Spence
03-19-2004, 12:25 PM
Just keep outsourcing those jobs, George.The official merchandise Web site for President George W. Bush's re-election campaign has sold clothing made in Burma, whose goods were banned by Bush from the U.S. last year to punish its military dictatorship.
The merchandise sold on www.georgewbushstore.com includes a $49.95 fleece pullover, embroidered with the Bush-Cheney '04 logo and bearing a label stating it was made in Burma, now Myanmar. The jacket was sent to Newsday as part of an order that included a shirt made in Mexico and a hat not bearing a country-of-origin label.
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Bush last July signed into law the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act, saying "The United States will not waver from its commitment to the cause of democracy and human rights in Burma."
Violators of the import ban are subject to fines and jail, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.
Burmese textile workers earn as little as 7 cents per hour, according to the National Labor Committee, a human rights group.
"If it is true, it is very contradictory because the sanctions were imposed by the Bush administration," said Bo Hla-Tint, a spokesman for the Burmese government-in-exile in Washington, D.C.
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Human rights watcher Charles Kernaghan, director of the National Labor Committee, said the slip-up showed a lack of conviction on the administration's part. "Given the debate about outsourcing, it's amazing that the campaign would be selling stuff made in the most brutal country on earth, known for things like child labor and sexual slavery," he said. "It shows a crude indifference to this issue."
The National Basketball Association recently vowed to stop selling Burmese-made sweatshirts after a campaign by the NLC.
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The Kerry merchandise was made in the United States, according to Mark Weiner, the president of Financial Innovations. The company, whose employees belong to the Communications Workers of America Union, sources most of its merchandise from union factories.
"It's becoming more difficult to find American-made union product, especially in textiles, but you just have to look. We pay more money for them, so we make a smaller profit margin," said Paul McConnell, Financial Innovations' vice president.
Source (http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-bzsell0319,0,1292393,print.story?coll=ny-top-headlines)
The merchandise sold on www.georgewbushstore.com includes a $49.95 fleece pullover, embroidered with the Bush-Cheney '04 logo and bearing a label stating it was made in Burma, now Myanmar. The jacket was sent to Newsday as part of an order that included a shirt made in Mexico and a hat not bearing a country-of-origin label.
...
Bush last July signed into law the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act, saying "The United States will not waver from its commitment to the cause of democracy and human rights in Burma."
Violators of the import ban are subject to fines and jail, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.
Burmese textile workers earn as little as 7 cents per hour, according to the National Labor Committee, a human rights group.
"If it is true, it is very contradictory because the sanctions were imposed by the Bush administration," said Bo Hla-Tint, a spokesman for the Burmese government-in-exile in Washington, D.C.
...
Human rights watcher Charles Kernaghan, director of the National Labor Committee, said the slip-up showed a lack of conviction on the administration's part. "Given the debate about outsourcing, it's amazing that the campaign would be selling stuff made in the most brutal country on earth, known for things like child labor and sexual slavery," he said. "It shows a crude indifference to this issue."
The National Basketball Association recently vowed to stop selling Burmese-made sweatshirts after a campaign by the NLC.
...
The Kerry merchandise was made in the United States, according to Mark Weiner, the president of Financial Innovations. The company, whose employees belong to the Communications Workers of America Union, sources most of its merchandise from union factories.
"It's becoming more difficult to find American-made union product, especially in textiles, but you just have to look. We pay more money for them, so we make a smaller profit margin," said Paul McConnell, Financial Innovations' vice president.
Source (http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-bzsell0319,0,1292393,print.story?coll=ny-top-headlines)