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RESOURCES
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Compassionate ConsumptionOur Diet "Do not avoid contact with
suffering or close your eyes before suffering. Do not lose awareness
of the existence of suffering in the life of the world. Find ways
to be with those who are suffering by all means, including personal
contact and visits, images and sound. By such means, awaken yourself
and others to the reality of suffering in the world."
Our employment and consumption no longer impact just our local community. Our economic community in this global age includes our neighbors in every part of the world. Every dollar we earn or spend has some direct or secondary impact on brothers and sisters we will never meet in person. This is a blessing and a curse. We can promote great kindness or foster terrible atrocities throughout the world without leaving the confines of our home or community. If the massive consuming energy of the United States (190 billion on clothing alone) were channeled into the purchase of fairly traded goods and services, the economic face of the world would be transfigured immediately. We can take a look at the clothing industry for a case study in some principles that can be applied to all of our economic decisions.Have your ever looked at a consumer article in the store and wondered how something could be made, packaged, shipped, stocked and marked up for retail and still sell for so little? Sweatshop slave labor is often the unfortunate answer. Labor costs in most products run about 60 to 70% and if one is paying production workers 4¢ to 60¢ per hour, the savings and profit margins are immense. Mexican workers receive 17¢ for each $16.99 Kathie Lee blouse they make. Women in El Salvador are given 20¢ for every $75 Nike shirt they sew. Teletubbies are made in China by women forced to work 16 hours per day, seven days a week at 13¢ per hour, which comes to $14.42 for a 112 hour work week. These wages and resulting profit margins enable corporate executives to receive astonishing salaries, stock options and bonuses: Like Michael Eisner, CEO at Walt Disney Company, who received $177 million in 1998, or Phillip Knight, who has built a personal net worth of $5.8 billion from the sales of Nike products. Sweatshops, where unimaginable abuse, degradation and exploitation of workers and blatant child labor are the norm, flourish in the global economy. One can only estimate the total number of sweatshop facilities in the world. The National Labor Committee places the number used by Wal Mart in China alone at 700 to 1000. Take home pay ranges from a high of 60¢ per hour in Guatemala to 4¢ an hour in Burma with the typical wage in the 30¢ per hour range. Workers putting in a typical 50 to 80 hour seven day work week are forced to live in dirt floor shacks and give their young children tea or lemonade in place of milk because they cannot afford nourishing food. We do have some powerful options for action in the realm of sweatshop clothing: We can escape the fashion/retail cycle. Clothing is a perfect example of planned obsolescence. Most clothing is discarded or donated long before it is worn out. It just is no longer in fashion, doesn't fit, we're tired of it, etc.. Buying classical styles of clothing with longevity in mind helps minimize the fashion element. Also, purchasing second hand clothing not only often supports a worthy non-profit, it doesn't contribute to the sweatshop economy. This is not the final solution, of course, because the causes of that economy haven't been addressed. Do consider, though, that one can buy a pair of thrift shop jeans for $10 instead of the $35 for new jeans and that $25 saving can be donated to one of the many organizations fighting sweatshop abuse where it will be put to good use. We can purchase the "cleanest" goods possible in each category. Many textile purchases will not give us much choice or control. Underwear, socks, linen, curtains, work and dress clothing are, for the most part imported from developing countries where the labor is cheap and abundant. Even within this framework, however, there is possibility for action and movement toward a just economy. Co-op America's green pages can offer some direction. They rank clothing manufacturers in a hierarchy of rungs on a ladder, the top rung being the exemplary company and the lower rungs being the least desirable. (www.greenpages.org) The lowest rungs include non-branded and discount store brands that make exploitation their conscious mode of business. Private label brands from discount stores are most often implicated in worker exploitation and child abuse situations. The Walt Disney company, Wal Mart, K Mart, Nike and Kathie Lee Collections are some of the companies most often mentioned in connection with sweatshop contract production. The middle rung is dominated by Levi Strauss, a company that takes it's production off shore to capitalize on dirt cheap labor like all the rest of the companies, but that does hold and enforce some minimum standards. Levi Strauss is the first mulitinational company to establish operating guidelines for its contract producers. These standards address minimum wages, exclusion of child labor (under 14 years old), one day off per week, maximum allowed work week (60 hours), no prison or forced labor or corporal punishment and " a safe and healthy" work environment. Levi Strauss is commended by the Council on Economic Priorities for its workplace policies. It has reduced its number of suppliers in order to maintain closer relationships; conducts annual labor audits of each factory, (more frequently at factories with suspected problems). Levi Strauss decided not to contract in China or Burma because of the prevailing political and economic climate. As basic as these standards may sound, they are far above the norm within the sweatshop global economy. Levi Strauss has submitted its guidelines and enforcement to scrutiny by third parties and has responded when criticisms were offered. The Gap clothing company also instituted corporate code of conduct following reports and litigation regarding worker exploitation. They also have been experimenting with independent monitoring in El Salvador and have begun to sponsors community-development work. You especially enhance the message sent with your dollar vote when you buy one of Levi Straus products (levis, pants, shirts, etc.) or Gap products AND also communicate to the company and the retailer WHY you purchased that product and not the competitors' products. The highest rung in the Co-op America hierarchy includes those companies with excellent ethical business practices in all regards. There are very few in the clothing industry, but here are those listed in the Co-op America website: Chi Pants, www.chipants.com. E-mail: chi@chipants.com They offer a variety of styles of pants and jeans. Workers earn $7 to $9 per hour and benefits. Made from organic cotton and hemp. Ecolution, www.ecolution.com. E-mail: sales@ecolution.com Cut and sewn in Romania by fairly paid workers. Jeans made from pesticide-free hemp using low-impact dyes. Two Star Dog, www.twostardog.com. E-mail: info@twostardog.com. Hemp jeans made in U.S. by fairly paid workers with benefits. Low-impact dyes used. We must mention the Fair Trade Federation (FTF) in our list of consumer options to sweatshop goods. The FTF is an association of fair trade wholesalers, retailers, and producers whose members are committed to providing fair wages and good employment opportunities to economically disadvantaged artisans and farmers worldwide. FTF directly links low-income producers with consumer markets. Producers are paid fairly for their products, which means that workers are paid at least that country's minimum wage. Since the minimum wage is often not enough for basic survival, whenever feasible, workers are paid a living wage, which enables them to cover basic needs, including food, shelter, education and health care for their families. Paying fair wages does not necessarily mean that products cost the consumer more. Since Fair Trade Organizations bypass exploitative middlemen and work directly with producers, they are able to cut costs and return a greater percentage of the retail price to the producers.. You can access many mail order and retail outlets that sell fair traded goods at their website. www.fairtradefederation.com e-mail:ftfok@fairtradefederation.com; PO Box 698, Kirksville, MO. They also publish "The Conscious Consumer". There are several excellent sources of information dedicated to research and activism in the area of corporate responsibility and conscious consumerism in all categories. We have found a good approach is to learn how to access and use these major sources. They then will steer you toward other links that may be useful for more specific information. The Council on Economic Priorities: www.cepnyc.org. is a public service research organization, dedicated to the accurate and impartial analysis of the social and environmental records of corporations and to making information available to consumers, investors and policy makers. They publish annual award for outstanding corporate conscience and also designate the companies with the worst ethical practices and performance. Shopping for a Better World is an inexpensive paperback book that helps shoppers locate by brand name what a company's record is on many different issue areas, including: environment, women's advancement, minority advancement, charitable giving, sweatshop sourcing, workplace issues, family benefits and disclosure. We've included several of their reports below to give you a taste of what you can obtain from their websites: The Council on Economic Priorities Corporate Conscience Award Winners for 2000: Diversity Award: Denny's, a subsidiary of Advantica Restaurant Group, Inc.: Once synonymous with bias and discrimination, Denny's has not only become a symbol of reinvention but one of the most successfully diverse places to work in America. Fortune magazine named Denny's the country's second best place to work in 1998 (the sixth in 1999), just four years after a lawsuit was brought against the company by two African American customers who alleged they had been refused service because of their race. Global Ethics Award: Bristol-Myers Squibb: Bristol-Myers Squibb has established a sweeping five year $100 million initiative to stem the tide of illness and death from AIDS. "Secure the Future" is in partnership with the nations of South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho and Swaziland. With this program they hope to find innovative and replicable solutions for the management of HIV/AIDS, particularly in women and children, and to increase access to healthcare. Environmental Stewardship Awards (3 companies): Ricoh Corporation: A leading provider of digital imaging systems in the United States, Ricoh Corporation has demonstrated an outstanding commitment to the environment through its innovative development and manufacturing of energy-efficient office equipment including digital copiers, facsimile machines, printers and scanners. Collins & Aikman Floorcoverings, Inc. Collins & Aikman developed the first fully recyclable carpet and the company also encourages customers to bring in their old carpeting (regardless of manufacturer), to create new carpet from the old. This practice has kept 1 million pounds of used floor covering out of landfills, and eliminated the company's need for raw production material. Collins & Aikman also developed an easier, simpler and cleaner carpet installation process; the company's "peel and stick" backing was revolutionary and also eliminated a noxious "off-gassing" that was a by-product caused by the application of wet adhesives. Horizon Organic Holding Corporation Horizon Organic is not only the country's single organic national milk producer, but the unequivocal frontrunner in environmentally responsible dairy farming. Employing a network of 600 organic farms around the country, Horizon produces a full line of milk, dairy and juice products distributed in supermarkets, health food stores nationwide, and now overseas. Employee Empowerment Award: Carris Reels: The country's second largest manufacturer of reels for industrial wiring has a company mission to improve the quality of life for its employees. Bill Carris, the company's owner, has begun the process of making Carris Reels a 100% employee-owned company. The company is 35% employee-owned at this time. The employees of Carris Reels also decide which charities should benefit from the profits. These are only some of the wonderful incentives that prove how socially responsible and committed this company is. The Council on Economic Priorities also ranks corporations on their composite score of all social, employment and environmental criteria. Here's the list of top companies for 2000: Top Performing Companies Based on Grade Point Average (G.P.A., 4 pt. scale) Levi Strauss & Co. 4.00 The Council on Economic Priorities also publishes a list of "Sweatshop Laggards", the worst of the worst sweatshop abusers: The following companies, after repeated requests by CEP, either have not provided CEP with their code of conduct or have indicated they have no code of conduct. They have also not yet publicly committed to following a standard or developing a monitoring program. Bill Blass LA Gear Responsible shopper.com: www.responsibleshopper.org is an another exciting new tool to assist consumers in researching and evaluating the companies that are behind the products we buy in all categories from clothing to shoes to toothpaste. It's a very easy to use tool that has over four hundred corporations (and growing) in the database at present. Sweatshops involvement, pollution, family-friendliness, and ethics are a few of the categories of information available on this excellent site. Co-op America: www.coopamerica.org The Green PagesTM is the online version of Co-op America's popular National Green Pages. We used their "ladder of responsibility" in our previous sweatshop discussion. The Co-op America web page is a directory of thousands of socially and environmentally responsible businesses, products and services including information and tips on "green shopping" and how to support companies which do well by doing good. It is a very good starting point for becoming informed and also has many good links to other organizations. Some additional Resources focused on sweatshop activism: Department of Labor, Employment Standards Agency, Wage and Hour Division. 1200 Upshur St., NW, Washington, DC 20011; (202) 576-7100; www.dol.gov/dol/esa. Provides information on the Apparel Industry Partnership, the No Sweat campaign (including posters and brochures) and garment enforcement reports-detailing sweatshop abuse in the U.S.. The DOL also publishes By the Sweat and Toil of Children. International Labor Organization, Washington, DC Branch Office 1828 L St., NW, Suite. 810, Washington, DC 20036; (202) 653-7652; http://us.ilo.org/default.html International organization focusing on labor policy and laws. Special focus on ending child labor. Behind the Swoosh: The Struggle of Indonesians Making Nike Shoes. Edited by Jeff Ballinger and Claes Olsson. Global Publications Foundation ISBN 91-973157-0-2. By the Sweat and Toil of Children: Vols. 1-5 A series of five reports available free from the Department of Labor. DOL Bureau of International Labor Affairs, Child Labor Division, Room S-5303, Department of Labor, Washington, DC 20210; (202) 208-4843; www.dol.gov/ilab/public/media/reports/childnew.htm Free the Children : A Young Man's Personal Crusade Against Child Labor. Craig Kielburger, the young founder of Free the Children, tells his inspiring tale. Harper collins. ISBN: 0060175974. www.freethechildren.org Misery By Design: The Sweatshops Behind the
Private Labels of Federated Department Stores. The Wear Fair Action Kit. Published 1997 by the Maquila Solidarity Network and the Labour Behind the Label Coalition. A 45 page education/ action kit for those interested in getting involved in campaigns to stop sweatshops. As You Sow Foundation/Corporate Accountability Program. 540 Pacific Ave., San Francisco, CA 94133, (415)391-3212, e-mail: asyousow@igc.org. Holds corporations accountable to consumer and environmental laws. Promotes shareholder resolutions. Current campaigns focus on Disney, Nike and Wal-Mart. Campaign for Labor Rights, 1247 E Street SE, Washington, DC 20003, (541) 344-5410, www.summersault.com/~agj/clr. E-mail: CLR@igc.org . Publishes newsletter, e-mail action alerts, Web site and a Sweatshop Activist Organizing Packet. Organizes grassroots campaigns in solidarity with worker's efforts on the ground. Corporate Watch, P.O. Box 29344, San Francisco, CA 94129; (415)561-6567; e-mail: corpwatch@igc.org; www.corpwatch.org. An online magazine published by Transnational Resource and Action Center. Works to build global links for corporate accountability, human rights, and environmental justice. Focus includes Nike, GAP and global trade. Global Exchange, 2017 Mission Street #303, San Francisco, CA 94110,(415)255-7296, e-mail: info@globalexchange.org; www.globalexchange.org. A non-profit research, education, and action center dedicated to promoting people-to-people ties around the world. Monitors U.S. corporations in developing countries, supports fair trade and offers "Reality Tours." Recent focus includes Disney, GAP, Nike, Saipan and global trade. Maquila Solidarity Network, 606 Shaw Street, Toronto, ON, Canada M6L 3L6; (416)532-8584; e-mail: perg@web.net ; www.web.net/~msn A Canadian network with information on, and links to, a number of maquila and anti-sweatshop campaigns. Focus includes Gap, Nike, Phillips Van Heusen, Mattel, Woolworth, toys and promoting a Canadian taskforce to end sweatshops. National Labor Committee, 275 7th Avenue, 15th Fl., New York, NY 10001;(212)242-3002; e-mail: nlc@nlcnet.org ; www.nlcnet.org Educates and actively engages the U.S. public on human and labor rights abuses by corporations. Conducts primary research on sweatshops around the world and the companies who benefit from them. Sweatshop campaigns include Wal-Mart and "The People's Right to Know"campaign; Disney; GAP and Saipan. Resource Center of the Americas, 317 17th Ave. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414-2077; (612)627-9445; e-mail: info@americas.org; www.americas.org Educational resources that link individuals and groups across national borders. Focus includes sweatshop-free schools. Sweatshop Watch, 310 8th St., Ste. 309, Oakland, CA 94607, (510) 834-8990, e-mail: sweatwatch@igc.apc.org www.sweatshopwatch.org. A coalition of organizations committed to eliminating sweatshops. Works for a living wage and safe and decent work environments. Publishes quarterly newsletter. United Students Against Sweatshops, 1413 K St., NW, 9th Fl., Washington, DC 20005; e-mail: ebrakken@students.wisc.edu; www.umich.edu/~sole/usas; National coalition of student anti-sweatshop groups, formed the summer of 1998. Provides information on how to launch anti-sweatshop campaigns on college campuses. Verité, 49 S. Pleasant St., Third Fl., Amherst, MA 01002, (413) 253-9227, e-mail: verite@verite.org , www.verite.org. Works with businesses and other groups to monitor subcontractors overseas. Consults on codes of conduct and implementation strategies. Top of page |