Hall Monitor

A perfect union – for busting? In a June 23 press conference, Mayor Gavin Newsom lauded the announcement that H&M, the Swedish clothier known for its trendy, übercheap clothing, plans to open a store in our very own Union Square. A press release posted on the mayor's Web site – complete with the flashy, red script H&M logo – hailed the announcement as "a perfect union in the square."

But if you ask workers at the Southeast Asian factories who sew H&M's clothes, or the employees of the company's New Jersey distribution centers, or even those who work in H&M's six New York City retail stores, you might hear that things aren't so perfect. That's because the company has a history of buying from sweatshop factories abroad (you know the drill: $1 a day keeps costs down) and of resisting union organizing in the United States.

Back in 2000 the company was cited by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for a "serious" safety violation soon after opening its first U.S. store, and workers at the distribution centers have complained of repetitive stress injuries and other preventable maladies, but the company has had a record of covering up such problems, according to labor leaders.

The hopeful news is that H&M, which has more than 950 stores around the world, may be taking steps to change its behavior. This winter, after a contentious yearlong campaign by the Union of Needletrades Industrial and Textile Employees to organize its distribution centers, the company signed an agreement with the International Labor Organization to respect organizing in all of its stores.

But union leaders are cautious about the company, which they say strongly resisted organizing efforts in New Jersey last year, and which is in negotiations with workers in its New York stores. There, workers complain of overly taxing schedules and low pay.

H&M's New York-based spokesperson Lisa Sandberg told the Bay Guardian that the company isn't resisting union organizing efforts but that there has been some disagreement over what kind of election the workers should use in deciding to form a union. While H&M prefers a National Labor Relations Board-monitored vote, organizers have fought for the right to vote by "card-check" – a system almost universally preferred by the labor movement. In part that's because NLRB elections are considered to be susceptible to manipulation by company officials.

As for the sweatshops, Sandberg said she doesn't know how much workers who sew their clothes – in Southeast Asia, Africa, and Eastern Europe – earn for their labor, but she insists H&M complies with a strict code of conduct internationally. The San Francisco store is scheduled to open in the fall of 2005. (Rachel Brahinsky)

Take action for the park As we went to press, construction continued in Golden Gate Park, where workers have destroyed two of the three historic pedestrian tunnels in the Music Concourse area to make way for a planned 800-spot underground garage.

Activists challenging the legality of the design and the financing plan are asking the public to contact Newsom and demand he order the project to cease until a San Francisco Superior Court ruling – expected soon – is issued on the merits of the plan.

Garage proponents had promised the court that no irreversible damage would occur before the ruling came out, but two of the 107-year-old tunnels are now gone. Contact the mayor at (415) 554-6141 or gavin.newsom@sfgov.org. (Brahinsky)

Show me the sunshine The Open Government Ordinance, a landmark initiative that would amend the existing Sunshine Ordinance to further root out government secrecy in city hall, goes for a key vote July 7 at the Board of Supervisors' Rules Committee. If approved in committee, the ordinance will need just four votes at the full board to reserve a spot on the Nov. 2 general election ballot.

Yet it's unclear where the Rules Committee members stand. Sups. Michela Alioto-Pier and Matt Gonzalez wouldn't join the sole sponsor, Sup. Chris Daly, on the legislation, and committee chair Sup. Sophie Maxwell has been too busy to look over the measure, according to her aide, Greg Asay. Mayor Gavin Newsom also told us he hadn't yet reviewed the measure.

The ordinance would give the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force the power to enforce open-government laws for the first time in its 10-year history. It would also expand citizen access to public records and meetings, including some conducted by nonprofit organizations that have large contracts with city agencies.

The nonprofit provision of the Open Government Ordinance figures to be the most controversial part of the measure. But after meeting with task force members who helped draft and review the legislation, Bill Barnes, Daly's legislative aide and a candidate for District Five supervisor, said it shouldn't stir much opposition.

"The purpose of applying the rules to nonprofits is to guarantee the public's right to know. Task force members have been clear that their desire isn't to create more bureaucracy or to be more onerous," Barnes told us.

There will be no enforcement process unless a citizen first files a complaint, Barnes added. For the vast majority of nonprofits that comply with the Open Government Ordinance, the new law won't change the way things operate.

See the proposed changes to the Sunshine Ordinance at www.sfgov.org/sunshine, and check Alerts to find out about future hearings at the Board of Supervisors. (Matthew Hirsch)