Conscious Christmas Carolers Serenade Shoppers

(12-17) 16:51 PST GLENDALE, Calif. (AP) --

Protesters sang satirical Christmas songs inside a
busy shopping mall Sunday to educate shoppers
about sweatshop laborers.

The group of mock carolers spent nearly two hours
inside the Glendale Galleria marching outside the
mall's Disney Store, Gap, and DKNY shops.

The same group has staged other protests around
the Los Angeles area during the busy Christmas
shopping season. Last week they marched outside a
Target store in Pasadena.

The singers, who called themselves ``Billionaires for
Greater Global Inequity'' sang songs on Sunday
such as ``Rest Easy Wealthy Gentlemen,'' a parody
of the carol ``God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.''

``During this time of joy, people are buying gifts and
they need to know the story behind the low prices.
They're at the expense of people in poverty,'' said
protester Eddie Imy, 33, of Venice.

The group said it wanted to urge shoppers to
boycott goods produced by workers who toil under
inhumane conditions are not paid a living wage.

The boisterous group of about 10 protesters drew
the attention of mall security and Glendale Police
officers, but no arrests were made.

The demonstrators eventually left the mall without
conflict.

Store managers in the Disney and Gap stores
declined to comment on the protest, and messages
left at both companies' headquarters were not
immediately returned Sunday.

Donna Karan International, which produces the
DKNY brand, issued a statement that read in part:
``While we expect our contract manufacturers to
meet appropriate standards, we are not involved in
their day-to-day operations, cannot dictate their
business decisions and must rely on their
cooperation to maintain appropriate standards in
their factories.''

The protesters said both manufacturers and
consumers have a duty to learn about how their
goods are produced.

``It kind of opened my eyes to what's going on,''
said shopper David Bailey of Los Angeles. ``I'm
thinking as I'm reading this, 'what can I do?' For the
kids' clothes, I'll probably start going to another
store besides Baby Gap.''

However, shopper Alex Johnston of Glendale
dismissed the protesters' accusations. He said their
claims would not change his shopping habits.

``I suppose if I saw something going on with my
own two eyes, that would be different,'' he said.