December 29, 2000

Johnny’s sweatshop scooter

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Those faddish Razor scooters today’s kids are hankering for are made in a sweatshop in China, according to the National Labor Committee in Support of Human and Worker Rights.

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The NLC doled out its “Golden Grinch” anti-awards to retailers this holiday season, giving one to Sharper Image for carrying an exclusive edition of the Razor scooters (other retailers also carry the basic model). According to NLC research, the scooters are made at Yuan Da Metal Factory in China, where workers are paid just 14 cents for every scooter they produce. The scooters sell for $89 to $119 each.

Another Grinch award went to the Department of Defense for importing apparel made in Burmese and Nicaraguan sweatshops for sale at military installations. Other “awards” went to Wal-Mart, Kohl’s, Farberware, and the ubiquitous Nike.

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We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

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Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

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