PGHIMC - Pittsburgh Independent Media Center

On Tuesday July 11th, Pittsburgh was home to the 2006 Major League Baseball All Star game. The city prepared for the influx of tourists and its place in the national spotlight by installing a 1 million dollar robotic video surveillance network for downtown and Oakland, purchasing new K-9 units, patrol cars, and crowd control equipment.  The city's Redd up Campaign involved boarding up abandoned buildings, removing graffiti, towing cars, cleaning up abandoned lots, and displacing homeless people from their normal gathering places on the North Side and Downtown.

Despite the increased security and police hostility towards demonstrations near the stadium, during the game Pittsburgh Anti-Sweatshop Community Alliance (PASCA) held a peaceful march and carnival to support the National Garment Workers Federation of Bangladesh and to demand that Major League Baseball eliminate the use of sweatshop labor in the production of its apparel and merchandise.

[ Photos from anti-sweatshop demonstration | anti-sweatshop protest video ]

[ Rustbelt Radio coverage (mp3 | ogg) | More on baseball from Sweatfree Communities ]