Wednesday night, a group of approximately thirty people gathered outside of the Alpine Ave. Wal-Mart to protest sweatshop and child labor. Organized by the Kent-Ionia Labor Council and the Union Label Coalition, the event was dubbed the “Annual Holiday Season of Conscience to End Child Labor & Sweatshop Abuses.” The event started at the nearby UAW Local 1231 where the crowd listened to speakers, then preceded down tot the Wal-Mart store. The vigil lasted about an hour and many signs and banners were present, including a large banner for the Grand Valley Students against Sweatshops chapter. Handouts detailing the injustice of sweatshops were given to people entering and exiting the parking lot. Response from the customers was mixed; many honked horns and gave thumbs up although some also gave rude gestures as well. Several exiting shoppers seemed to take the vigil as a personal criticism, claiming in their defense that they “didn’t buy anything” or “only spent a couple dollars.” The vigil was not intended to shame individual consumers but to inform people about unfair labor practices at Wal-Mart and their reliance on cheap goods made by child and sweatshop labor. For more information about Wal-Mart, sweatshop labor, and the “global economy,” check out the following links:
National Links
- AFL-CIO Stop Sweatshops
- United Students Against Sweatshops
- Sweatshop Watch
- Campaign for Labor Rights
- PBS Frontline special on Wal-Mart
Local Links
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