Illegal Procedure? Dallas Cowboys Called on Sweatshop Connections

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2012/01/14/illegal-procedure-dallas-cowboys-called-on-sweatshop-connections/

by Mike Hall, Jan 14, 2012

Video: http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=7433077

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones spent $1 billion to build the gilded palace his legendary National Football League team plays in eight Sundays a year. But in the gift shops inside Cowboys Stadium and in sports apparel stores around the nation, Cowboys fans are buying fancy jackets, jerseys and other gear made by Cambodian workers earning just 29 cents an hour for 10-hour days, six days a week.

And now the Cowboys merchandising arm—Silver Star Merchandising—is pursuing deals with major U.S. universities for exclusive rights to produce the schools’ logo apparel, reports ESPN’s Outside the Lines. A recent episode spotlighted the Cambodian supplier’s factory where workers:

fear the wrath of their supervisors if they talk to a co-worker sitting next to them or take too long at the bathroom. They say they are essentially forced to work overtime daily and describe a hostile work environment in which supervisors yell and insult them. They work while sick because either they can’t afford to go to the doctor or fear they will be fired if they miss work.

FULL story at link.

[joeybee12]

1. knr...please cross-post in sports...

We all hate Jerry Jones.

[broiles]

2. The taxpayers bought the stadium for him.

Jerry didn't spend $1 billion of his own money.

[OriginalGeek]

3. Well shit.

:/

[Auggie]

4. To be fair, you can make this claim against almost any clothing retailer

The NFL and NCAA could certainly take a harsher stance, but it would cut into their profits or cost consumers more for merchandise. It's never the retailers, middlemen or manufacturers who take the hit, is it? Just the workers or final purchaser.