The following is reprinted with permission from The Associated Press. © Copyright 1996 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Investors Take a Stand Against Sweatshops
By KEVIN GALVIN Associated Press Writer
Sept. 18, 1996WASHINGTON (AP) - A group of investment companies managing portfolios worth nearly $58 billion is joining Labor Secretary Robert Reich in taking a stand against sweatshop labor.
"We deplore the pervasiveness of sweatshops in the apparel, footwear and toy industries both in the United States and abroad," the coalition led by Citizens Trust said in a statement. "We call upon all parties, including retailers, manufacturers, consumers, regulators, investors and labor groups to join in taking responsibility for this unacceptable situation."
The Calvert Group and the Franklin Research and Development Corp. also are playing a leading role in the group whose representatives planned to appear Thursday at a news conference with Reich.
The investors said they "will seek to invest in and monitor companies that take a leadership role in eradicating sweatshops," and called on retailers and manufacturers to allow inspections by human rights groups.
"We recommend action against companies, not countries or workers, for conducting business in violation of the law," the statement said.
They threatened to file shareholder resolutions to influence company policies, but stopped short of stating they would pull funds out of companies that do business with sweatshops.
Citizen's Trust is a $350 million fund based in Portsmouth, N.H.; Calvert, based in Bethesda, Md., is a $5 billion mutual fund company; Franklin has $475 million in assets under its management and is based in Boston.
Those groups were joined by the Domini Social Equity Fund of Boston, Progressive Asset Management of Oakland, Calif., and Vermont National Bank's Socially Responsible Banking Fund of Brattleboro, Vt., and at least two other groups.
Many of the investors were instrumental in creating a coalition against investing in South Africa to protest apartheid.
The investors were adding their voice to a chorus of manufacturing, show business and political leaders who have joined the Labor Department's battle against sweatshops.
In August, President Clinton announced an agreement with 10 manufacturers to include labels that guarantee a garment was not produced with sweatshop labor.
Television personality Kathie Lee Gifford, who came under fire when labor activists revealed that a clothing line sold under her name was produced in a Honduran sweatshop, has become an outspoken critic of child labor.
Officials joining Clinton and Gifford in August included representatives from L.L. Bean, Liz Claiborne, Warnaco, Phillips-Van Heusen, Nike, Tweeds, Patagonia, Nicole Miller, Karen Kane, Lucky Brands and labor unions.
Earlier this month, Nike shareholders rejected a plan that would have forced a review of working conditions at its plants in Southeast Asia. Chairman Phil Knight, however, said Nike would invite an independent group to check conditions at the factories and make its findings public.
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