The city will join a watchdog group to make sure the $85,000 it spends each year on uniforms doesn't go to factories with sweatshop conditions.

On Tuesday night, the City Council unanimously voted to have the city government buy uniforms for police, firefighters and other employees only from non-sweatshop sources.

Ashland will pay $500 to join a consortium of government agencies that will pool information about where to buy sweatshop-free clothing. The consortium will also monitor clothing sources for compliance. The city will also pay an annual fee of about $500 to be a consortium member.

The council voted that, if annual dues exceed 1 percent of the amount the city spends on clothing, city staff will bring the policy back to the council to see if the city should continue as a consortium member. One percent of the city's current $85,000 uniform budget would be $850.

To meet sweatshop-free criteria, factories can't pay poverty wages, use prisoners in other countries as laborers or use abusive forms of child labor. Factories also must meet building and fire codes and can't expose workers to hazardous toxic materials, among other rules.

Advocates for the sweatshop-free policy said taxpayer dollars shouldn't be spent to support "deplorable" conditions in the garment industry.

In one example, dozens of workers in a Bangladesh clothing factory were killed when a fire broke out in 2006. Most of the survivors had to jump from windows because the only exit was locked.

Neighbors had to cut grills covering the windows for the workers — who were mainly women — to escape, the British Broadcasting Corporation reported.

Also in Bangladesh, at least 48 workers died in a clothing factory fire in 2000 and 60 people died when an illegally built factory collapsed in 2006, the BBC said.

Some countries pay garment workers as little as 22 cents an hour, according to a garment industry Web site that helps businesses find cheap labor.

Because labor makes up only 1 to 3 percent of the cost of clothing, adopting sweat-free policies doesn't significantly increase the cost to buyers, advocates of sweat-shop free policies said.

The city of Portland and eight other states have already adopted sweatshop free policies, according to members of Southern Oregon Jobs with Justice, one of several groups that supported an Ashland sweatshop-free policy.

Advocates are working to have the state of Oregon adopt a sweatshop-free policy.

Southern Oregon Jobs with Justice Chair Wes Brain said, by joining the consortium, Ashland will help bring up garment industry standards around the world.

"My hat is off to this council. It is an amazing thing. The citizens can work with the council," Brain said.

Councilor Eric Navickas said the garment industry has a long history of abusive practices.

"I'm really proud to have this opportunity to join the consortium," he said.

Councilor Carole Voisin, who teaches at Southern Oregon University, said she hadn't known much about garment industry conditions until some of her students wrote about the topic. When she was checking out their sources, Voisin said she saw how bad the conditions are.

Staff writer Vickie Aldous can be reached at 479-8199 or vlaldous@yahoo.com.