations.

 

Here in the United States, governments at both the State and Federal levels have worked for almost a century to eliminate these terrible working conditions from our economic landscape.  As state labor commissioner, I lead an agency whose daily mission is to ensure that the workers of New Jersey are paid fair wages and are provided safe workplaces.  However, now that much of the apparel in the global marketplace is manufactured overseas, we must not turn a blind eye to sweatshop abuses elsewhere that we would not tolerate in our own backyard. 

 

We can do our part by using the State’s purchasing power to counteract sweatshop labor practices.  Rather than buying goods based solely on the lowest possible price, we should include in our procurement policies a recognition of the real cost of the apparel we buy.  Such enlightened procurement policies take into account the harm that sweatshop conditions cause, not only to those workers exploited in overseas factories, but also to American workers and manufacturers who cannot compete against unscrupulous contractors paying poverty wages while ignoring workplace health and safety.

 

 

In my home state of New Jersey, over the past two years, State governmental agencies purchased more than $7 million worth of apparel for uniformed staff, employees and individuals for whom the State provides clothing, and linens in our State correctional and developmental institutions.

 

In 2002, our state government took an historic step toward addressing sweatshop abuses by implementing Executive Order 20, which requires that all apparel purchased by the State of New Jersey be manufactured in the United States under fair labor conditions.  Moreover, this Order requires contractors providing apparel to the state to provide the names and locations of all subcontractors involved in the manufacture of that apparel and to sign Affidavits certifying that:  their workers are paid a “non-poverty wage”; workers are afforded a mechanism to resolve employer-employee disputes; the employer is committed to neutrality in regard to union organizing efforts; and that workers are afforded a safe and healthy work environment free from discrimination.

 

            This policy is making a real impact in protecting workers.   In one recent example, a winning bidder swore in an affidavit to supply the State with domestically manufactured apparel at a cost lower than three other bidders who offered non-domestic product.  When we found in an audit that the company had supplied a mix of both domestic and imported products, we gave them a choice:  give up the contract, or provide only linens manufactured according to the State’s anti-sweatshop standards.  The company agreed to provide sweat-free products and this was confirmed in subsequent audits. 

 

            In another case, a losing bidder challenged the recommended award of an apparel contract to another vendor.   In responding to the protest, the winning bidder withdrew their affidavit, stating that they could not supply the domestically made apparel at the prices they bid.  After a re-bid, the original winning bidder made a new offer to supply domestically produced apparel at a price 20% higher than the lowest bid for imported product.  New Jersey has found that this is the typical price differential required to avoid purchasing products made in sweatshops.  It is worth paying this small premium with our residents’ tax dollars to uphold the values of the people of our state.

 

In implementing the State’s Apparel Procurement Executive Order, we have been alerted to potential abuses by competitors of contractors or bidders during the procurement process.  This market-based mechanism is vital to enforcing New Jersey’s apparel procurement standards while minimizing the cost to state government. In this way, the State can work for the best interests of the people we represent. 

 

 

While our Apparel Procurement Executive Order has provided New Jersey with a useful tool to avoid purchasing sweatshop-produced apparel, Governor Corzine has acted to take the next step toward ending worldwide sweatshop conditions.  Last September, Governor Corzine announced that New Jersey would join a State and Local government consortium proposed by Governor Baldacci of Maine, with the goal of ending the use of state taxpayer funds to purchase apparel manufactured in sweatshops.  The inaugural meeting of this consortium is planned for next month with representatives from the states of Maine, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and we are currently recruiting other state and local governments to join this effort.

 

This consortium initiative will be modeled on the efforts of more than 160 colleges and universities that have banded together to end sweatshop production for collegiate apparel under the Workers Rights Consortium (WRC).  The WRC sets high standards for the production of collegiate apparel and investigates factories around the world to root out sweatshop conditions and abuses.

 

As with colleges and universities, state and local governments are a group of buyers with the common interest of avoiding sweatshop-produced goods.  To date, more than 170 state and local jurisdictions across America have adopted procurement policies aimed at eliminating sweatshops from their supply chain.  Now, working together, state and local governments can strike with even greater force against sweatshop conditions. 

 

With the buying power of all of these entities joined in a national consortium, global manufacturers will recognize the value of producing goods for this market while meeting basic workplace requirements, including paying living wages, offering fixed working hours, putting an end to the use of child labor, ensuring the right to collective bargaining and protecting worker health and safety.

 

A single state, town or university cannot end the global exploitation of sweatshop workers.  But each of us can take steps to combat the economic incentives that give rise to sweatshop abuses.

 

Thank you again for the opportunity to testify today.  I look forward to responding to your questions.