1.The Los Angeles Unified School District Motion:

Los Angeles Unified School District Resolution:

Mr. Tokofsky - "No Sweat" Procurement (Noticed November 26, 2002)(Waiver of
Board Rule 72)

Whereas, Conditions of sweatshop labor, impact many thousands of families in Los Angeles, most of them immigrant families, including many parents of children attending Los Angeles public schools;

Whereas, Garments such as uniforms, athletic apparel, and sports equipment such as soccer balls utilized in our public schools are often manufactured in sweatshop conditions, including child labor, in southern California and countries in the global South;

Whereas, Public tax dollars should not be expended to subsidize these sweatshop conditions, but as an incentive to contractors and subcontractors to provide their employees with non-poverty wages, and all rights and protections required by law;

Whereas, The Los Angeles Unified School District on December 16, 1996, found that it imports a variety of products including over 800 soccer balls per year, and resolved to "only purchase products that have been certified as having been manufactured without the illegal use of child labor;" and

Whereas, The District recognizes that many colleges and universities in Los Angeles and the
United States have adopted "sweatfree" procurement guidelines with beneficial effects; now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Board of Education of the City of Los Angeles direct staff to review and revise its procurement policies to ensure that District contractors and subcontractors do not employ child labor or sweatshop labor; and Resolved further, That the Board is committed to developing a "sweatfree schools" code of conduct to ensure that the apparel and certain sporting goods purchased, licensed, or required by the District, or any
of its schools, be manufactured by responsible employers and include incentives to producers and vendors of school apparel and sporting goods to assure that decent conditions prevail in their factories. This code of conduct shall be developed based on the following principles:
1. non-poverty wages
2. safe and healthy working conditions
3. worker rights to assemble or organize
4. prohibition of child labor
5. compliance with the code
6. disclosure of manufacturing plant locations
7. verification and enforcement mechanisms
8. responsible bidder forms
9. penalties;
and Resolved further, That the Superintendent be directed to create a working group to develop this "sweatfree" code of conduct, composed of appropriate District staff, employee
representatives, union representatives, garment worker advocates, students, and
experts in the field; Resolved further, That the Superintendent direct appropriate staff with technical knowledge or experience in current procurement policies to assist the working group in its considerations; and be it finally Resolved, That the working group report its findings and recommendation to the Board no later than March 15, 2003.