Sweatshops

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US companies express alarm over priest’s slay

Manila Bulletin

At least seven big foreign-owned companies, including Wal-Mart, have expressed alarm over cases of killings, violence and attacks against workers on strike in Cavite.

In their joint letter on Nov. 7 to President Arroyo, the companies — American Eagle Outfitters, Gap Inc., Jones Apparel Group, Liz Claiborne Inc., PVH, Polo Ralph Lauren and Wal-Mart, expressed alarm on behalf of their companies over the "violent attacks on striking workers and the assaults and killings of labor rights promoters."

Wal-Mart responds to allegations

Tallahassee Democrat
10/15/2006

By Billy Bruce

Wal-Mart officials said allegations that the company condones the inhumane treatment of workers and turns a blind eye to abusive actions by factory operators in foreign nations are not true.

Three workers from China, Colombia and Swaziland made the allegations Friday when they spoke to a small group of FSU students at the Williams Building on campus in a program sponsored, in part, by the FSU Center for Participant Education FSU and the Florida AFL-CIO.

Group Accuses Jordan of Failing to Enforce Labor Rights

Los Angeles Times
10/17/2006

By Evelyn Iritani

For more than a year, the Bangladeshi garment workers toiled as long as 16 hours a day at a factory in Jordan's free trade zone, sewing women's apparel for companies including J.C. Penney Co. and Target Corp.

They received less than 50 cents an hour for working as many as 100 hours a week, labor activists said. Last spring, 175 workers walked out of the Atateks garment factory in Al Tajamouat Industrial City in Sahab, Jordan, at the end of an eight-hour shift after their request for more money and better working conditions was refused.

US retail giants urge Arroyo to protect human, labor rights

Inquirer (Philippines)
11/11/2006

By Nonoy Espina

IN THE latest broadside against the Philippine government’s rights record, seven major American retail outfits that source garments from the Philippines have written President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo calling for more “proactive measures” to protect human and labor rights and right advocates.

The November 7 letter, a copy of which was obtained by INQ7.net, was written in the wake of reports about “violent attacks on striking workers and the assaults and killings of labor rights promoters,” particularly in the Cavite Export Processing Zone.

U.S., Mexico Activists Fight Wal-Mart

Associated Press
11/12/2006

By Mark Stevenson

MEXICO CITY -- U.S. and local activists formed a common front on Sunday to fight the expansion of Wal-Mart stores in Mexico, saying small stores and the national culture are under threat from what is already the world's biggest retailer.

Activists from several U.S. groups and 10 Mexican labor, community and commercial organizations wrapped up a two-day meeting dubbed the First Binational U.S.-Mexico Meeting Against Wal-Mart.

An iPod Has Global Value. Ask the (Many) Countries That Make It.

New York Times
06/28/2007

Who makes the Apple iPod? Here’s a hint: It is not Apple. The company outsources the entire manufacture of the device to a number of Asian enterprises, among them Asustek, Inventec Appliances and Foxconn.

But this list of companies isn’t a satisfactory answer either: They only do final assembly. What about the 451 parts that go into the iPod? Where are they made and by whom?

Nike says corporate responsibility's a good fit

Marketplace (NPR)
05/31/2007

KAI RYSSDAL: The sneaker company turned full-service athletic apparel maker Nike released its latest report on corporate responsibility today. Its third since 2001. The first two broke new ground in the movement to make companies more accountable for how they get their goods to consumers. Marketplace's Jeff Tyler has the details on report number three.

JEFF TYLER: Corporate responsibility at Nike means more than crisis management. Nike's Hannah Jones says corporate good-citizenship is now integrated into the business model...  

The real price of cheap clothes: Bangladeshi sweatshop labourers paid just 3p an hour

Independent
12/01/2007

Bangladeshis making cheap clothes for Asda, Tesco and Primark are paid as little as 3p an hour, according to a report that claims to reveal the grim truth about Asia's sweatshops.

Basic pay in factories that cut and sew fabric for budget chains could be just £8 a month for an 80-hour week, investigation for the charity War on Want found.

China Suppliers to Move to Wal-Mart Town

Associated Press
12/06/2006

Excerpt from article:

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Chinese companies may be the next source of job creation in Wal-Mart's hometown, following in the footsteps of U.S. companies that have flocked to northwest Arkansas to work more closely with the world's largest retailer.

A leading executive search firm, Cameron Smith Associates, and another area company that works with foreign producers will host a conference in China next month to show manufacturers there how they can boost business by opening local offices to manage their accounts with Wal-Mart Stores Inc...

 

Thousands of Unpaid Teens Bag Groceries for Wal-Mart

Newsweek
08/01/2007

Wal-Mart prides itself on cutting costs at home and abroad, and its Mexican operations are no exception. That approach has helped the Arkansas-based retail giant set a track record of spectacular success in the 16 years since it entered Mexico as a partner of the country’s then-leading retail-store chain. But some of the company’s practices have aroused concern among some officials and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that Wal-Mart is taking advantage of local customs to pinch pennies at a time when its Mexican operations have never been more profitable... 

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