saturday july 14th an action took place in montreal to protest the gap's use of child and slave labor. two culture jammers were arrested and detained for the afternoon

st.catherine street in montreal was filled today with shoppers mulling over shiny new clothes, sipping on over priced cappuccinos. it was a street sale, the road blocked off, no cars, a sense of false contrived liberty. the streets not free and open, they were crowed with racks of garments and
venders pushing sales, pulling in profits. a small group of montreal culture jammers moved in on the shopping mess with glue, squeegees and posters depicting slave labor conditions in one of the gap's many sweat shops. this action was to make it clear to the gap and others that people will not stand for the use of sweat-shop labor and will not stand for the commodification of life.

garments made by the gap, are produced in horrible working conditions, by people who receive below poverty line wages and physical abuse. child labor and overcrowded employee dormitories are not uncommon in the gap's factories. sweatshop workers here and abroad are primarily women between the ages of 16 to 25. in north america, these sweatshop facilities exploit newly
immigrated women who may have few opportunities for employment.

in some mexican and central american plants, women are given depo-provera shots as a precondition for employment to prevent pregnancy and menstruation. this allows the company to increase productivity by cutting down on not only maternity leave, but even bathroom break time. in many places, if a woman becomes pregnant or if she refuses to submit to the shot, she is immediately fired - a clear violation of human rights.

there is a clear stand that must be made against these injustices. a clear stand against the commodification of life, the bubbling tides of economic oppression. the group of culture jammers covered the windows of the gap, on st.catherine montreal this afternoon, plastered the windows with images of sweatshops. people turned on the windows covered and the culture jammers
being chased through the streets by cops, hopefully bringing a fresh breeze to the sleepy routine of buy and sell.

two culture jammers were arrested for mischief and were held throughout the day. they are to appear in court in september and hope that this action will inspire many others.

stefan christoff