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See also other materials on "Apparel industry"

1 Jan. 2002 to present:

Dirty lingerie - La Senza and Jacob [Canadian retailers] cut ties to Thai bra factory [Gina Form bra factory in Bangkok] despite pleas from activists to stay put -...Activists charge that the factory's new management has mounted an aggressive anti-union campaign...But just when protestors started to capture corporate attention on the matter, La Senza and Jacob both announced they were immediately severing all ties to the factory. It was not the turn of events anti-sweatshoppers had imagined – or desired. (Now [Canada], 8 May 2003)

Levi Opts Out of Sweatshop Settlement - Levi Strauss & Co. has opted out of a $20-million settlement approved this week to compensate garment workers on the Pacific island of Saipan..."The allegations against Levi Strauss and company are not true," said company spokesman Jeff Beckman. (Reuters, 25 Apr. 2003)

Nike defends claims of sweatshop labour and false advertising -...the United States Supreme Court is about to hear a landmark case about whether Nike's defence of labour conditions in its factories represents false advertising. Nike is asking the Supreme Court to protect free speech by giving companies immunity from laws against false advertising...Nike's critics say false claims made in a speech is just as misleading to consumers as a claim made in a paid commercial. (AM, ABC Local Radio [Australia], 21 Apr. 2003)

Nike: Free Speech or "False Promises"? - On Apr. 23, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear charges that Nike committed consumer fraud by making false statements about the labor conditions in its overseas factories. (Aaron Bernstein, Business Week, 9 Apr. 2003)

Domini files amicus brief with Supreme Court in Nike v. Kasky - Socially Responsible Investors Argue that Nike’s Position Threatens Securities Regulation - Domini Social Investments LLC today announced that it has filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court that supports San Francisco activist Marc Kasky in his effort to hold Nike accountable for its statements concerning the company’s use of sweatshop labor. (Domini Social Investments, 7 Apr. 2003)

Firms urged to help control Aids [Thailand] - Incentives suggested for businesses - International organisations urged the business sector yesterday to make the HIV/Aids epidemic one of the ``bottom line issues'' at the workplace. A one-day study programme, entitled ``Thailand CEO study mission on HIV/Aids'', was organised by Thailand Business Coalition on Aids (TBCA) to brief top management people about the HIV/Aids epidemic's impact on businesses and their employees. It was attended by more than 25 CEOs and senior managers of leading firms in Thailand including Unocal, Nike, Siam Commercial Bank, Thai Airways International and the Tourism Authority of Thailand. (Preeyanat Phanayanggoor, Bangkok Post, 5 Apr. 2003)

Latin Sweatshops Pressed by U.S. Campus Power [Dominican Republic] -...The pact [a union-negotiated labour contract at BJ&B hat factory], signed last week, was the latest victory for a once unlikely coalition of United States college students, labor activists and world-class brands like Nike and Reebok working to improve labor conditions in the factories in developing countries that make caps and clothing emblazoned with university names and mascots...Labor leaders here and abroad now say it [BJ&B factory] is probably the largest factory among the free-trade zones of the Caribbean, Central America or Mexico to have been unionized. (David Gonzalez, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2003)

Ramatex Says Enviro Report 'Too Sensitive' to Be Released [Namibia] - Malaysian textile firm, Ramatex, yesterday claimed it had not made its Environmental Impact Assessment study public because "it contains sensitive information" that could be used by competitors to the detriment of the textile plant. (Chrispin Inambao, The Namibian, 4 Apr. 2003)

• City Officials Defend Textile Factory On Enviro Claims [Namibia] - Concerns raised by politicians, environmentalists and city residents that toxic waste could seep from the Ramatex Textile Factory into the New Goreangab Reclamation Plant are a gross misrepresentation of facts, City officials argued yesterday. (Chrispin Inambao, The Namibian, 2 Apr. 2003)

GIANT goes for Wild Rubber -...Yet rubber can be sustainably produced and in the Amazon rainforests [of Brazil], forest people are doing just that – helped by the multi-national bicycle manufacturer GIANT that has just ordered thousands of "wild rubber" bike-bags and saddlebags…the French company "Hermes" has used wild rubber in the production of some of its bags and purses these last four years. (Anne Blair Gould, Radio Nederland, 31 Mar. 2003)

Legal case for doing the right thing -...As a wave of legal actions - such as a case alleging that Unocal, the US oil company, used forced labour in Burma - put business responsibility on trial, the voluntary versus mandatory debate is increasingly being overtaken by the law. Many question whether a law passed in 1789 - the Alien Tort Claims Act, through which some US courts have allowed lawsuits that allege US companies have violated international laws abroad - should be used in this way. But whatever the outcome of such cases (no company has yet made any payment) and the result of the debate, the potential liability of multinational companies in relation to corporate responsibility is becoming harder to ignore...Laws on misrepresentation or false advertising can come to bear on what companies voluntarily disclose about themselves. Currently under the spotlight is Nike, which was sued by Marc Kasky, an activist who alleged the company made false statements in press releases about its labour practices...Many of the legal challenges facing companies today are examined in a report released last month. Prepared by the International Institute for Environment and Development, it aims to demonstrate how the law is shaping corporate responsibility. (Sarah Murray, Financial Times, 31 Mar. 2003)

• Legal Issues in Corporate Citizenship -...Mandatory legislation on various aspects of business transparency is emerging around the world. It can form part of company law, environmental regulation, or tailored legislation for institutional investors or on social and environmental reporting. Pressure for enhanced public sector accountability has also given rise to calls for company reporting on revenues paid to host government by companies in the extractive industries...A new wave of legal actions – mostly in US courts, but also in some EU countries – is testing the boundaries of existing legal principles in relation to some of the most difficult issues of the CSR agenda. For example, a series of cases in the US, France and Belgium are testing how fundamental principles of international law – particularly human rights law – apply to parent companies of multinational corporate groups. (Halina Ward, International Institute for Environment and Development, Feb. 2003)

US Department Store Joins Boycott of Burma Made Products - U.S.-based May Department Stores has announced that it will no longer sell products made in Burma, where the garment industry is tied to a system of modern-day slavery. (Voice of America News, 28 Mar. 2003)

Clif Bar [producer of energy bars] Forms Wind-Farm Partnership to Offset CO2 Footprint [USA] - Clif Bar Inc. has announced it is supporting the construction of the first large-scale Native American-owned wind farm to offset the carbon dioxide generated by the energy used in its offices, manufacturing, and business travel during 2002...The company joins Stonyfield Farm, The Timberland Company, Ben & Jerry's, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters and other companies in sponsoring the project. (GreenBiz.com, 26 Mar. 2003)

US Consumers Successfully “De-Pants” Burma’s Junta - New Data Shows Clothing Imports Plummet $100 Million as 39 Retailers Ban Retail of Products from Burma over Rights Concerns - According to newly released statistics from the U.S. Department of Commerce, apparel imports from the Southeast Asian country of Burma dropped by 27% between 2001 and 2002, from $411 to $303 million. (Free Burma Coalition, 25 Mar. 2003)

Arrests begin in Suizhou retired textile workers’ protest [China] - China Labour Bulletin was reliably informed today that a retired worker who wrote the protest banners and poems displayed by former employees of the Tieshu Textile Group, in Suizhou City, Hubei Province, during their collective demonstration outside the factory gate last week has now been secretly arrested...China Labour Bulletin urges the Chinese authorities to end the arbitrary detention of workers for their involvement in legitimate and peaceful demonstrations and instead to respond to the demands of the workers for an end to official corruption and non-payment of basic wages and pensions. (China Labour Bulletin, 21 Mar. 2003)

Low pay crooks dodge the law [UK] -...The fashion industry has also seen an explosion in back street sweatshops exploiting illegal or underpaid labour...Anne Carvell of trade body the Knitwear Industries Federation says sweatshop labour could account for up to 40% of the jobs in the clothing and knitwear industry...The High Street retailers make all of their suppliers sign a code of conduct forbidding the use of cheap labour. But according to one senior industry source, "the retailers like to keep everything at arms length." (Brian Wheeler, BBC News, 19 Mar. 2003)

Working conditions: Results of the monitoring of Chinese garments suppliers - The pilot project on independent monitoring set up by the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) and by Migros, Switcher and Veillon makes today public the reports on its follow-up visits to Chinese suppliers of these three Swiss companies (Press release of the Clean Clothes Campaign in Switzerland and the companies Migros, Switcher and Veillon, 19 Mar. 2003)

• Findings to the Chinese supplier of Switcher (Clean Clothes Campaign) 
  • Summary report on supplier of Switcher 
  •  Comment from Clean Clothes Campaign 
• Findings to the Chinese supplier of Migros and Veillon (Clean Clothes Campaign) 
  • Summary report on supplier of Migros and Veillon
  • Comment from Migros
  • Comment from Veillon
  • Comment from Clean Clothes Campaign

Union leader Somboon reinstated!! Action still needed on Gina Form Bra factory [Thailand] - GAP has reacted quickly to the organisations filing the complaint, and a monitoring team has visited twice and has also held meetings with the Union and other Thai organisations...CCC is pleased that the Gap is investigating this case and it taking an active role...WRAP has not reacted to the Unions complaint nor to letters of other organizations...La Senza is reportedly threatening to cease placing production orders with Gina Form Bra Company. The union DOES NOT want the brand label companies to withdraw orders and the factory to close...Victoria’s Secret [owned by the Limited Brands], K-mart and Boutique Jacob did not react at all. (Clean Clothes Campaign, 19 Mar. 2003)

Workers flee sweatshops [New York City] - Chinatown's garment factories, already reeling from a string of setbacks, are facing an unexpected challenge: Longtime garment workers are turning down factory work and instead taking paid job-training classes that they hope will lead to better-paying jobs. (NY Times News Service, 17 Mar. 2003)

Global Compact Participants Implementing Host of Supply Chain Initiatives - Reflecting a growing trend within the Global Compact initiative, Tweezerman, a leading manufacturer of personal-care products, announced that it plans to implement a new supplier agreement that mandates adherence to the nine principles of the Global Compact...Other companies that have submitted related examples [actively incorporating the Global Compact principles into their supply chains] to the Global Compact Learning Forum are: Petro-Canada, William E. Connor & Associates, Bayer AG, Li & Fung (Trading) Ltd., Ericsson, Robert Stephen Holdings, OneNest, and Engineers India Limited (U.N. Global Compact, 13 Mar. 2003)

Misery of rag-trade slaves in America's Pacific outpost - Workers in Samoan sweatshop beaten and starved [refers to factory in American Samoa that made clothes for Sears and JC Penney] (David Fickling, Guardian [UK], 1 Mar. 2003)

International Right to Know Campaign Promotes Disclosure of Global Corporate Impacts - In a recent report, the International Right to Know Campaign outlines the benefits of corporate disclosure of global environmental and social policies and practices...The McDonald's (MCD) case study illustrates the use of child labor in China to produce its Happy Meal toys, the Nike (NKE) case study focuses on labor rights abuses in Indonesia, and the Unocal (UCL) case study discusses human rights abuses in its use of security forces in Burma. The ExxonMobil (XOM) case study alone illustrates several of the environmental as well as human rights abuses that the IRTK guidelines are meant to expose. (William Baue, SocialFunds.com, 27 Feb. 2003)

Multinational corporations: Balancing trick - [book review of Empires of Profit: Commerce, Conquest and Corporate Responsibility, by Daniel Litvin] -...a similar pattern emerges time and again: ill-prepared central managers, local officers facing unexpected difficulties on the ground, political pressures at home and abroad, all resulting in a catalogue of unintended and sometimes tragic consequences. [refers to case studies in the book, including United Fruit Company in Central America in the 1950s, Nike in Asia in the 1980s & 1990s] (Clive Crook, Economist, 27 Feb. 2003)

• Greed, megalomania, conspiracy and coups - David Litvin gives an insider's view of multinationals in Empires of Profit [refers to case studies in the book, including Shell in Nigeria] (Christopher Hope, Guardian [UK], 1 Feb. 2003) 

• Empires of Profit: Commerce, Conquest and Corporate Responsibility -...Daniel Litvin traces the clashes of culture and unexpected social problems encountered by a series of powerful companies past and present. (Texere)

Jordan's Sweatshops: the Carrot or the Stick of US Policy? [report on working conditions in Jordan's Qualified Industrial Zones] -...more than 40 thousand workers, toiling in more than 60 factories producing solely for the US market [including Target, Wal-Mart and JC Penny] -...Jordanians own almost none of the factories. Most are owned and operated by entrepreneurs from China, Taiwan, Korea, India, Pakistan or the Philippines who import workers from over-seas...Factory owner Syed Adil Ali says his factory only contracts Sri Lankan girls. "They are very peace minded girls," he says. "I found some kind of problem with the boys. They made some kind of union, some kind of disturbance in the factory. So we prefer the girls." (Aaron Glantz, CorpWatch, 26 Feb. 2003)

Retail therapy - Awareness of how and where goods are produced has soared - and so has the fair trade movement -...Now there are more than 100 products, ranging from tea, coffee and bananas to sugar, wine, honey, fruits, juices, snacks and biscuits, chilli peppers and meat. Coming next are fair trade clothes and textiles, and fair trade footballs...To go truly mainstream, though, fair trade must occupy more than a remote shelf in a supermarket. There are the first signs that that is happening as the Co-op and Safeway supermarkets start their own fair trade lines. (John Vidal, Guardian [UK], 26 Feb. 2003)

Allan Rock's office deluged with thousands of clothing labels, days before government due to respond to coalition's proposal for new disclosure rules to address sweatshop abuses [Canada] -...ETAG's [Ethical Trading Action Group's] detailed proposal, submitted in 2001, calls on the Industry Minister to make minor changes to the Textile Labelling Act requiring apparel companies to publicly disclose the names and addresses of the factories that produce their clothing...Retail and manufacturer associations have lobbied against the proposal for new disclosure rules, but several well-known retailers, including Roots Canada, Mountain Equipment Coop and American Apparel, have signalled their support. (Ethical Trading Action Group, 24 Feb. 2003)

US factory boss guilty of 'slavery' - The owner of a clothes factory in American Samoa [Kil Soo Lee, who owned the Daweoosa Samoa company which made clothes for the JC Penney chain as well as other retailers before it closed] has been convicted [in U.S. court] of what prosecutors called "modern-day slavery"...he was accused of ordering beatings for disobedient employees, starving workers or threatening them with deportation if they complained. (BBC News, 22 Feb. 2003)

• Man found guilty of running sweatshop - The American Samoan factory's owner abused hundreds of workers (Debra Barayuga, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 22 Feb. 2003)

Book Review: Unequal Protection: The Rise of Corporate Dominance and the Theft of Human Rights - In the Kasky v. Nike case...Nike's claim to free speech rights is predicated on an 1886 Supreme Court case that established "corporate personhood" and extended citizens' rights to corporations. However, the [U.S.] Supreme Court justices' 1886 decision did not, in fact, establish corporate personhood, according to author Thom Hartmann. (William Baue, SocialFunds.com, 21 Feb. 2003)

Sweat-Free School Purchasing Resolutions: a New Trend? [USA] -...The school board [Minneapolis Board of Education] voted unanimously to develop a "sweat-free" policy for the purchase of all athletic equipment and apparel...The Los Angeles Unified School District unanimously passed a similar resolution in January, which followed on the heels of a sweat-free measure passed by the City Council in October 2002. Twenty separate school districts within the state of New York have implemented sweat-free purchasing policies within the last year and a half, and the New York City Council passed a resolution in 2001 mandating that the city develop a sweatshop free policy for the purchase of all city uniforms. (Ben Plimpton, CorpWatch, 6 Feb. 2003)

After workers unionize, Puma cuts and runs from Mexico - ..."When the customers do audits of the factory, the company forces us to lie."...Matamoros Garment is a factory that produces uniforms for restaurants and hospitals in the United States under the Angelica label, and sports apparel for the German corporation Puma. (Campaign for Labor Rights, 5 Feb. 2003)

Littlewoods shuns ethical trade [UK] - Christian Aid is profoundly disappointed by the decision of Littlewoods, the high street clothing retailer, to leave the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), a voluntary code of conduct set up to help improve labour standards in poor countries. (Christian Aid, 3 Feb. 2003)

Gildan on the hot seat (again) for sweatshop abuses in Honduras - The Montreal-based T-shirt manufacturer Gildan Activewear was recently in the news for allegations of worker rights violations at a Gildan-owned factory in Honduras. (Maquila Solidarity Network,  Feb. 2003)

• Gildan confronted with allegations of union-busting: Solidarity Fund requests probe to determine whether Hondurans were fired for organizing (Jan Ravensbergen, Montreal Gazette, 7 Feb. 2003)

• {···français} Le Fonds de la FTQ enquête sur Gildan - Le Fonds de solidarité de la FTQ demande qu'un tiers indépendant enquête sur les allégations portées contre Gildan selon lesquelles l'entreprise aurait licencié des employés au Honduras parce qu'ils tentaient de se syndiquer. (Francis Vailles, La Presse [Montréal], 7 février 2003) 

• {···français} Les «pratiques» de Gildan au Honduras créent des remous... (Maude Goyer, Journal de Montréal, 7 février 2003)

Legal Issues in Corporate Citizenship -...Mandatory legislation on various aspects of business transparency is emerging around the world. It can form part of company law, environmental regulation, or tailored legislation for institutional investors or on social and environmental reporting. Pressure for enhanced public sector accountability has also given rise to calls for company reporting on revenues paid to host government by companies in the extractive industries...A new wave of legal actions – mostly in US courts, but also in some EU countries – is testing the boundaries of existing legal principles in relation to some of the most difficult issues of the CSR agenda. For example, a series of cases in the US, France and Belgium are testing how fundamental principles of international law – particularly human rights law – apply to parent companies of multinational corporate groups. (Halina Ward, International Institute for Environment and Development, Feb. 2003)

Public Eye on Davos takes stock -...The Public Eye on Davos, in the spirit of transparency and open dialogue invited Phil Knight, CEO of Nike, and Lord Browne, CEO of BP, to share their views with civil society within the Public Eye. Both corporations have representatives attending the WEF, but they failed to attend the Public Eye. (Friends of the Earth, 28 Jan. 2003)

press release: Coalition Tells World Economic Forum: Building Trust Requires Disclosure - New Report Highlights U.S. Multinationals' Shameful Human Rights, Environmental and Labor Records - a coalition of environmental, development, labor and human rights groups today released a joint report entitled "International Right to Know: Empowering Communities Through Corporate Transparency."  The report documents the irresponsible environmental, labor and human rights practices committed by ExxonMobil, Nike, McDonald's, Unocal, Doe Run, Freeport McMoRan and Newmont Mining. (AFL-CIO, Amnesty International USA, EarthRights International, Friends of the Earth-US, Global Exchange, Oxfam America, Sierra Club, Working Group on Community Right to Know, 22 Jan. 2003)

• full report: International Right to Know: Empowering Communities Through Corporate Transparency (AFL-CIO, Amnesty International USA, EarthRights International, Friends of the Earth-US, Global Exchange, Oxfam America, Sierra Club, Working Group on Community Right to Know, Jan. 2003)

• company websites:
  • ExxonMobil
  • Freeport McMoRan
  • McDonald's
  • Newmont Mining
  • Nike
  • Unocal

Kids as bonded slaves in Indian silk industry: Human Rights Watch - The Government of India stands accused of failing to protect the rights of hundreds of thousands of children who toil as virtual slaves in the country's silk industry. (Trevor Barnard, ANI, 22 Jan. 2003)

Supreme Court to take up Nike and free speech [USA] - S.F. activist sued, saying firm lied about working conditions (Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle, 11 Jan. 2003)

• Supreme Court takes free speech vs. advertising case [USA] - The court will use the case brought against sporting apparel giant Nike to define the differences between corporate free speech and product advertising for companies accused of transgressions such as poor labor and environmental practices. (Josh Richman, Tri-Valley Herald, 11 Jan. 2003)

Sweatshop Retailer of the Year announced -...the Hudson's Bay Company and Wal-Mart were declared joint winners of the award by the Toronto-based Maquila Solidarity Network (MSN). This is the third year MSN has presented awards to companies failing to address sweatshop abuses in their supply factories (Maquila Solidarity Network, 10 Jan. 2003)

The industry needs a ruling in favor of truth, not Nike [case in U.S. court regarding Nike's denial of labour abuses at its supplier factories in Asia] - Sad is the professional society that doesn't recognize a gift when it sees it. Yet that is precisely what happened when the PRSA [Public Relations Society of America] and other industry groups filed an amicus brief with the US Supreme Court to overturn the decision and permit corporations to play loose with their facts...let's hope the Supreme Court doesn't take a step back and sanction misleading statements and half-truths. (Jeff Seideman, president of the Boston Chapter of the PRSA, in PR Week, 16 Dec. 2002)

No Sweat on Campus - Growing number of Canadian Universities reject sweatshop gear (Canadian Labour Congress, 13 Dec. 2002)

Press release - Pilot project of the Clean Clothes Campaign (Switzerland): Findings of the follow up visits to the Indian suppliers - The Pilot project on independent monitoring set up in 2000 by the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) and by Migros, Switcher and Veillon to monitor compliance with the Code of Conduct has issued its first report. (Clean Clothes Campaign Switzerland, 12 Dec. 2002)

• {···français} Communiqué de presse - Conditions de travail: Resultats des contrôles de fabriques textiles in Inde - Le projet-pilote de contrôle indépendant créé en 2000 par la campagne Clean Clothes (CCC) et par Migros, Switcher et Veillon pour vérifier le respect du Code de Conduite publie son premier rapport. (campagne Clean Clothes [Suisse], 12 décembre 2002)

• Pilot project on independent monitoring: Summary report on the follow-up visit to Avpani (supplier to Migros) (Clean Clothes Campaign Switzerland, Dec. 2002)

• {···français} Résumé du rapport de contrôle indépendant du fournisseur indien de Migros (campagne Clean Clothes [Suisse], décembre 2002)

• Pilot project on independent monitoring: Summary report on the follow-up visit to Patiala (supplier to Switcher) (Clean Clothes Campaign Switzerland, Dec. 2002)

• {···français} Résumé du rapport de contrôle indépendant du fournisseur indien de Switcher (campagne Clean Clothes [Suisse], décembre 2002)

• Pilot project on independent monitoring: Summary report on the follow-up visit to Bijapur (supplier to Veillon) (Clean Clothes Campaign Switzerland, Dec. 2002)

• {···français} Résumé du rapport de contrôle indépendant du fournisseur indien de Veillon (campagne Clean Clothes [Suisse], décembre 2002)

Report: Gender & Codes - If You Want to Help Us Then Start Listening to Us! From Factories and Plantations in Central America, Women Speak out about Corporate Responsibility -...for this study we focus on women workers in Nicaragua, in two sectors - clothing factories and banana plantations...Across Central America women workers have organised, calling on companies to address their concerns, including health and safety, discrimination, sexual harassment, low salaries, long working hours, freedom of association and right to collective bargaining, especially given weak enforcement of national and international labour legislation. (Marina Prieto and Jem Bendell, New Academy of Business, Dec. 2002)

Rights Group Hails Boycott of Burmese Goods by U.S. Firm - Pro-democracy campaigners in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, have hailed a ban on Burmese clothing by one of the United States largest coat factories [Burlington coat factory]. (Kalyani, OneWorld South Asia, 29 Nov. 2002) 

Congress assails use of prison labor [USA] - Congressmen on Thursday criticized a government-run corporation that uses prisoners to make products, saying it puts other Americans out of work. Federal Prison Industries Inc. makes 150 products, including office furniture, electronics and textiles, and its entire product line is sold exclusively to federal agencies. (Nedra Pickler, Associated Press, 22 Nov. 2002)

Sweatshop campaigners demand Gap boycott - Union appeals to shoppers as evidence from factory workers alleges exploitative conditions...They [activists] presented a New York conference yesterday with documented evidence of "abusive working conditions" collected from interviews with 200 people in more than 40 factories making Gap garments in Cambodia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Lesotho, El Salvador and Mexico (Felicity Lawrence, Guardian [UK], 22 Nov. 2002)

Gap hit by 'sweatshop' protests - Gap is being targeted by activists who are telling Christmas shoppers that the struggling multi-national clothes retailer is encouraging the exploitation of workers. Gap workers from Indonesia, Lesotho and El Salvador were presented at a press conference in Manhattan to describe how they were paid very little to work long hours making Gap clothes in factories full of health hazards and brutal working conditions. (BBC News, 21 Nov. 2002)

• Gap under fire over labour rights - A US labour rights group unveiled a report, accusing retail clothing giant Gap Inc. of severely exploiting factory workers in developing countries. (AFP, 21 Nov. 2002)

Slave Labor: Trafficking in women and children -...Q: How did you estimate that 50,000 women and children are sold annually in the US?  A:...Many women and children are trafficked into the sex industry, but not all. Other trafficking involves things like sweatshop labor (Kristen Lombardi, The Phoenix [USA], 14-21 Nov. 2002)

Nike in free speech battle [Kasky v. Nike: U.S. court case relating to Nike’s treatment of workers in a Vietnam factory] (Rebecca Spencer, Corporate Watch [UK], 13 Nov. 2002)

Short-sighted victories in free speech - The case against Nike in the US [Kasky v. Nike, case alleging false advertising regarding labour conditions]...could have devastating consequences for companies and campaigners alike, says Mallen Baker -...The risks involved in disclosure have just gone through the roof. (Mallen Baker, in Ethical Corporation Magazine, 13 Nov. 2002)

Job Exposure Linked to Many Cases of Lung Disease - Nearly 1 in 5 cases of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)...can be attributed to on-the-job exposures, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health...The investigators found that COPD was twice as common in blue-collar industries such as rubber, plastic, and leather manufacturing; utilities; office building services; textile mill products manufacturing; the armed forces; and food products manufacturing than in white-collar industries...As for specific jobs, the risk was elevated in freight, stock and material handlers, records processing and distribution clerks (which includes mail handlers); sales; transportation-related occupations; machine operators; construction trades and waitresses. (Keith Mulvihill, Reuters, 31 Oct. 2002)

Six Businesses Vie for Top Sustainability Prize - The World Resources Institute has announced that six sustainable enterprises in Latin America are finalists in a competition [AmazonLife S.A., Cafe La Selva, Comercio Alternativo, Empresas ESM, Solar Trade Corporation, TopAir] (GreenBiz.com, 29 Oct. 2002)

Nike, Adidas, Reebok and New Balance Made in China [working conditions and labour rights abuses] (Li Qiang, China Labor Watch, 25 Oct. 2002)

Elements of Style: Raging Bulls - High Fashion and Exploitation -...Pinault-Printemps-Redoute (PPR), a $27 billion conglomerate which owns, along with glittery businesses like Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen, and Gucci, the decidedly unglamorous Brylane, a catalog warehouse in Indianapolis that is facing fierce management opposition in its struggle to unionize. UNITE also wants to put pressure on PPR to stop using sweatshop labor in the thousands of factories it has contracts with around the world. (Lynn Yaeger, Village Voice, 16-22 Oct. 2002)

Company fined after worker falls to his death [New Zealand] - Donaghys Industries Limited was fined $15,000 in the Christchurch District Court today after an accident this year. An employee was killed when he fell from the platform area of the knitting machine he was working on. (Scoop, 16 Oct. 2002)

NGWF demands fair wage and trade for garment sector [Bangladesh] - The National Garment Workers Federation (NGWF) formed a human chain in the city yesterday demanding fair wage and trade for garment sector. (Daily Star [Bangladesh], 15 Oct. 2002)

Outcome in Saipan labor case welcomed - The Saipan Garment Manufacturers Association issued a press release yesterday to say that it is pleased with the outcome of a lawsuit that alleged sweatshop conditions in the Saipan garment industry. (Gaynor Dumat-ol Daleno, Pacific Daily News, 15 Oct. 2002)

Our hidden shame: textile sweatshops [Australia] - About 4000 underpaid textile workers are slaving in Third World conditions in illegal Brisbane sweatshops, according to a clothing industry union...Children as young as 10 were also forced to work long hours in appalling conditions. (Nikki Voss, Sunday Mail [Australia], 13 Oct. 2002)

Disney Pressed on Factory in Bangladesh -...The Campaign for the Abolition of Sweatshops and Child Labor...accused Disney of ending an eight-year relationship with Shah Makhdum garment factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh earlier this year. Coalition members claim Disney pulled out after workers publicly complained about poor working conditions. The company denies the allegations. Rahman described 14-hour days, seven-day work weeks and beatings if workers did not meet quotas..."  The women's demand is that Disney return to the factory immediately, but this time do it correctly (Associated Press, 8 Oct. 2002)

GARMENT INDUSTRY: Bangladesh, ILO Seek Better Work Conditions - The International Labor Organization and the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association have launched a $2.1 million program to improve working conditions in Bangladeshi garment factories...The program...will seek to promote occupational health and safety, improve human resource management and monitor the elimination of child labor. (UN Wire, 3 Oct. 2002)

ILO gives Cambodian garment factories thumbs up - The International Labour Organisation (ILO) gave working conditions in Cambodia's garment factories a relatively clean bill of health on Wednesday, saying there was scant evidence of forced or child labour. (Reuters, 2 Oct. 2002)

Labor Department lobbies California to pay garment workers -...According to the Oakland office of Sweatshop Watch, an industry watchdog group, more than 200 garment workers -- mostly Chinese immigrant women -- worked for months without pay at Wins of California, Win Fashion and Win Industries of America....Wins made clothing for customers such as the U.S. Army and Air Force, Sears, Wal-Mart and Kmart. (Ian Stewart, Associated Press, 2 Oct. 2002)

Woes of women in work [Bangladesh] - Some 51 women workers of different factories and institutions were sexually abused, five of them were brutally killed after rape in the first six months of this year in the country. Disclosing a recent report prepared by Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BILS) on the basis of reports published in 12 national dailies, executives of the BILS told a press conference yesterday that of the total rape victims, 31 were garment workers, 10 housemaids, three were workers of fish processing units, two NGO workers and five of other sectors. (Independent [Bangladesh], 1 Oct. 2002)

For anti-sweatshop activists, recent settlement [by apparel companies in lawsuit over labour rights in Saipan] is only tip of iceberg - "While we have some significant victories like the Saipan one, companies at the same time are moving in the opposite direction, continuing to gravitate toward countries with as few safeguards for workers' rights as possible,"...in 2005...Retailers are expected to switch their manufacturing outsourcing from Saipan and other relatively high-cost locales to China, where wages are rock-bottom, labor abuses are ignored and the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) is a compliant tool of the government. (Robert Collier, San Francisco Chronicle, 29 Sep. 2002)

Clothiers fold on sweatshop lawsuit Saipan workers to get millions; Levi holds out (Robert Collier & Jenny Strasburg, San Francisco Chronicle, 27 Sep. 2002)

Seven More Retailers Settle Lawsuits Involving Workers in Saipan - Seven U.S. retailers [Gap, Target, Abercrombie & Fitch, Talbot's, J.C. Penney, Limited and Charming Shoppes Inc.'s Lane Bryant] settled a federal and California state class-action lawsuit alleging violations of workers' rights in Saipan garment factories in the U.S.'s Northern Mariana Islands. (Dow Jones Business News, 26 Sep. 2002)

• U.S. Clothing Retailers on Saipan Settle Landmark Workers' Rights Lawsuit - Retailers and Manufacturers to Fund Groundbreaking Independent Monitoring Program To Improve Labor Conditions on U.S. Territory -...The seven U.S. retailers - Abercrombie & Fitch, Target, Gap, Inc., J.C. Penney Company, Inc., Lane Bryant, Inc., The Limited, Inc., and Talbots, Inc. - join 19 other retailers that had previously settled. (Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach, 26 Sep. 2002)

• Gap Settles Garment Workers Lawsuit - Retailer Gap Inc. on Thursday said it is settling all claims it is facing in a suit alleging violations of wage and hour laws and other workers' rights in Saipan garment factories in the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands. Gap, the largest U.S. specialty apparel retailer, said it joined six other U.S. clothing retailers and 23 Saipan garment manufacturers in reaching a global settlement in the federal class-action lawsuit. (Reuters, 26 Sep. 2002)

• Statement From Lead Attorney for Workers in Saipan Human Rights Case in Response to Target's Dispute of Lawsuit Allegations - While Target claims that the lawsuit alleging violations of wage and hour laws and other workers' rights is baseless, we will let the facts stand for themselves. (Al Meyerhoff, Partner at Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes and Lerach, 26 Sep. 2002)

• Target Dismissed from Garment Factory Lawsuits; Company Asserts Class Action Abuse (Target Corp., 26 Sep. 2002) 

International workshop - "The Pricing Structure in the Garments Industry - Towards a living wage for garment workers" - 20 - 21 February 2003 - Germany (IRENE & Clean Clothes Campaign/Netherlands) [added to this website on 26 Sep. 2002]

Clothing firms in court over workers' rights [Australia] - Thirty leading fashion companies, including Rip Curl and Laura Ashley, have been taken to court as part of a crackdown on the alleged exploitation of clothing outworkers. (AAP, in Sydney Morning Herald, 25 Sep. 2002)

• Sweatshop labour [Australia] - The long-running trade union campaign to highlight claims of widespread sweatshop labour at home hit the news again today with 30 clothing manufacturers finding themselves in the Federal Court facing allegations of breached awards...a new independent study suggests a wider world of worker intimidation, rates of pay as low as a dollar an hour and even child labour. (Kerry O'Brien, The 7:30 Report, ABC, 24 Sep. 2002)

Cut back sweatshop imports, US told - US human rights and trade union groups are launching a campaign aimed at restricting US imports of goods made under alleged sweatshop conditions...They now want to pressure Washington into introducing new laws that could punish firms if they fail to uphold their own declared standards...One of the focuses of the campaign is Bangladesh where the garment industry is the largest employer - but one which has virtually no regulation. (BBC News, 24 Sep. 2002)

US groups to push for sweatshop reforms - US human rights and trade union groups will launch a campaign on Tuesday aimed at restricting US imports of goods made under sweatshop conditions. The effort aims to put political muscle behind what the groups say is the failure of many large US companies to abide by voluntary corporate codes of conduct that were supposed to improve working conditions in factories abroad that produce clothing, shoes and other goods for the US market. (Edward Alden, Financial Times, 23 Sep. 2002)

Adidas Sweats Over Third World Subcontractors Sweatshops -...In the past few years, however, the issue has crossed the Atlantic. Human rights leaders, trade unions, and religious groups have formed a loose alliance called the Clean Clothes Campaign and have begun attacking Adidas, Hennes & Mauritz AB, Benetton Group (Victoria Knight, Dow Jones, 23 Sep. 2002)

Fourth Synthesis Report on the Working Conditions Situation in Cambodia's Garment Sector (International Labour Organization, Sep. 2002)

Will McMaster University make Nike Canada sweat? Company will be tested for first time by a Canadian institution -...For the past two years, students, staff and faculty at McMaster have worked to develop a "Code of Labour Practices for University Suppliers and Licensees."...The first test for McMaster's disclosure provisions will be the university's "preferred supplier" contract, signed earlier this year with Nike Canada. (NUPGE, National Union of Public and General Employees [Canada], 14 Aug. 2002)

13 Companies Earn Perfect Score on First HRC Corporate Equality Index [USA]: Demonstrate Leadership with Regard to Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Employees - A total of 13 major U.S. corporations earned 100 percent on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's first Corporate Equality Index, released today. The index rates large corporations on policies that affect their gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employees, consumers and investors...The 13 companies that scored 100 percent are: Aetna Inc.; AMR Corp./American Airlines; Apple Computer Inc.; Avaya Inc.; Eastman Kodak Co.; Intel Corp.; J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.; Lucent Technologies Inc.; NCR Corp.; Nike Inc.; Replacements Ltd.; Worldspan L.P.; and Xerox Corp...At the other end of the scale, three companies scored zero: CBRL Group Inc./Cracker Barrel; Emerson Electric Co.; and Lockheed Martin Corp. (Human Rights Campaign, 13 Aug. 2002)

• New Index Rates U.S. Corporations' Treatment of Homosexuals - A survey by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) of 319 U.S. companies... found that 92 percent include sexual orientation in their non-discrimination policies, one of seven criteria the HRC used to create its 2002 Corporate Equality Index...Companies that scored near the bottom include Emerson Electric, Exxon Mobil, Lockheed Martin, and Perot Systems. (Business for Social Responsibility News Monitor summary of article in DiversityInc, 13 Aug. 2002)

Workers get £3.9M payouts [UK] - Victims of unlawful discrimination at work won a record £3.9million in compensation last year. The Equal Opportunities Review said there were 329 payouts - up 10 per cent from the previous year. The biggest settlement for a sex discrimination case went to a woman sacked because she was pregnant. Marks & Spencer clothes suppliers Bentwood Brothers had to pay her £190,663. (Daily Record [UK], 12 Aug. 2002)

Sweatshop Girls: This boss pays pupils like Kirsty £1.90 an hour to make school uniforms [UK] - A sweatshop boss who supplies school uniforms is paying teenage workers £1.90 an hour, the Sunday Mail can reveal. Hafeez Ahmed recruits workers from the same schools for which he makes uniforms. Ahmed, 44, owns clothing firm Baru Ltd, which has shops in Paisley and Kirkintilloch, near Glasgow. (Caroline Waterston & John Clark, Sunday Mail [Glasgow], 10 Aug. 2002)

Factories face prosecutions after raids [South Africa] - The Department of Labour will recommend prosecutions of certain factories in Johannesburg after raids carried out this week found contravention of Occupational Health and Safety (OHS)...Zikalala said the department closed a Johannesburg textile factory last night after inspectors found that there were no emergency exits..."In another late night raid, labour inspectors discovered that the owners of Snaktaque, a peanut butter and ground corn chips manufacturer, had defied an earlier prohibition order shutting the factory down." (Thabang Mokopanele, Business Day [South Africa], 8 Aug. 2002)

Labour dept to swoop on sweatshops [South Africa] - Factory owners in KwaZulu-Natal were given a stern warning by the department of Labour on Wednesday to ensure that safe working conditions exist on their premises, or face departmental wrath...The warning follows a raid two months ago on sweatshops in several northern KwaZulu-Natal towns, including Newcastle and Ladysmith. (Natal Witness, 8 Aug. 2002)

Factory Defies Order to Rehire Worker Fired in Overtime Inquiry [USA] - A garment worker who was fired during a federal investigation that found that she and other workers had been wrongly denied overtime was turned away by her employer [Danmar Finishing Corporation] yesterday in violation of a court order directing the Brooklyn factory to rehire her (Jason Begay, New York Times, 2 Aug. 2002)

Who Monitors? - Who enforces the social and environmental standards for corporate behavior in poor countries, where government either does not function well or lacks the resources to ensure that businesses perform at the level customary for the U.S. or Western Europe?...But who conducts these audits – and which standards the audits follow – are the subject of fierce debate, because control of the audit can deeply influence company operations. [refers to L.L. Bean, BP, Gap] (G. Pascal Zachary, Business for Social Responsibility website, 1 Aug. 2002)

Ethical sourcing codes – the answer to supply chain sustainability concerns? Sarah Roberts looks at implementing ethical sourcing codes and the challenges of gaining certification [refers to clothing and footwear sectors; logging/forest products sector including firms Sappi, Mondi; building materials/do-it-yourself sector including firms Homebase, B&Q; chocolate industry] (Sarah Roberts, National Centre for Business and Sustainability, in Ethical Corporation Magazine, 1 Aug. 2002)

American Apparel Senior Partner Dov Charney honored for humanitarian efforts - American Apparel Senior Partner Dov Charney was recently honored by the Fashion Business Incubator, a Los Angeles based non-profit fashion organization, at its annual awards dinner for his work to provide sweatshop-free working conditions for his workers. (Wearables Business, 1 Aug. 2002) 

McMaster University goes No Sweat [Canada] - On July 31, McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario unveiled its new No Sweat policy for apparel products and other products bearing the university's name or logo...Apparel suppliers and licensees will now be required to abide by international labour standards and local labour laws, and to report annually on their progress towards compliance with these standards. (Maquila Solidarity Network, 1 Aug. 2002)

• McMaster is first Canadian University to affiliate with Worker Rights Consortium: University develops new policies on labour code practices, fair trade coffee (Kelly Curwin, McMaster University Daily News, 31 July 2002)

League Blows Whistle on Sweat Shops [Australia] - Unions are on the brink of a ground-breaking deal with the National Rugby League that would guarantee popular sporting apparel is not produced under sweat shop conditions. A joint communique from the NSW Labor Council, TCFUA and NRL states the parties are working towards an agreement to guarantee "minimum labour standards" in the production of Rugby League replica jerseys, shorts and casual wear. (LaborNet, Labor Council of NSW [Australia], 27 July 2002)

Unions Worldwide Charge PPR With Violating Internationally-Recognized Corporate Responsibility Standards - Call on Governments to Take Up Complaint Against Pinault-Printemps-Redoute - A historic array of international unions have charged French multinational Pinault-Printemps-Redoute (PPR) with violating key international corporate responsibility standards at the Brylane clothing warehouse in Indiana [USA]. The thousand workers there are forming a union in order to win safety and a voice on the job, yet the company has repeatedly harassed and intimidated the workers. (AFL-CIO, 23 July 2002)

On the morning of Friday, July 5, 2002, hundreds of workers employed at Hoon's Apparel, a garment factory near Olocuilta, La Paz in El Salvador, were evacuated to nearby hospitals for treatment of chemical intoxication. (behindthelabel.org, 23 July 2002)

Senior Partner Dov Charney and his company American Apparel have established a prominent presence in the Los Angeles area and globally for breaking the apparel image in manufacturing T-shirts by providing a sweatshop free and beneficial environment to his 800 employees. [regarding short PBS documentary on American Apparel] (Business Wire, 22 July 2002)

Global California: State employees' pension fund flexes its muscle around the world -...The California Public Employees Retirement System, which handles the pensions for state workers, recently enacted a long-delayed program to screen all its overseas "emerging markets" investments to ensure that they are not contributing to human rights and labor rights violations...Mexico...got low scores from CalPERS for its suppression of independent labor unions and almost wound up on the blacklist. [also refers to China, Russia, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia] [refers to Abercrombie & Fitch and Jones Apparel Group] (Robert Collier, San Francisco Chronicle, 21 July 2002)

Inside China's sweatshops [refers to factories making toys, clothes, shoes, paint, electronics] (BBC News, 20 July 2002)

Students end protest of alleged FSU sweatshop support [USA] - Florida State University students ended their 114-day protest over the university's alleged support of sweatshops after the school's president agreed to two of their demands. (Daytona Beach News-Journal, 18 July 2002)

• Sunshine on Sweatshops [USA] - It's been more than three months since twelve Florida State University students were arrested (Jenny Stepp, The Nation, 3 July 2002)

A Long Way to Find Justice: What Are Burmese Villagers Doing in a California Court? -...American judges have embraced the opportunity to hold multinational corporations responsible for perceived abuses that result from international trade and investment [includes reference to cases against Unocal, Gap Inc., J.C. Penney, Levi Strauss, the Limited]...Companies need to scrutinize the practices of their business partners -- how they treat workers and the environment, how they interact with local military and political authorities -- to determine whether they violate international standards or offend the conscience of U.S. courts. (Elliot Schrage, former Senior Vice President of Global Affairs at Gap Inc., in Washington Post, 14 July 2002)

No Sweat: Neale Towart surveys the international debate around sweatshops and what can be done to regulate them [refers to labour abuses in textile, clothing & footwear industries in Morocco & Australia] (Neale Towart, in Workers Online, Labor Council of New South Wales, 12 July 2002)

Chinese shoe factory workers 'poisoned by glue' - Eight workers from a shoe factory in China are in hospital with glue poisoning. (Ananova, 9 July 2002)

Gucci's Label Tarnished - Gucci fashion outlets have been targeted for their down-market labour practices with a colourful protest outside a Sydney [Australia] CBD outlet...Robertson went on to describe a pattern of denial of the rights of PPR [Gucci's parent company Pinault-Printemps-Redoute] workers globally. (Workers Online, Labor Council of New South Wales, 5 July 2002)

Labor board files complaint against Mission Linen [USA] - The National Labor and Relations Board has issued a complaint against Mission Linen for unfair labor practices...The complaint makes 16 separate charges against the Flagstaff plant, alleging that management at the plant promised wage increases and increased benefits if employees refrained from joining the union. The complaints also allege that management at the plant threatened employees with firing and loss of benefits if they tried to organize. (Arizona Daily Sun, 3 July 2002)

Senate [New York State Senate] approves anti-sweatshop bill [USA] -...The bill would prohibit the State Office of General Services from purchasing uniforms and other apparel produced in sweatshops...The Senate bill is similar to a recent law enacted by New York City concerning its apparel purchases. Provisions of the Senate bill include:...Allowing SUNY, CUNY and community colleges to ask if their apparel providers use 'sweatshops' in the production of their clothing. (Senate Republican Majority, New York State Senate, 2 July 2002)

ILO finds "encouraging signs of improvement" in working conditions in Cambodian garment factories - The International Labour Office (ILO) today reported "encouraging signs of improvement" of working conditions in some 30 garment factories located in Cambodia which produce apparel for sale in North America, Europe and other developed countries. The "Third Synthesis Report on the Working Conditions Situation in Cambodia's Garment Sector" provides an overview of progress made by the factories in implementing suggestions made by ILO monitors. (International Labour Organization, 1 July 2002)

• {···español} La OIT encuentra indicios alentadores de mejora en las condiciones de trabajo en las fábricas de confección textil de Camboya (Organización Internacional del Trabajo, 1 julio 2002)

• {···français} Le BIT décèle des «signes encourageants d'amélioration» dans les conditions de travail des usines de confection du Cambodge (Organisation internationale du Travail, 1 juillet 2002)

  full report (English only): Third Synthesis Report on the Working Conditions Situation in Cambodia's Garment Sector (Garment Sector Working Conditions Improvement Project, Kingdom of Cambodia, International Labour Organization, June 2002)

Eco-Intelligence: Nike Transforms the Textile Industry - How does a company with annual revenues in the billions and more than 700 contract factories worldwide profitably integrate ecology and social equity into the way it does business, every day and at every level of operation? Ask Nike. (William Mcdonough and Michael Braungart, green@work magazine, July-Aug. 2002) 

Critics say U.S. garment trade is booming because laws are ignored - The apparel business in the United States has become a $50 billion-a-year industry that employs about 600,000 people. The reason for the boom, critics say, is that the U.S. government has allowed many shops to give workers no more protection than they would have in a Third World country. (Sherwood Ross, Chicago Tribune, 30 June 2002)

Scores hurt in 3-day riot at HK-owned factory [China] - Thousands of workers at a Hong Kong-owned textile factory in Guangdong fought running battles with security guards in a three-day riot that left scores injured, media and officials said...Local officials said they did not know what sparked the violence at the factory. But the Yangcheng Evening News said it began on Monday after security guards armed with sharpened iron piping beat up one worker. (South China Morning Post [Hong Kong], 29 June 2002)

Poor work conditions fuel unrest in China - The plight of millions of migrant workers toiling for meagre wages in southern China has been thrown under the spotlight by a three-day textile worker riot. It started after security guards beat up an employee for jumping a meal queue. (James Kynge, Financial Times, 29 June 2002)

Outworkers - the real fashion victims (Part I) [Australia] - Campaign aims to end exploitation - An estimated 300,000 clothing outworkers know the true cost of fashion in Australia. (Katie Franklin, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 27 June 2002)

• Outworkers - the real fashion victims (Part II) [Australia] - On the road to regulation - A New South Wales Government campaign to better protect outworkers in the clothing industry hinges on a new code of conduct, but compliance with the code will remain an issue (Katie Franklin, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 27 June 2002)

• Outworkers - the real fashion victims (Part III) [Australia] - From Trash to Tiaras - Melbourne fashion label Hunter Gatherer is quickly making a name for itself...the clothes are made without the exploitation of outwokers. (Katie Franklin, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 27 June 2002)

Fire kills at least 42 workers in shoe factory in India - Shree Jee International, a footwear manufacturing unit based in Agra, India and exporting to among others the UK and Ireland...At the time of the accident the only door at the entrance of the factory was locked...Shipping documents indicated that the shoes were meant for Barratts Co. [UK], Jacobson Footwear [UK]. (Clean Clothes Campaign, 26 June 2002)

Let Them Sweat -...sweatshops are the only hope of kids like Ahmed Zia, a 14-year-old boy here in Attock [Pakistan], a gritty center for carpet weaving. (Nicholas D. Kristof, New York Times, 25 June 2002)

• Third-World Workers - Nicholas D. Kristof is correct when he says multinational companies can benefit workers in third-world countries, but wrong when he suggests that sweatshop jobs are better than no jobs at all. (Letter to the Editor of New York Times, from Doug Cahn, V.P., Human Rights Programs, Reebok International, 2 July 2002)

Major U.S. Retailer Latest Addition to Burma Boycott -...a United States discount-clothing retailer with almost 500 stores in 22 states and nearly $3 billion in sales last year [Ross Stores], has decided to sever ties with contractors in Burma in response to pressure from a boycott movement that supports the restoration of democracy in the Southeast Asian country. (Jim Lobe, OneWorld US, 19 June 2002)

Nike may move back in to Cambodia: New scrutiny of labour laws bring transparency - U.S. sportswear giant Nike may be about to make a comeback in Cambodia, two years after a television documentary on underage girl workers prompted the company to stop using factories in the country...Nike's possible change of heart has come about following the launch of independent monitoring in the country by the International Labour Organization. (National Post [Canada], 18 June 2002)

U.S. firms face suits for overseas acts: New twist on anti-pirate law blurs borders, extends liability ...Some suits charge companies with polluting foreign lands, others with violating human rights [refers to lawsuits in U.S. courts against Unocal, ChevronTexaco, Gap, Levi Strauss] (David R. Baker, San Francisco Chronicle, 15 June 2002)

New Jersey Governor Issues Groundbreaking Executive Order on Anti-sweatshop Uniform Procurement [USA] (UNITE - Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees, 13 June 2002)

Domini Social Investments Reports Record Shareholder Votes for 2002 Proxy Season - Socially Responsible Firm Says Post-Enron "Crisis of Confidence" Fueled Shareholder Discontent with Corporate Social and Environmental Performance [includes reference to Household International, Cooper Industries, Gap, Walt Disney Co., McDonald's, Nordstrom, Sears Roebuck, Coca-Cola, Pepsi] (Domini Social Investments, 12 June 2002)

The rapid rise of a new responsibility [regarding problems companies are having in integrating corporate social responsibility into the workforce] [refers to how Gap & Nike developed expertise on human rights and labour issues] (Sarah Murray, Financial Times, 11 June 2002)

Sweatshop allegations leave Gucci under fire -...Pinault Printemps Redoute (PPR), the French retail conglomerate that owns Gucci and dozens of other luxury and high-street brands, is the target of a campaign by unions and protest groups over the buying practices of some of its best-known subsidiaries...Campaigners, led by Unite, an American union that is locked in battle with a PPR company in America, allege that workers for a series of sub-contractors used by the conglomerate in Asia are being paid as little as 44p a day by companies that flout international labour standards [refers to India and Philippines] (Cahal Milmo, Independent [UK], 7 June 2002)

Burma's military junta losing its shirts - Apparel imports [into USA from Burma] plummet 35% as companies act on human rights, business uncertainty -...Concerned with human rights abuses including forced labor and forced child labor, dealing with a sudden cancellation of import licenses for foreigners, and facing legislation that would ban all imports from the country, 30 U.S. importers and/or retailers have announced they will not sell goods from Burma since June 2000, including retail giants Wal-Mart, Kenneth Cole, Hanes, and Gart Sports. (Free Burma Coalition, 6 June 2002)

Cambodia: Linking textiles to labor standards -...The first trade agreement of its kind, the 1999 US-Cambodian textile compact links increases in garment export quotas to improvements in labor conditions. (Andrew Wells-Dang, Fund for Reconciliation and Development, in Foreign Policy in Focus, 4 June 2002)

H&M builds Bangladeshi children a bridge to safe work - H&M [international clothes firm] say they worked with the ILO and other UN agencies to define the four month technical training programme which would enable teenagers to build on their initial UN education and avoid slipping back into a life of exploitation where they could risk dangerous working conditions and, in extreme cases, prostitution. (International Chamber of Commerce, 3 June 2002)

Councils Armed To Drown Sweatshops [Australia] - Five Sydney councils hold the key to rooting out clothing industry sweatshops that employ predominatly immigrant, female labour for as little as $2 an hour. (Workers Online, Labor Council of New South Wales, 31 May 2002)

China Capacity Building Project - Occupational Health and Safety - Final Report -...The project [at factories producing for Reebok, Nike & adidas] has resulted in the creation of young, but functioning, worker-management committees, including one committee supported by a democratically elected union. These committees are the first step in building systems for worker participation in evaluating and improving health, safety, and environmental conditions inside these factories. (Project Coordinating Committee, 29 May 2002)

Blaze in Indian Shoe Factory Kills 44: Global Union Demands Measures to Clean Up Industry - In the wake of a fire on May 24 at the Shri Ji International factory shoe factory in the Indian city of Agra which left 44 workers dead and 15 injured, the global union federation representing footwear workers worldwide has called on the Indian government to take immediate measures to prevent such a tragic loss of life from happening again. (International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation, 29 May 2002)

Target for Clothing Retailers [Australia] - The Target Deed of Co-operation agreed between Target and the Textile Clothing and Footwear Union is expected to be used as the baseline for building a minimum standard for ethical clothing retailers in NSW (LaborNET, Labor Council of New South Wales, 29 May 2002)

A new model for social auditing -...In future, companies will need to move way from self-promotional corporate social responsibility reports - such as those recently published by Reebok, Nike, McDonald's and Shell - and move towards independent evaluations by qualified third parties. They will have to open up their factories to independent audits that disclose publicly whether conditions have improved. (Elliot J Schrage, formerly senior vice-president of global affairs at Gap, teaches at Columbia Business School and Columbia Law School, in Financial Times, 27 May 2002)

Independent Monitoring Working Group Final Report on Independent Monitoring in Central America - The following is the final report on the activities of the Independent Monitoring Working Group (IMWG). The report focuses on the progress of independent monitoring programs in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. [reports on suppliers to Gap, which is a member of the Independent Monitoring Working Group] (Independent Monitoring Working Group, 24 May 2002)

Retailers in Outworker Spotlight [Australia] - Fashion retailers have nine months to agree on effective protections for clothing outworkers or face State Government regulation. That was the key point to emerge from this week’s Behind The Label launch by NSW Industrial Relations Minister John Della Bosca. (Workers Online [Australia], 24 May 2002)

UNDP's Equator Initiative To Spotlight Partnerships that Work -...Using the old ways and methods, there are indigenous people in the Amazon who can make natural rubber into a material that is virtually indistinguishable from leather. And now, models are parading skirts and handbags made of that mock-leather on runways in Paris, New York, and Rio. The initiative is a partnership between an entrepreneur, a non-governmental organization and a local people that has worked to protect the rainforest, provide steady incomes, and maintain traditional customs. (United Nations, 22 May 2002)

Focus On Exploitation in Textile Factories [Lesotho] -...fair trade campaigners have pointed to the exploitation and rights abuses of workers in some of the clothing factories in Lesotho. (U.N. Integrated Regional Information Networks, 22 May 2002)

Sactwu Adopts Groundbreaking HIV/Aids Policy [South Africa] - The Southern African Clothing & Textile Workers Union has adopted an historic policy and action programme to help combat HIV/AIDS in the clothing, textile and leather sectors specifically, and in South Africa in general. (Congress of South African Trade Unions, 22 May 2002)

Voices from Cambodia -...In this photographic journey, women workers in Cambodia's garment industry tell it like it is (Oxfam GB, 21 May 2002)

National Labor Committee calls on Disney "to stay in Bangladesh while working with its contractor clean up the factory [Shah Makhdum Garments Factory] and finally guarantee that the human and worker rights of these women will be respected" (National Labor Committee, 16 May 2002)

• Shah Makhdum Garments Factory -Dhaka, Bangladesh - Disney · Wal-Mart · Jerry Leigh -...little has changed at the factory, especially regarding the continuing, systematic gross violation of human and worker rights (National Labor Committee, 20 Feb. 2002)

U.S. clothing giants suffer blow from Saipan case rulings - A group of United States retailers, including Gap, J. C. Penney and Target, suffered a setback this week when a federal judge ruled that thousands of garment workers on the Pacific island of Saipan could sue the companies and their contracted factories as a class. The group also failed to block a US$ 8.7 million settlement by 19 other retailers, including Tommy Hilfiger and Liz Claiborne, which sets a strict code of conduct and opens up factories on the island to independent monitoring. (Nancy Cleeland, The Age [Australia] / Los Angeles Times, 16 May 2002)

• Saipan judge certifies suit as class action: Ruling in dispute over garment factories a rebuff to Gap, Levi -...Defendants opposing the settlement included more than a dozen Saipan factory owners and nine retailers: Lane Bryant, the Limited, Abercrombie & Fitch, Target, J.C. Penney, and Talbots, in addition to Gap and Levi...However, with Munson's class-action certification, attorneys seeking to represent about 30,000 factory workers can move closer toward the preliminary settlement that has already been approved by 19 retailers. They include the Gymboree Corp. of Burlingame, Sears Roebuck and Co., Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Nordstrom, Liz Claiborne and Polo Ralph Lauren. (Jenny Strasburg, San Francisco Chronicle, 15 May 2002)

• Garment workers granted class action status in sweatshop suit [USA-Saipan] - Foreign garment workers have gained class action status in a federal racketeering lawsuit alleging sweatshop conditions in factories here that supply U.S. retailers, including the Gap. (AP, 15 May 2002)

Sweatshops Under the American Flag [refers to labour abuses at garment factories in American Samoa & Saipan] (editorial, New York Times, 10 May 2002)

Schumer rips sweatshops [New York]: B'klyn case sparks call for fed probe of city factories - A Brooklyn garment factory that allegedly subjected its workers to a pattern of labor abuses has spurred Sen. Chuck Schumer to demand a citywide investigation of sweatshops by federal labor inspectors. (Bob Port, New York Daily News, 10 May 2002)

Gap worker in Africa stabbed, others in Central America threatened, rights violated in multiple countries: Gap Sweatshop Workers to Confront Gap Shareholders on Friday at Annual Meeting in Albuquerque With New Evidence of Labor Abuses - Employee at Gap Factory in Lesotho Stabbed by Plant Manager while Protesting Conditions; She Was Scheduled to Attend Shareholder Meeting, but U.S. State Dept. Denies Visa and Muzzles Worker Voice Against Large U.S. Retailer [refers to El Salvador and Guatemala] (UNITE - Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees, 9 May 2002)

• company website: Gap Inc.: Ethical Sourcing (Gap)

Man wins first sexual harassment suit [South Korea] - A Seoul court yesterday ordered two female workers of an apparel company to pay 3 million won ($2,336) in compensation to a 28-year-old male colleague for sexually harassing him. (Korea Herald, 6 May 2002)

{···français} Ouvrières chinoises - World Knits [Ile Maurice]: le calme après la tempête - Les ouvrières chinoises de World Knits ont peur de parler. Elles ne veulent pas subir ce qui a failli arriver à trois de leurs compatriotes vendredi soir : le rapatriement forcé. (L'Express [Ile Maurice], 5 mai 2002)

Demonstrators at Montreal store claim union-busting by Gucci parent company [Canada/USA] - About 50 people demonstrated outside a high-end Montreal boutique Saturday to protest what they claim to be union-busting tactics by...French conglomerate Pinault-Printemps-Redoute (Canadian Press, 4 May 2002) 

• Protesters rally against Gucci parent company [USA] -...eight representatives of Unite!, the union of needletrades, industrial and textile employees, AFL-CIO, gathered in front of the Gucci boutique [in Palm Beach, Florida]...to demonstrate against the employment practices of Gucci's French parent company Pinault-Printemps-Redoute at its Brylane clothing sales catalog distribution center in Indianapolis. (Robert Janjigian, Palm Beach Daily News, 4 May 2002)

U, WRC must make conduct code work [USA] -...The University [University of Minnesota] has solidified its commitment; now, the duty lies with the WRC [Worker Rights Consortium]. It should take the initiative to police these companies, enforcing company compliance with code standards and ensuring those who do not comply lose their contracts. (Minnesota Daily, 3 May 2002)

• Apparel code of conduct approved - University [Univeristy of Minnesota] President Mark Yudof approved the University’s first trademark licensing code of conduct Tuesday...It will require the many dozens of companies — which pay the University an annual total of $500,000 in trademark fees — to adhere to strict employment standards. (K.C. Howard, Minnesota Daily, 1 May 2002)

Calif. court says Nike can be sued for false ads [USA] - Sportswear giant Nike Inc. can be sued for false advertising over a publicity campaign that sought to dispel reports that Asian sweatshops are used to produce its famous footwear, California's Supreme Court ruled on Thursday. (Andrew Quinn, Reuters, 2 May 2002)

• California Supreme Court says Nike can be sued for false ads - Nike Inc. can be sued by a California man who alleges the athletic shoe and apparel maker violated false advertising laws with an ad campaign defending the wages, treatment and safety conditions of workers at overseas factories run by contractors. (Karen Gaudette, Associated Press, 2 May 2002)

Violence against women in the workplace in Kenya: Assessment of workplace sexual harassment in the commercial agriculture and textile manufacturing sectors in Kenya [based on survey research in the coffee, tea & light manufacturing industries] (International Labor Rights Fund, May 2002)

EAST ASIA: Region's Poor Shortchanged by Trade Rules - Activists - East Asia's farmers, fishermen and women workers are being shortchanged by trade policies that offer few real opportunities to get out of poverty, activists with the international development agency Oxfam here say [includes reference to rice farmers in Thailand, coffee growers in Vietnam, fishermen in Philippines, women in Cambodia's garment industry] (Marwaan Macan-Markar, Inter Press Service, 25 Apr. 2002)

Apparel Maker in Samoa Is Told to Pay Workers $3.5 Million - A court in American Samoa has ordered an apparel company there to pay $3.5 million to hundreds of Chinese and Vietnamese workers who were sometimes paid just $2.25 an hour and were illegally charged thousands of dollars to obtain their jobs. (Steven Greenhouse, New York Times, 20 Apr. 2002)

• Sweatshop refugees win in court Asians duped into slave labor in American Samoa are awarded $3.5 million - In a landmark case against human traffickers, the High Court of American Samoa has awarded nearly $3.5 million in back pay and damages to 265 Asians kept for months as indentured servants (Anh Do, Orange County Register [California], 19 Apr. 2002)

Domini Social Investments announces 2002 shareholder proposals: Socially Responsible Firm Focuses on Sweatshops and the Environment, Continues Push for Greater Corporate Transparency [refers to resolutions filed and/or dialogue with: Gap; Sears, Roebuck; Disney; McDonald's; Nordstrom; Merrill Lynch; Procter & Gamble; Coca-Cola; Pepsi; Emerson; Cooper Industries; Household International; Johnson & Johnson] (Domini Social Investments, 18 Apr. 2002)

CAMBODIA: ILO Gives Mixed Review To Country's Garment Factories - The International Labor Organization released a report Friday giving mixed reviews to 34 Cambodian garment factories that operate under a technical cooperation project with the United States. The ILO uncovered no evidence of forced labor or discrimination but did find sexual harassment, infringements on freedom of association and problems with payment of wages and overtime hours. (UN Wire, 15 Apr. 2002)

• ILO's mixed report on working conditions in Cambodian garment industry (International Labour Organization, 12 Apr. 2002)

• {···español} Informe de síntesis de la OIT sobre las condiciones de trabajo en la industria del vestido en Camboya - La Oficina Internacional del Trabajo (OIT) hizo público el viernes un informe de síntesis sobre las condiciones de trabajo en las fábricas de prendas de vestir camboyanas en donde los controladores no encontraron pruebas de trabajo infantil ni de discriminación pero descubrieron problemas relacionados con el acoso sexual, la libertad sindical y el pago de horas extraordinarias. (Organización Internacional del Trabajo, 12 abril 2002)

• {···français} Un rapport contrasté du BIT sur les conditions de travail dans l'industrie de l'habillement du Cambodge - Le Bureau international du Travail (BIT) a publié vendredi un rapport contrasté sur les conditions de travail dans l'industrie de l'habillement du Cambodge où les observateurs n'ont dégagé aucune preuve concluant à l'existence du travail forcé ou d'actes de discrimination, mais ont relevé des problèmes dans divers domaines: harcèlement sexuel, liberté syndicale, et paiement des salaires et des heures supplémentaires. (Organisation internationale du Travail, 12 avril 2002)

Ice-cream tycoon turns to sweat-free clothes [USA] (Andrew Gumbel, Independent [UK], 13 Apr. 2002)

Clothing Firm Adopts Non-Sweatshop Concept [USA]: It hopes to stay competitive and turn a profit - Ice cream mogul turned social activist Ben Cohen is out to prove it's possible to make clothes with a conscience in Los Angeles (Nancy Cleeland, Los Angeles Times, 9 Apr. 2002)

Firms pushed to disclose their impact on society: A coalition of governments, businesses and public interest groups launched last week a global campaign to encourage companies to issue public reports on their impact on society and the environment [Global Reporting Initiative]...The GRI guidelines are already being followed by more than 110 companies worldwide, including German chemicals group BASF AG, British Telecom, U.S. drug giant Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., Japanese printer and photocopier maker Canon Inc., French Food group Danone, U.S.-based sports clothing company Nike and South African Breweries Plc. (Irwin Arieff, Reuters, 8 Apr. 2002)

Nike attempts to distance itself from child-labor history [at] annual event organized by UW [University of Washington] Net Impact — a group of MBA students trying to raise awareness about the advantages of socially and environmentally responsible business (Kevin Jones, University of Washington Daily, 3 Apr. 2002)

Province probes 'sweatshop conditions' [Canada]: Vancouver garment maker [Eminent Knitting Ltd] is target of investigation (Chad Skelton, Vancouver Sun [Canada], 1 Apr. 2002)

UN Global Compact Case Studies of Multistakeholder Partnership: Policy Dialogue on Business in Zones of Conflict (edited by Virginia Haufler, University of Maryland, Apr. 2002)

• Croatia and Post-Conflict Reconstruction [Roots of Peace & Mines to Vines programmes: companies in USA involved in raising money for landmine removal in Croatia - refers to California wine companies, Autodesk, North Face, Digitas Advertising Agency] (Heidi Kuhn, Roots of Peace, Apr. 2002)

Manipulating Code of Conduct [India] - According to an article published by a leading Indian monthly Apparel Views, "Codes of conduct have also given rise to a new need for the industry to look for sophisticated methods of manipulating the code standards. This invariably leads to double books, hiding facts, coaching workers to give tutored answers to auditors and faking records..." (CSR World, quoting Apparel Views, Apr. 2002)

Study Finds Garment Jobs More in Line With the Law [New York]: The United States Department of Labor reported yesterday that there has been a significant drop in the number of minimum-wage and overtime violations in New York City's apparel industry. (Steven Greenhouse, New York Times, 29 Mar. 2002)

WRC Assessment re PT Dada Indonesia: Preliminary Findings and Recommendations - This is the Preliminary Report of an assessment of working conditions at an apparel and stuffed-toy factory in Indonesia [supplying companies including Adidas, Disney, Gap, Top of the World Inc, American Needle and Novelty Inc] (Worker Rights Consortium, 26 Mar. 2002)

• FLA issues public statement on PT Dada, Indonesia - The Fair Labor Association noted today that the Worker Rights Consortium...has released a Preliminary Report on PT Dada. The FLA has been closely following the situation at PT Dada, and coordinating with adidas to ensure that the plant is closely monitored and that non-compliance issues are remediated. (Fair Labor Association, 28 Mar. 2002)

{···français} Les distributeurs français pour la promotion de normes sociales en Asie: Les plus grands distributeurs français [Carrefour, Auchan, Leclerc, Casino, Cora, Système U, Monoprix et Camif] ont décidé de multiplier les audits sociaux de leurs fournisseurs en Asie et d'échanger leurs informations pour pousser les directeurs d'usines locaux à améliorer les conditions de travail, encore très loin des normes internationales. (AFP, 26 mars 2002)

Burma protest hits Bloomingdale's [USA] -...students from Brandeis University protested the store's refusal to eliminate made-in-Burma apparel from its clothing racks. (Benjamin Gedan, Boston Globe, 24 Mar. 2002)

Nike greenwash over sweatshop labour - Following years of criticism over its poor labour and environmental standards, Nike claims to have cleaned up its act, even signing onto the Global Compact to prove it. But the truth is rather different, and the company’s recent behaviour is a textbook study in greenwash. (Sharon Beder, Ecologist, 22 Mar. 2002)

• company website: Nike - Global Citizenship (Nike)

Sichuan Textile Workers Struck Against Arrests [China]:...Eyewitnesses reported that several strikers were beaten up by the police at the picket line outside the factory, and about a dozen had been detained. (China Labour Bulletin, 20 Mar. 2002)

Workers demand dismissal [Indonesia]: Some 250 workers of PT Sandang Indo Pratama [garment company] staged a protest rally...demanding the dismissal of the company's production supervisor..."The supervisor, Zakaria, has frequently harassed workers with his insulting words. I was once ordered to give him sexual favors at work," said a female worker...Gatot Subagyo, a labor activists, said that Zakaria had allegedly hired local thugs in break up an earlier rally staged by the workers. (Jakarta Post, 20 Mar. 2002)

Clothing workers down tools [South Africa]: About 500 Fort Jackson clothing factory employees downed tools this week in protest against a myriad of alleged factory floor abuses by management. Alleged abuses by International Clothing Manufacturer (ICM) factory management range from unpaid maternity and sick leave, unpaid overtime, long working hours and failure by management to recognise their union, the South African Clothing and Textile Workers' Union (Sactwu). (Zama Feni, Dispatch [South Africa], 20 Mar. 2002)

{···français} Comité interministériel: Le sort des ouvriers étrangers s'améliore [Ile Maurice] - Les moyens dont dispose le ministère du Travail pour contrôler les conditions de vie et d'emploi des travailleurs étrangers ont été au centre des discussions, hier, d'un comité interministériel...L'accord signé, lundi soir, entre la direction de Novel Garments et le ministère du Travail porte sur huit points: (i) application de la semaine de 45 heures et un maximum de 10 heures supplémentaires...(iv) mise sur place d'un comité à l'usine pour écouter les doléances des ouvrières...(vii) pas de travail sept jours d'affilée (Jean-Denis Permal, L'Express [Ile Maurice], 20 mars 2002)

• {···français} 5e jour de grève à l'ambassade de chine: Les ouvriers chinois fondent tous leurs espoirs sur la réunion de ce soir [Ile Maurice] (Le Mauricien, 18 mars 2002)

Spotlight on Indonesian activist, Dita Sari [interview with labour activist Dita Sari; includes questions: What are the major problems facing Indonesian workers at present? You were offered the Reebok Human Rights Award this year, how did you come to the decision to refuse it?] (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 18 Mar. 2002)

• {···español} En primer plano: Dita Sari, militante indonesia [¿Cuáles son los principales problemas que enfrentan los trabajadores indonesios en este momento? ¿Qué motivó su decisión de rechazar el Premio Reebok de Derechos Humanos de 2002?] (Confederación Internacional de Organizaciones Sindicales Libres, 18 marzo 2002)

• {···français} Cros plan sur Dita Sari, militante indonésienne [Quels sont les principaux problèmes auxquels se heurtent les travailleurs indonésiens à l'heure actuelle? Comment avez-vous pris la décision de refuser le Prix des droits de l'Homme 2002 de Reebok?] (Confédération internationale des Syndicats libres, 18 mars 2002)

Codes of conduct not preventing worker abuse [includes references to Gap] (Laura Slattery, Irish Times, 15 Mar. 2002)

• company website: Gap Inc.: Ethical Sourcing (Gap)

US trade 'exploits' Lesotho workers:...The Lesotho Clothing & Allied Workers Union (LCAWU) said textile factories often ignored Lesotho's labour laws. (BBC News, 15 Mar. 2002)

Girl's Maiming Sparks Entry Plea [Australia]: Unions are demanding immediate right of entry provisions in the wake of a 10-year-old girl being mutilated in a Sydney sweatshop..."It is obvious that when you are required to give 24-hours notice you are never going to find a 10-year-old working a sewing machine," Tubner [Textile Clothing and Footwear Union secretary Barry Tubner] says. (Workers Online [Australia], 15 Mar. 2002)

Summary of the Saipan Sweatshop Litigation [update regarding 3 lawsuits filed on behalf of thousands of workers who are currently working and formerly worked on the island of Saipan - 19 companies have settled; the following companies have not settled: GAP, Abercrombie and Fitch, Dayton Hudson, Levis, the Limited, and JC Penney] (Michael Rubin, Global Exchange website, 11 Mar. 2002)

Workers 'exploited' in Durban sweatshops [South Africa]: A 66-year-old clothing factory worker still bears the scars on his hands of being burnt while working at a pressing machine. The Phoenix father of two, who has devoted his working life to the clothing industry, is among scores of workers who are allegedly being exploited and underpaid by Durban sweatshops. (Prega Govender, Sunday Times [South Africa], 10 Mar. 2002)

Federal Court Rejects Claims Against Forever 21 [USA]: Dismissing the notion that a retailer is the ultimate employer in the apparel supply chain, a Los Angeles federal court has rejected a case by 19 plaintiffs who sued Forever 21 for wage and labor violations. (Nola Sarkisian-Miller, ApparelNews.net, 8-14 Mar. 2002)

'Drop your pants' outrage at Indonesian shoe factory: Oxfam says workers were put through humiliating examinations before getting the menstrual leave they were entitled to - Indonesian workers at a shoe factory supplying Nike and Adidas have had to prove to company doctors that they were menstruating in order to get their allotted sick leave. (AFP, in Straits Times [Singapore], 8 Mar. 2002)

Nike and Adidas 'have failed to stop sweatshop abuses': Indonesian workers producing sports shoes for the multinational companies Nike and Adidas live in extreme poverty and face prosecution and physical assault for trade union activity, according to a report published yesterday. (Richard Lloyd Parry, Independent [UK], 8 Mar. 2002)

Nike says improving Indonesian labor conditions: Athletic shoe giant Nike Inc. on Thursday welcomed an aid agency report alleging its workers in Indonesia are overworked and underpaid, but said it had already made improvements to shed its sweatshop image. (Reuters, 7 Mar. 2002)

• Nike's Response: Nike has made a number of criticisms of Oxfam Community Aid Abroad's new report, "We Are Not Machines". Tim Connor, the coordinator of our NikeWatch campaign, responds - Nike is arguing that the Global Alliance report on Nike factories in Indonesia released in February 2001 is superior to the new Oxfam Community Aid Abroad report. Three points need to be made in response. (NikeWatch, Oxfam Community Aid Abroad [Australia], Mar. 2002)

{···français} Formation de dix jours pour les employés d'"Island Clothing" [Ile Maurice]: Le coup d'envoi d'une session de formation de dix jours (du 5 au 22 mars) sur le site de travail à l'intention des employés d'Island Clothing a été lancé, hier, par le ministre du Travail et des Relations industrielles, Showkutally Soodhun. Cette formation s'inscrit dans le cadre d'un programme de formation globale qui touchera soixante-dix neuf entreprises de la zone franche sensibilisera les employés aux droits du travail et aux procédures en vue de régler des conflits au travail. (Le Mauricien, 7 mars 2002)

Oxfam challenges Nike, Adidas to pay workers [Indonesia] (Miranda Korzy, AAP, 7 Mar. 2002)

• press release: We are not machines - International Women's Day Event - Today young women involved in the Fair School Wear campaign will challenge Nike and Adidas to respect the rights of Asian women workers [in Indonesia] and stop breaking up families: "Nike and Adidas must ensure that wages meet workers' basic needs, ensure workers are free to form unions, and adopt a genuinely independent and transparent factory monitoring system" (Oxfam Community Aid Abroad, 7 Mar. 2002)

  full report: We Are Not Machines - Despite some small steps forward, poverty and fear still dominate the lives of Nike and Adidas workers in Indonesia. (Timothy Connor, Clean Clothes Campaign, Global Exchange, Maquila Solidarity Network, Oxfam Canada, Oxfam Community Aid Abroad, Mar. 2002)

Why Nike has broken into a sweat: The sports equipment maker has been a target for anti-sweatshop campaigners. It has responded with self-criticism, says Michael Skapinker...Nike's experience provides a vivid illustration of the perils facing companies that believe they can ignore the efforts of campaigning organisations (Michael Skapinker, Financial Times, 6 Mar. 2002)

Blitz on Durban [apparel] factory sparks an uproar [South Africa]:...Govender was charged with contravening health and safety regulations (Margie Inggs, Business Report [South Africa], 6 Mar. 2002)

Hudson's Bay Urged to Clean Up Sweatshop Abuses in Lesotho [Canada]: The Ethical Trading Action Group (ETAG), a national coalition of church, labour and non-governmental organizations, is calling on the Hudson's Bay Company to work with its suppliers and the garment workers' union in Lesotho to eliminate sweatshop abuses in three factories producing clothes for Zellers. "The worst thing they could do right now would be to cut and run from Lesotho in an attempt to escape responsibility for sweatshop practices" (Maquila Solidarity Network, 5 Mar. 2002)

• {···français} On ordonne à la Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson d'arrêter l'exploitation des travailleuses et travailleurs des ateliers de misère du Lesotho (Maquila Solidarity Network, 5 mars 2002)

• full report: The Workers' Story: Labour Rights Violations at Hudson's Bay Supply Factories in Lesotho (Gary Phillips and Jantjie Xaba, Trade Union Research Project - University of Natal, published by Ethical Trading Action Group, Mar. 2002)

Factory audit details sought: Anti-sweatshop group raps Hudson's Bay Co. - An anti-sweatshop group is demanding Hudson's Bay Co. disclose the results of an audit the retailer performed on factories in southern Africa [garment factories in Lesotho] making private-label clothing for Zellers...Allegations included the use of child labour, verbal and sexual harassment, locked emergency doors and compulsory overtime that sometimes stretched to 75 hours a week. (Steven Theobald, Toronto Star, 5 Mar. 2002)

U. Iowa president moves to end cap contract [USA]: University of Iowa President Mary Sue Coleman on Monday moved to terminate the university's contract with a cap manufacturer [New Era Cap Co.] that has been accused of violating the school's labor standards, enforcing the nearly two-year-old code of conduct for the first time. (Deidre Bello, Daily Iowan, 5 Mar. 2002)

Mr Price passes the sweatshop buck [South Africa]: Mr Price, the discount retailer whose products were discovered at a Newcastle sweatshop, has laid the responsibility for policing suspected manufacturers squarely on the shoulders of the union and the department of labour. (Margie Inggs, Business Report [South Africa], 5 Mar. 2002)

Gap resists settlement of Saipan sweatshop suit (Jenny Strasburg, San Francisco Chronicle, 2 Mar. 2002)

Moving up the learning curve – corporate management of supply chain labour standards - Recent reports on Triumph International (‘Support Breast not Dictators’) and Nike (‘We are not Machines’) have again drawn attention to the policy and management of supply chain labour issues within apparel and footwear companies. But overall is anything actually getting better? (John Sabapathy, Programme Manager at AccountAbility, in SustainAbility Radar, Mar. 2002)

Sweatshop Labor, Sweatshop Movement [USA] [book review of Sweatshop Warriors: Immigrant Women Workers Take on the Global Economy, Miriam Ching Yoon Louie]: Miriam Ching Yoon Louie offers an important and insightful look at sweatshops in the United States. (Bill Fletcher, Jr., Monthly Review, Mar. 2002)

Brylane employees speak out against intimidation and discrimination [Indiana, USA]: Tuesday night, Brylane warehouse employees and a crowd of more than 100 of their supporters gathered at the Indianapolis Urban League to expose what they describe as a management campaign of fear and intimidation aimed at dissuading them from joining UNITE! (the Union of Needletrades Industrial and Textile Employees). [Brylane is a subsidiary of French conglomerate P.P.R. - Pinault-Printemps-Redoute] (UNITE! - Union of Needletrades Industrial and Textile Employees, 26 Feb. 2002)

• company website: Brylane (Brylane) 

Global union declares war on exploitation [Guatemala]: The Brussels-based International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation (ITGLWF) has lodged a complaint with the OECD, accusing the Korean-owned Choi Shin plants in Guatemala of serious breaches of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. (ITGLWF - International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation, 25 Feb. 2002)

• Letter to OECD Korean National Contact Point [regarding labour abuses at Korean-owned apparel factories in Guatemala]:...The ITGLWF wishes to raise the issue of serious breaches of the OECD Guidelines [for Multinational Enterprises]...at two Korean-owned garment plants, Choi Shin and Cimatextiles, operating in Guatemala...The main customer is US apparel company Liz Claiborne (International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation, 18 Feb. 2002) 

• {···español} Sindicato Global declara la guerra a la explotación [Guatemala]: La Federación Internacional de Trabajadores del Textil, Vestuario y Cuero (FITTVC) con sede en Bruselas, ha presentado una queja ante la OCDE, acusando a las plantas de la empresa coreana Choi Shin en Guatemala de cometer serias violaciones de las Directivas de la OCDE para Empresas Multinacionales. (FITTVC - Federación Internacional de Trabajadores del Textil, Vestuario y Cuero, 25 febrero 2002)

• {···español} Carta al contacto nacional de Corea ante la OCDE [Guatemala] (FITTVC - Federación Internacional de Trabajadores del Textil, Vestuario y Cuero, 21 enero 2002)

Corporations challenged by reparations activists [USA]:..So far, the reparations legal team has publicly identified five companies it says have slave ties: insurers Aetna, New York Life and AIG and financial giants J.P. Morgan Chase Manhattan Bank and FleetBoston Financial Group...Independently, USA TODAY has found documentation tying several others to slavery: Investment banks Brown Bros. Harriman and Lehman Bros.; Railroads Norfolk Southern, CSX, Union Pacific and Canadian National; Textile maker WestPoint Stevens; Newspaper publishers Knight Ridder, Tribune, Media General, Advance Publications, E.W. Scripps and Gannett, parent and publisher of USA TODAY...USA TODAY contacted all the companies named in this article. Some acknowledged the evidence, others disputed it. Many declined comment. Of those that did comment, virtually all said the current company isn't liable for what happened before the Civil War. (James Cox, USA Today, 21 Feb. 2002)

• Textile firm [WestPoint Stevens] linked to 'Negro cloth' for slaves [USA] (James Cox, USA Today, 21 Feb. 2002)

Mdladlana out to get bad employers [South Africa]: Membathisi Mdladlana, the labour minister, yesterday had a blunt message for employers: stop mistreating workers...Mdladlana said his department would launch a "national inspection blitz" in April, focusing on the security, construction and farm sectors, which were among the worst offenders when it came to poor working conditions and employing child labour. This follows his crackdown on clothing firms late last year (Lynda Loxton, Business Report [South Africa], 20 Feb. 2002)

Home Care workers tick off a pay win and back sweatshop workers [Australia]: More than 4000 NSW Home Care workers have won a groundbreaking agreement that all uniforms carry the No Sweat Shop label promoted by the Fair Wear campaign. (Australian Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers Union, 19 Feb. 2002)

Sweatshop items sold in military stores [USA]: U.S. military exchange stores do a worse job of sweatshop monitoring than private retailers, according to a new report from the U.S. General Accounting Office. (Doris Hajewski, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 14 Feb. 2002)

PAKISTAN: ILO Offers Alternative Education For Working Children: an estimated 3.6 million children continue to work, tens of thousands of them in dangerous locations such as mines, canneries and glass and textile factories (UN Wire, 14 Feb. 2002)

Guatemala: Women and Girls Face Job Discrimination - U.S. Companies Contract With Abusive "Maquilas" - Women in Guatemala's largest female-dominated labor sectors face persistent sex discrimination and abuse, Human Rights Watch charged in a report released today. (Human Rights Watch, 12 Feb. 2002)

• full report: From the Household to the Factory: Sex Discrimination in the Guatemalan Labor Force (Human Rights Watch, Jan. 2002)

• {···español} Las trabajadoras se enfrentan a la discriminación: Empresas estadounidenses mantienen contratos con maquiladoras abusivas

• {···español} Del hogar a la fábrica: Discriminación en la fuerza laboral guatemalteca

• Guatemala women 'abused': Women working in Guatemala's two largest female-dominated sectors of industry - sewing and household services - suffer from persistent sex discrimination and abuse, human rights campaigners say. (BBC News, 12 Feb. 2002)

Dita Sari Spurns Reebok Award [Indonesia]: Prominent women’s labor rights activist Dita Indah Sari has rejected a $50,000 human rights award from sporting apparel giant Reebok in protest against the meager salaries the company pays its Indonesian factory workers [includes text of Dita Sari’s Statement on Reebok Human Rights Award] (Laksamana.Net [Indonesia], 6 Feb. 2002)

• Running From Reebok's Hypocrisy [concerning rejection of Reebok Human Rights Award by Indonesian labour rights activist Dita Sari]: "We've created a cottage industry of monitors and inspectors and drafters of codes," Ballinger says, "but all these workers ever wanted was to sit down in dignity and negotiate with their bosses, and this has never happened." (Alexander Cockburn, Los Angeles Times, 7 Feb. 2002)

Carrying the torch for repression at Salt Lake City: the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions has called upon the International Olympics Committee (IOC) to investigate official Olympic Games clothing supplier, ‘Marker,’ for reportedly producing the official uniforms of the 2002 Winter Olympics Torchbearers in Burma (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 7 Feb. 2002)

• {···français} La flamme de la répression à Salt Lake City 2002, dénonce la CISL

• Burma & Marker: Letter to Jacques Rogge - President of the IOC (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 7 Feb. 2002)

Sweatshop Blues: Garment Workers Face Down Cops in Slave-Labor Uniforms [New York City] (Andrew Friedman, Village Voice [New York], 5 Feb. 2002)

University approves policy requiring manufacturers to protect workers: The University of Virginia has approved a policy that would require companies licensed to make merchandise that carry the school logo to abide by rules that would protect their workers. (Associated Press, 3 Feb. 2002)

WORKERS: Labor Brings Witnesses to Tell of a Harsher Side to Growth - Sofía Sazo, a longtime garment worker from Guatemala, came to New York this week to tell a tale about the world economic order that the corporate chiefs attending the World Economic Forum probably do not want to hear [abusive labour practices at blouse factory that makes clothes for Gap and Polo] (Steven Greenhouse, New York Times, 1 Feb. 2002)

Lessons in monitoring apparel production around the world (Dara O'Rourke, Assistant Professor of Urban Studies & Planning at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in Ethical Corporation Magazine, Feb. 2002)

Bra company pulls out of Burma: Triumph International, a leading European luxury lingerie firm, has announced it is pulling out of Burma after coming under sustained pressure from labour organisations and exiled Burmese groups over working conditions. (BBC News, 28 Jan. 2002)

• Good news: Triumph [Triumph International] closes factory in Burma  [includes media release from Triumph International: "Triumph to cease production in Burma - Social plan for workforce", 28 Jan. 2002] (Clean Clothes Campaign, 28 Jan. 2002)

Gildan bows to Fund: T-shirt maker implementing code of conduct [SA8000] after allegations of pregnancy testing of Honduran employees air in TV report (Jan Ravensbergen & Melanie Verhaeghe, Montreal Gazette, 26 Jan. 2002)

'Take Yours Heads Out Of The Clouds', Global Union Tells Guatemalan Exporters' Assocation [regarding failure to uphold freedom of association and the right to bargain collectively in the maquila sector]: The Brussels-based International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation...says that VESTEX [the garment exporters’ association] should ‘take its head out of the clouds, and stop invoking codes of conduct to which nobody adheres". (International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation, 25 Jan. 2002)

German-owned Spiegel Bans Burma Buys: Mail Order Giant is 28th Company to Refuse Business with Forced Labor Regime - The Spiegel Group [which owns the retailer Eddie Bauer], a top U.S. mail-order retailer with nearly $4 billion in sales in 2000, has announced in a letter to the Free Burma Coalition it will not accept merchandise that is sourced from the Southeast Asian country of Burma. (Free Burma Coalition, 24 Jan. 2002)

Greenwash + 10: The UN's Global Compact, Corporate Accountability and the Johannesburg Earth Summit [includes reference to Nike] (Kenny Bruno, CorpWatch, 24 Jan. 2002)

• company website: Responsibility: labor (Nike)

Labour Abuses in Sri Lanka's FTZs Condemned Internationally: Anti-union practices by foreign companies operating in Sri Lanka’s Free Trade Zones have come under attack from a global union representing workers in the garment sector. (International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation, 15 Jan. 2002)

Chinese Authorities Clamp Down on Labour Lawyer:...the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation (ITGLWF), has urged the authorities to ensure that Zhou Litai is allowed to continue defending workers (International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation, 14 Jan. 2002)

Home care workers back campaign against exploited clothing workers [Australia]: More than 4000 NSW [New South Wales] Home Care workers have shown their support for the international anti-sweatshop campaign by winning an agreement from their employer that all their uniforms will now carry the Fair Wear label. (Liquor, Hospitality & Miscellaneous Workers Union [Australia], 11 Jan. 2002)

Give up Nike, NZ protesters urge Tiger: Golfing superstar Tiger Woods has run into protest in New Zealand over his association with shoe and clothing manufacturer Nike (NZPA - New Zealand Press Association, 9 Jan. 2002)

Activists Press Burma Campaign: More Companies Agree That Labor Conditions Are Oppressive - A group called the Free Burma Coalition...has persuaded more than two dozen American corporations [including Ames Department Stores Inc., Jones Apparel Group, Sara Lee Corp., Family Dollar Stores Inc., TJX Cos. which operates T.J. Maxx stores, and Nautica International Inc.] over the past 18 months to stop importing goods made in Burma. (Kirstin Downey Grimsley, Washington Post, 5 Jan. 2002)

Walden Asset Management Announces Shareholder Advocacy Actions for 2002 [includes shareholder resolutions on the following issues & companies: Climate Change - Exxon Mobil, ChevronTexaco and Occidental Petroleum; Mercury Pollution - J.C. Penney and HCA; Indigenous Peoples' Rights - Lehman Brothers; Sweatshop/Vendor Standards - TJX, Kohl's, Delphi Automotive, Hasbro, Sears and Lowes; Health Risk Caused by Cigarette Filters - Eastman Chemical; Drug Accessibility - Abbott, Bristol-Myers Squibb; impact of drilling in environmentally sensitive areas - BP Amoco] (Walden Asset Management, 4 Jan. 2002)

Garment companies fail to move on living wage issue: Legal minimum wages are insufficient to cover the basic needs of even single workers according to "Wearing Thin: the State of Pay in the Fashion Industry", a report published recently by The UK network Labour Behind the Label, part of the International Clean Clothes Campaign. As part of this study, 12 companies were surveyed and none of them acknowledged the need to pay suppliers a price sufficient to pay workers a living wage. (Clean Clothes Campaign, Jan. 2002)

• full report: Wearing Thin: the State of Pay in the Fashion Industry (Labour Behind the Label with the European Clean Clothes Campaign, Nov. 2001)

Child labor and multinational conduct: a comparison of international business and stakeholder codes - This paper examines the way in which multinationals, business associations, governmental and non-governmental organizations deal with child labor in their codes. With a standardized framework, it analyzes 55 codes drawn by these different actors (Ans Kolk & Rob van Tulder, Journal of Business Ethics, 2002)