are you aware that the running shoes you are wearing may have been produced by children as young as 13 years old, working 14-hour days for 30 cents an hour? don’t be reassured by a label that claims the item was manufactured in the usa or europe. it could have been sewn in indonesia… many of the world’s 23.6 million garment workers in 160 countries are denied their basic human rights. they suffer inhumane working conditions and arbitrary discipline, earn sub-standard wages, and are often harassed for legitimate union activity. this is NOT the pseudo ‘culture’ of the mega corporations/ this shoe is NOT the nike owned converse all star. the ‘no sweat’ sneaker came out in spring 2004. a classic old school canvas sneaker style but union made instead of ‘nike’ owned (until today with only 1,500 pairs on the market, but more are in the works). ‘no sweat apparel’, is a boston-based company, which has created a casual clothing brand that fights big brands – by creating a viable union alternative. their mission is to establish a worldwide consumer cooperative and to reassert consumer sovereignty over capitalism. the idea for the’ no sweat’ sneakers started in canada with something called the ‘blackspot’ sneaker. kalle lasn, the editor in chief of adbusters , a magazine that takes on corporations and advertisers, says the idea for the ‘blackspot’ sneaker came about after it became clear that none of adbusters’ anti-logo efforts were having that much effect. ‘we’re selling an idea – for us the idea is the dominant thing. we’re sick and tired of large corporations dominating our lives’, lasn said. ‘its impact will be determined only by the extent it puts moral pressure on bigger companies, like reebok, adidas, puma and nike’. … but only if concerned consumers support it.