Sweatshops are back with a vengeance, after being eradicated through the efforts of workers in the 1920s and 1930s. Today's sweatshop is largely a result of the global economy and a pricing system in the apparel industry set by the large retail chains and controlled by the large retailers. The retail chains set the prices on garments that are sewn in small contracting shops or in larger factories.

Decades ago, unions ended child labor, unsafe working conditions, sub-minimum wages, and other scourges of the sweatshop. Shortly after the merger in July 1995 of the clothing workers' unions into one strong labor organization, UNITE, the slave factories at El Monte were uncovered, alerting the nation to a problem that has been growing in the U.S. apparel industry. By exposing and publicizing the use of sweatshop labor - domestic and off-shore - UNITE was able to put the issue before consumers and other activists who care about how our clothes are made.

In the global economy, workers are being forced to compete in a global downward spiral, but it doesn't have to be that way. Workers everywhere are fighting back to end child labor and to promote a decent and safe standard of living for all workers. Workers and their unions, with government, industry, and consumers, can end sweatshops.