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Clinton, Garment Makers Hail Accord on Sweatshops; Critics Say Pact Falls Short on Key Work Issues
William Branigin, Washington Post Staff Writer
April 15, 1997, Tuesday, Final EditionPresident Clinton yesterday announced agreement on a U.S. "Apparel Industry Partnership" aimed at ending sweatshop conditions around the world and reassuring American consumers that the clothes and shoes they buy are not made by exploited workers.
Industry, labor, consumer and human rights groups in the partnership hailed it as a "breakthrough" and an important first step toward eliminating child labor and abusive conditions in factories that produce garments for the U.S. market, the world's largest. But some human rights groups not party to the accord said it falls far short of what is needed, ratifies an existing system of worker exploitation and camouflages the "hypocrisy" of major manufacturers in seeking out low-wage countries with docile workers in the first place.
The pact "will improve the lives of millions of garment workers around the world" and help end "deplorable and unacceptable" working conditions, "mostly overseas but, unbelievably, sometimes here at home as well," Clinton said in a White House ceremony. Stressing that the accord "is just the beginning," he added, "We know sweatshop labor will not vanish overnight." He called for "more companies to join this crusade and follow its strict rules of conduct."
The voluntary agreement, reached after eight months of negotiations, bars the use of prison and other forced labor and prohibits the employment of children under 15 in most nations, or 14 where the country's law allows. It recognizes workers' rights of "freedom of association and collective bargaining" and generally requires adherence to local laws on wages and working hours.
It stipulates that workers be paid "at least the minimum wage . . . or the prevailing industry wage, whichever is higher" and generally limits the work week to 60 hours "except in extraordinary business circumstances."
Companies that join the partnership are responsible for ensuring that contractors and suppliers also comply. To that end, the accord calls for "internal monitoring" by the participating firms and the use of "independent external" monitors.
Nine companies signed on as direct participants: Liz Claiborne, L.L. Bean, Nike, Karen King, Nicole Miller, Patagonia, Phillips-Van Heusen, Tweeds and Reebok. Television talk show personality Kathie Lee Gifford joined in the name of her clothing label.
Critics said the agreement contains "major flaws" and called on the companies to pay a "living wage," not the just minimums that are already required by law in most countries. Often, governments set the minimums below subsistence levels to attract foreign investment, the critics said. They also called for monitoring by local human rights, labor or religious groups that are trusted by the workers, instead of the private multinational accounting firms that the agreement allows.
"I think it's business as usual, while giving the consumer the impression that the issue has been taken care of," said Medea Benjamin, director of Global Exchange, a San Francisco-based human rights group. "It's not good enough to be the best plantation owner on the block," she added, arguing that the companies could easily afford to pay "living wages," which in some countries are as low as 40 cents an hour.
The accord's recognition of workers' right to form unions is "pure hypocrisy," Benjamin charged. "Why, then, do the companies manufacture in countries where it is illegal to organize?" she asked. "If the companies really respected the right to organize, they wouldn't be manufacturing in China, Vietnam or Indonesia . . . In virtually all the countries where they have gone, they go precisely because wages are below subsistence levels and workers are repressed." At a Taiwanese-owned factory in Vietnam that makes footwear for Nike, many of the workers, mostly young women, go hungry because their wages of $ 1.60 a day are below the subsistence level, said Thuyen Nguyen, director of the New York-based group, Vietnam Labor Watch.
Charles Kernaghan, head of the independent National Labor Committee, said the agreement marks a "real step forward," but that rights groups and the public must keep up pressure on companies to implement it properly.
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