Major League Baseball Balks on Sweatshop Allegations

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For years, a group of fans and antisweatshop advocates has called on the Pittsburgh Pirates to source their souvenirs from factories that ensure fair labor conditions. The Big League response has been something of a greaseball: Major League Baseball (MLB) is "proud of the accomplishments of our licensees [who] provide gainful employment to tens of thousands of people" under "what we understand to be" full compliance with labor laws, wrote Ethan Orlinsky, general counsel MLB Properties (MLBP). He wrote that MLBP didn't use sweatshops. Shortly before the MLB All-Star game media arrived in Pittsburgh in mid-July, however, the Pittsburg Post-Gazette ran an editorial calling for "a genuine attempt at enforcement" of fair labor conditions. The editorial pointed out that 14-year-old Bangladeshis working 12-hour shifts without overtime pay could be "legally" making Pittsburgh's T-shirts. Orlinsky modified his pitch a bit, inviting the local group, led by activist Tim Stevens, to submit their concerns and said MLBP would "consider them." The Pittsburgh coalition responded but still awaits MLBP's answer.