Gap has, once again, been exposed for poor labour practices. Gap has been plagued with questionable labour practices since the 1990s when they were first exposed for using sweatshop workers who were paid 30 cents an hour to make Gap clothing. More recently Gap has come under fire when the Observer newspaper from England exposed the Gap for using child slave labour. The Observer reported on a child slave who had been working for four months without pay and would not be allowed to leave the job until the fee his family had received was repaid. Another boy of 12 said children were beaten if bosses thought they were not working hard enough. The Gap just can't resist cheap labour in order to increase profits. When will companies wake up to the marketing of fair business practices? These negative reports continue to have detrimental effects on Gap stock.Gap, which has made commitments not to use child labour, said that only one item - a girl's smock blouse - was involved. The Gap responded to the revelation by saying that the smock blouse will not be offered for sale in the company's 3,000 stores around the world, Gap said, and instead will be destroyed.
I find it shocking that Gap's response to the use of child labour in India is to destroy the items that were produced by these workers. It would be nice to see a response that is more proactive and less wasteful of this opportunity. Perhaps Gap could use the opportunity to bring attention to the plight of indentured child labourers and promote itself as an advocate working towards solutions to address indentured child labour.
Since these products have already been produced, why not sell them with 100% of the proceeds going toward the payment required for securing these children's release from their indentured status. Obviously, Gap would thereafter end its working relationship with the factory/factories involved.
I just think that Gap should think beyond 'saving face' by destroying the garments (seems like such a waste, and doesn't really help the children), and try to think in terms of turning a bad situation into a positive opportunity. I'm sure there is some legal reason stopping such action, but wouldn't it be nice to see?
2 comments:
As a follow-up, I contacted the Gap with my suggestions and concerns. Here is their response:
Thank you for your inquiry. We wanted to write back to let you know that Gap Inc. is committed to doing business in a socially responsible way.
We have a team of 90 people around the world who are dedicated to
improving the lives of garment workers. In fact, in 2006 our vendor compliance officers conducted 4,316 inspections in 2,053 garment factories. Last year, we revoked our approval of 23 factories for compliance violations.
When we first learned about this allegation, we immediately launched an investigation. We learned that a very small portion of a particular order placed with one of our vendors was apparently subcontracted to an unauthorized subcontractor without the company's knowledge or approval. This is in direct violation of our agreement with the vendor under our Code of Vendor Conduct.
We strictly prohibit the use of child labor. This is non-negotiable for us and we are deeply concerned and upset by this allegation. As we've
demonstrated in the past, Gap has a history of addressing challenges
like this head-on, and our approach to this situation will be no
exception.
As soon as we were alerted to this situation, we stopped the work order and prevented the product from being sold in stores. As for the concern you raised involving how we are handling the merchandise, we do not believe it would be appropriate to sell or donate product involving
child labor. We will continue to work with a variety of groups
including government, non-governmental organizations and trade unions in an effort to end the use of child labor.
Thank you,
Robert
Gap Inc. Customer Relations
So that was it. I am guessing that it is more of a litigation issue than anything else. To me it is so wasteful and short-sighted to just destroy the work and not do anything about these children's specific case. But I guess I am alone in this.
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