The following is reprinted with permission from The Associated Press. © Copyright 1996 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Justice OK's Sweatshop Measure
By MICHAEL J. SNIFFEN
Associated Press Writer
Friday, November 1, 1996 6:35 pm ESTWASHINGTON (AP) -- Normally worried when competitors sit down together, Justice Department trustbusters gave their blessing Friday to garment and shoe manufacturers who want to jointly develop humane workplaces and tell consumers they don't use sweatshops.
Nike, Reebok, L.L. Bean, Liz Claiborne, other apparel makers and labor and human rights groups asked the department's antitrust division whether they could get together to set voluntary, humane labor standards and develop a labeling and advertising plan to inform consumers which companies abide by them.
The department said the plan proposed by the members of the Apparel Industry Partnership would not reduce competition and would not be challenged in court by the government.
The manufacturers originally unveiled their idea with President Clinton in the White House Rose Garden on Aug. 2. ``No one should have to put their lives or health in jeopardy to put food on the table for their families,'' Clinton said then.
Standing next to Clinton was Kathie Lee Gifford, the television personality who came under fire last spring when labor activists revealed that clothing sold by Wal-Mart using Gifford's name was produced in a Honduran sweatshop. Children reportedly produced the clothes under abusive working conditions for 31 cents an hour. Gifford reacted by becoming an advocate of children's rights, among other things testifying before Congress.
Even though some members of the group are direct competitors, Deputy Assistant Attorney General A. Douglas Melamed said in a letter that safeguards will be in place during group meetings to prevent the exchange of competitively sensitive information. These include: the presence of antitrust lawyers at all discussions between direct competitors, creation of discussion guidelines and keeping a record of all discussions.
Two of the group's members, Reebok and Nike, ``account for an estimated 24 and 32 percent, respectively, of sales of athletic shoes in the United States,'' Melamed wrote. ``No other members of the partnership are significant direct competitors of one another.'' Those that do compete with each other ``account for relatively minor shares of sales in the apparel industry.''
The partnership's other members are: Business for Social Responsibility, Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility; International Labor Rights Fund; Karen Kane Inc.; Lawyers Committee for Human Rights; National Consumers League; Nicole Miller; Patagonia; Phillips-Van Heusen Corp.; Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union; AFL-CIO; Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights; Tweeds Inc.; Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees; and Warnaco Inc.
© Copyright 1996 The Associated Press
Nike in the News