City Churches Accused of Selling Sweatshop Crosses

Crucifixes sold by some of New York's most prominent churches may have been made by children slaving in Chinese sweatshops, according to a report by the National Labor Committee released today.

The report accuses a manufacturer of religious goods, the Singer Company, of outsourcing production to China, where it says young women were forced to toil under harsh conditions for 100 hours a week making the wooden crosses. They were paid 26 cents an hour, according to the report, which based its findings on production orders and pictures smuggled out of factories gathered by a third party that the advocacy group declined to identify, citing human rights conditions in China.

"It's ironic these crosses are made by workers in China who have no religious freedom," the director of the National Labor Committee, Charles Kernaghan, said. He said researchers had traced serial numbers on crosses sold at area churches to production orders from Chinese factories.

The report also accuses a major trade association for purveyors of religious goods, the Association for Christian Retail, of knowing about the practice.

The president and CEO of the trade group, Bill Anderson, called the report's accusations "irresponsible and unfounded."

"Most of our suppliers and as well as many of our retailers make regular visits to the Orient to ensure quality control as well as inspect working conditions. While they cannot be 100% certain, our suppliers are confident they are offering products made in factories where workers are treated fairly," he said.

"We have never been presented with a specific product or specific product supplier that is a member of our association to investigate. And if presented with that information and evidence, we would certainly pursue it," he added.

A person who answered the phone at the Singer Company, who did not identify herself said, "We do not deal with any sweatshops in China."

St. Patrick's Cathedral and Trinity Church both sell crucifixes made by the company, according to the National Labor Committee, which held a news conference today in front of the Cathedral to announce the findings in the report.

The labor group said they did not contact the churches ahead of releasing the report, because they said they did not believe the churches or trade association would respond to them. Mr. Kernaghan added that they were probably not aware of the alleged sweatshop connection.

A spokeswoman for Trinity Church, Diane Reed, said the church had been told by Singer that the crucifixes were made in Italy.

"We're very selective about the products that we carry. We don't associate with sweatshops," she said, adding: "We're pulling the products from the shelves until we can determine the source of origin."

St. Patrick's Cathedral directed requests for comment to the Archdiocese of New York. A spokesman, Joseph Zwilling, said he believed the report "was an attempt to exploit the Cathedral."

"This is something that he did not attempt to discuss with us beforehand. At this point, it's not something we can say anything about," he said. St. Patrick's gift shop has removed the crucifixes while it checks into the allegations.

The retail value of products sold by members of the trade association, which include Christian bookstores and other shops that sell religious items, was $4.6 billion in 2006.