Help Eradicate Abuse Of Workers

Tue., June 18, 1996

Elana Ashanti Jefferson/For The

Kathie Lee Gifford’s scuffle to save face shed new light on a global problem that is decades old.

A New York watchdog group announced last month that her clothing line at Wal-Mart was produced in Honduran and American sweatshops. The teary-eyed talk show darling vowed to fight for industrywide change.

Slave wages, forced overtime, production quotas, child labor, union busting and physical abuse - all are tactics some clothing-contract companies use to lower production costs.

Multinational giants like Nike, Liz Claiborne, Calvin Klein and Disney do business with the cheapest factories, frequently in developing countries. American factories cannot compete, except those that are illegal sweatshops, ones that often employ immigrant labor. U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich says nearly half the clothes made in this country come out of factories that sidestep labor and human rights laws.

With more than 7,500 people employed by the textile and apparel manufacturing industry throughout Washington state, we should be glad that Gifford’s recent trauma opened eyes to the problem. But there are things we all can do.

Track where your money is going. Where do the clothes at your favorite store come from? Ask store managers. Write letters to company CEOs. If their answers don’t satisfy you, take your business elsewhere.

And it’s time for giants like Nike to stop skirting the issue. They should follow the example set by The Gap. Responding to pressure from consumers and workers’ rights groups, this sizable retailer now takes full responsibility for the working conditions under which its clothes are produced.

Manufacturers cannot rely on government regulation to solve the problem. Implementing an industrywide, independent, third-party inspection system would set a standard for countries around the world to follow.

Finally, consumers and retailers can encourage immense change by supporting alternative trade organizations. These international businesses like The Fair Trade Federation based in Massachusetts promote social and economic justice. They pay higher wages directly to the workers, support traditionally marginalized groups like women, refugees and disabled people, and encourage development of housing, education and health care systems.

Consumers and clothing retailers can help ease the plight of exploited workers by doing business with companies known to promote the rights of workers.

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