In 2005 we helped set up the Fairbanks Grassroots Network. Its agenda: to ban sweatshops, lift wages, empower workers and curb corporate power by raising awareness and acting on a local level. Fairbanks, Alaska faces huge corporate infiltration which damages local business and therefore, community life. Wal-Mart – the largest company and arguably the most ruthless employer in the world(1) is infamous for its abuse of workers’ rights and has a long and continually updated list of crimes and thus felt a good place to start for the better of the community.
'Wal-Mart has no feeling for anyone or anything. Even making money is not the objective anymore. Wal-Mart's sole purpose seems to have become "to protect and preserve ourself". It denies all responsibility for anything. It arrogantly maintains that it is right about all.'
We organised a Sweatshop Fashion Show. An easy, fun and creative educational tool to inform ourselves, our people and our communities about the sweatshop abuses hidden behind the clothing labels. Mocking the traditional fashion show, announcers and models subvert the familiar sales pitch and brand images with humour and facts to expose the stories of people, predominantly women and young girls, who make our clothes and sports shoes.
Models sauntered down the isles, wearing the latest fashions of well-known US and Canadian brands -- Nike, Gap, Tommy Hilfiger, Northern Reflections, Wal-Mart, Nygard and others. Announcers describe the brand-name products worn by the models, and then revealed something about the wages and working conditions of the women who made the products.
Within ten minutes 10 isles and half the store were crammed with the public laughing and admiring at the creative resistance employed by the community to bring the huge corporation down to reality, one sweatshop fashion show at a time.
