Global Exchange - Sweatfree Communities - Reports reveal, Gap child labor abuses

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Reports reveal: Gap still employing sweatshop labor If you thought sweatshops and child labor were an issue of the past, think again. Despite Gap's code of vendor conduct and 90 full-time factory inspectors, recent news reports revealed Gap Inc. employed children as young as 10 years old, subjecting them to repeated beatings and threats to produce clothes. Global Exchange condemns Gap's reliance on exploitative sweatshop labor conditions. However, it comes as no surprise that these human rights violations occur in an international garment industry where sweatshop conditions are the norm, not an aberration. [Read More Below] The exposure of ongoing labor abuses underscores the importance of independent (non-corporate) monitoring of suppliers' factories, free of conflict of financial interest. As part of Global Exchange's Sweatfree Communities campaign, taxpayers across the country are pressuring their local governments to pass sweatfree policies with independent monitoring to guarantee that garments and textiles produced for their city adhere to strong labor and human rights standards. Take Action Read the article: Child sweatshop shame threatens Gap's ethical image Invite former Gap sweatshop worker, Chie Abad to speak in your community Find out more information about Global Exchange's, Sweatfree Communities Child Labor Continues in the Apparel Industry October 29, 2007 Global Exchange CONTACT: Nell Greenberg (510) 847-9777 An article in The Observer just caught GAP Inc. with child labor in one of their subcontracted facilities in India. Today the International Labor Rights Forum and Global Exchange demand an end to child labor in the global garment industry. Child labor continues in the 21st century as companies have shifted around the world where cheap labor thrives. Sub-contracting is rife in the global apparel industry, as are a range of labor abuses, not just child labor. Companies must do more to end child labor and other gross labor violations throughout their supply chains. Over the last ten years, there has been a massive influx of voluntary initiatives which have done nothing more than confirm what was already known. Furthermore, companies continue to fall short on identifying the root causes of labor rights violations throughout the supply chains. Chie Abad of Global Exchange said, "As a former sweatshop worker for the GAP, I can say firsthand that it is unacceptable and, sadly, unsurprising that children are being forced to work in sweatshops so that the GAP can sell cheap clothing. GAP is responsible for the entire supply chain of their garments, and for ensuring that their sub-contractors are not employing child labor or paying poverty wages—that is the price of doing business. It is time companies made real commitments to change their business model so that the root problems are corrected." Chie Abad spent six years on the Pacific island of Saipan, a U.S. Territory, as a garment worker for the Sako Corporation, which made clothes for the Gap and other retailers. Inspections and punishments may have increased since the 1990s, but these are after-the-fact measures. ILRF and Global Exchange call upon the GAP and others to go further than detecting problems. At this point the problems are well documented. What is needed is a fundamental shift in the industry. Trina Tocco of the International Labor Rights Forum said, "It is a shame that companies continue to work with a system they know is flawed. In a system where the lowest bidder wins, its no wonder that child labor would be used in order to cut costs. It's time for companies like GAP to step up to the plate and develop a new system where labor rights are just as important as producing cheaper goods." Buying policies are inseparable from labor policies. Making suppliers compete for low prices and then slapping on codes of conduct and inspections is contradictory. It yields these sorts of stories. Child labor is simply unacceptable in today's world full of technology and transparency. ### Thanks, as always, for your hard work on behalf of international human rights, Global Exchange	Global Exchange is an international human rights group that relies on its members - tens of thousands of people like you - to work with us to create social, political and environmental justice. Please become a Global Exchange member today. Your tax-deductible donation helps keep our programs running.
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