"Because in the last 15 years, Mexico's longstanding system of sustaining its huge population of poor citizens (including small self-sufficient farms, jobs in state-owned industries and subsidies for such essentials as tortillas) has been scuttled at the insistence of U.S. banks, corporations, government officials and "free market" ideologues. In the name of "modernizing" the Mexican economy, such giants as Citigroup, Wal-Mart, Tyson Foods and GE -in cahoots with the plutocrats and oligarchs of Mexico -have laid waste to that country's grass-roots economy, destroying the already-meager livelihoods of millions.

Here are some responses to the Berkeley City Council resolution:

Commissioner Diana Bohn said, “I’m proud to serve in a City like Berkeley that acts locally and thinks
globally, and we hope to see other cities follow suit. This resolution has the potential for
helping Firestone finally realize it is in their interest to negotiate a fair
contract with their rubber workers."

Nunu Kidane of the Bay-Area based Priority Africa
Network said, “Plantation is the operative word in
Bridgestone’s exploitation of Liberian workers, it is modern day slavery with
pay of about $3 for some 21 hours worth of work, including child labor.”

Over the last year FEI has
facilitated student workshops in universities across the UK with
students from a variety of year groups and a range of different fashion courses
(design, buying, marketing, business and textiles). The impact of purchasing
practices – the way in which fashion companies do business with their suppliers
– on working conditions in the garment industry has been the focus of these
workshops. A role-play, the first in a series of educational
resources aimed specifically at fashion-related higher and further education

The courses include the following:

Apparel Consumers
and Social Responsibility Examines the role of consumers in improving working
conditions, labor standards, and environmental stewardship in apparel factories
worldwide. Factors and groups motivating consumer action are explored, including
the influence of personal characteristics, market opportunities, and activist
and other pressure groups.