Clothing retailer Gap Inc. has released a report detailing violations of workers'
rights at some of the approximately 3,000 garment factories worldwide that make
the products it sells.
The retailer's investigation discovered that the violations included forced
labor, child labor, paying below minimum wage, and physical punishment, Reuters
reports.
The company says it conducted the study as part of its effort to improve working
conditions at the factories it uses.
Paul Pressler, the company's president and chief executive, says in the executive
summary of the report that when he joined the company in 2002, his daughter
asked: "Doesn't Gap use sweatshops?"
The company has a Code of Vendor Conduct, which prohibits, among
other things, child labor, forced labor, and discrimination. Each year, the
company sends compliance officers to each factory for inspections, Reuters reports.
In 2003, Gap ended its business relationship with 136 factories for compliance
violations, including 42 of the 464 factories in China, Reuters notes.
"This company is trying to use its sourcing power to improve working conditions
and labor rights, and that's really what we ask of giant retailers," says
Bruce Raynor, president of UNITE, the union for clothing and textile workers.
"By no means do I say there are not problems in Gap factories. There are
many. But there have been some concrete, constructive steps taken."
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