* New York Times * Associated Press * (Portland) Oregonian

"This has been offered to us on a take it or leave it basis and we can't take it." - Alan Howard, UNITE

"Human rights groups and a union sharply criticized the agreement - which would still allow employees as young as 14 to work 60-hour weeks, often for less than $1 a day." - Associated Press

"This is a step backwards. These companies will be able to market their products as sweatshop-free - without actually making changes to sweatshop practices abroad." - Michael Shellenberger, Global Exchange

"At least one member said that the new agreement would not have happened without [Nike] and its Washington, D.C., lobbyist Brad Figel." - The Oregonian newspaper, published in Portland

New York Times November 5, 1998

After more than two years of debate, a group of human rights organizations and apparel manufacturers, including Nike, Reebok and Liz Claiborne, has reached an agreement intended to curtail sweatshops by setting up a code of conduct and a monitoring system for overseas factories used by American companies.

The group that reached the agreement hopes it will reassure American consumers that the apparel they buy is not made in sweatshops, but the nation's leading apparel union rejected the agreement Wednesday as not going far enough.

Members of the group said they would seek to carry out the agreement even though the apparel union rejected it. But several members said they feared that American consumers would feel little reassurance that apparel produced under the agreement's guidelines was not made in sweatshops.

The Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees criticized the accord for not requiring overseas factories to pay workers enough to meet their basic needs and for allowing American companies to use apparel factories in countries, including China, that repress unions.

"This agreement's not very good," said Mark Levinson, director of research at the needletrades union. "How can you talk about eliminating sweatshops without making a commitment to pay a living wage? And the agreement allows companies to produce in countries that systematically deny worker rights, and it allows them to do that without requiring them to say anything to protect rights in those countries."

Despite the union's rejection, members of the group insisted that the accord was a giant step forward in combating sweatshops. The four companies and five nonprofit groups that reached the agreement say they hope dozens more companies will sign on and comply with the agreement's requirements to insure that apparel is made under satisfactory working conditions.

"The administration is convinced this agreement lays the foundation to eliminate sweatshop labor, here and abroad," said Secretary of Labor Alexis Herman. "It is workable for business and creates a credible system that will let consumers know the garments they buy are not produced by exploited workers. We remain committed to working with all interested parties to insure its future success."

The pact grows out of a presidential task force, the White House Apparel Industry Partnership, that was set up in 1996 after embarrassing revelations that apparel produced under the Kathie Lee Gifford name was being made in sweatshops in New York and Central America.

After the task force's 18 members remained stalemated for months, nine of the group's more centrist members began negotiating among themselves and finished thrashing out an agreement on Monday. This group presented the agreement to the other members Monday night in the hope that they would accept it.

"It's incredibly important," said Roberta Karp, general counsel of Liz Claiborne and co-chairwoman of the task force. "It's the foundation to move forward to make a real difference in working conditions around the world. It requires monitoring by independent monitors as well as public reporting for the first time ever. It's simply unparalleled."

In interviews Wednesday, officials with the apparel union said they would no longer participate in the presidential task force if other members moved forward with the new agreement.

"We cannot continue to participate in this effort on the basis of this agreement," said Alan Howard, assistant to the president of the needletrades union. "This has been offered to us on a take it or leave it basis and we can't take it."

Companies that participate hope that by complying with the code of conduct and monitoring system, they will be able to boast - perhaps through advertisements or by tags on their apparel - that their products are sweatshop-free.

The nine task force members that reached the new agreement are Liz Claiborne, Nike, Reebok, Phillips Van Heusen, Business for Social Responsibility, the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, the National Consumers League, the International Labor Rights Fund and the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights.

Four other corporate task force members, L.L. Bean, Patagonia, Nicole Miller and Kathie Lee Gifford, have accepted the new agreement.

"This agreement is only the beginning," President Clinton said. "We know that sweatshop labor will not vanish overnight. While this agreement is a historic step, we must measure our progress by how we change and improve the lives and livelihoods of apparel workers here in the United States and around the world. That is why I urge more companies to join this effort."

Several corporate members said that if the task force accepts the stricter requirements sought by union leaders, that would make it harder to persuade more companies to join the effort.

Under the agreement, factories used by American companies could not use forced labor and could not require employees to work more than 60 hours each week. In addition, the agreement prohibits factories from employing children younger than 15, although employment of 14-year-olds would be allowed when the country of manufacture allows employment at that age.

The agreement also requires employers to pay the minimum wage required by local law or the prevailing industry wage, whichever is higher. Labor unions have repeatedly complained that in countries like Indonesia and Vietnam, both the minimum wage and prevailing wage are too low to support a family.

Under the accord, a new entity, the Fair Labor Association, would be set up to oversee compliance. The new association would certify which monitors could examine factories, and it could expel companies that do not comply with the code. Many of the monitors would be accounting firms, but the accord urges all monitors to work with nongovernmental groups, like human rights groups, to get an accurate picture of conditions.

The agreement calls for companies to monitor all their factories themselves, but in addition requires outside monitors to examine 30 percent of a company's factories in the three years after a company agrees to comply with the code of conduct. In subsequent years, about 10 percent of a company's factories would be inspected annually.

Officials with the needletrades union said it was insufficient for only one-tenth of a company's factories to be monitored each year.

"The monitoring is badly flawed," Howard said. "We don't think it's very independent monitoring and the companies pick their monitors and the factories to be monitored so there won't be surprise inspections."

The union's biggest criticism is the accord's failure to require that companies pay a living wage.

Human rights groups that backed the agreement said they persuaded the companies to agree to a Department of Labor study on the minimum and prevailing wages in relevant countries and how those wages compare with the amount needed to meet workers' basic needs.

"Those of us on the nongovernment organization side are continuing to fight for higher wages in this industry," said Michael Posner, executive director of the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights. "This issue is central to our thinking going forward. Remember, this a first step and we have a lot of work to do to make this work."

by Verena Dobnik, Associated Press November 5, 1998

NEW YORK (AP) - A White House task force that included Nike and Reebok and grew out of the Kathie Lee Gifford sweatshop scandal has agreed to a pact that protects workers at overseas factories.

Human rights groups and a union sharply criticized the agreement - which would still allow employees as young as 14 to work 60-hour weeks, often for less than $1 a day.

President Clinton praised the deal, calling it a "historic step toward reducing sweatshop labor around the world."

Under the accord, American manufacturers pledge not to do business with companies that use forced labor or require employees to work more than 60 hours a week.

Companies will prohibit hiring children younger than 15 except in countries where 14-year-olds can work legally. Contractors will be required to pay the minimum wage mandated by local law or the prevailing industry standard, whichever is higher.

A watchdog group, the Fair Labor Association, will oversee compliance and certify outside monitors to investigate factories.

Mrs. Gifford did not return several messages on Thursday seeking comment. The White House Apparel Industry Partnership was created in 1996 after it was discovered that Mrs. Gifford's clothing line was made in Honduran sweatshops.

Michael Posner, executive director of the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, called the monitoring "a first step in establishing accountability that will change how the industry operates. The reality is, minimum wages are generally not high enough."

The agreement follows "recognized worldwide standards, not American standards," said Roberta Karp, co-chairwoman of the task force and general counsel for Liz Claiborne, whose apparel is made in 30 countries.

Nike, Reebok, Liz Claiborne and Phillips-Van Heusen helped negotiate the accord. Mrs. Gifford, L.L. Bean, Patagonia and Nicole Miller all have signed on.

Critics charge that wages earned by workers producing American goods in countries like Vietnam and Indonesia are too low to support a family.

"This is a step backwards. These companies will be able to market their products as sweatshop-free - without actually making changes to sweatshop practices abroad," says Michael Shellenberger, spokesman for Global Exchange, a San Francisco-based human rights group.

"How can you talk about eliminating sweatshops without making a commitment to pay a living wage?," said Mark Levinson, chief economist for the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees, a task force member that dropped out in opposition to the deal.

Nike is participating in the apparel industry partnership pledging to allow
independent monitors into factories and make summaries of the audits public

by Jeff Manning, The Oregonian November 4 1998

After two years of often tough negotiating, Nike Inc. and a handful of other U.S. companies have reached preliminary agreement on a precedent-setting anti-sweatshop accord.

Some, but not all, members of the Apparel Industry Partnership, a group President Clinton formed 26 months ago, unveiled the agreement Tuesday. Member companies pledged to allow independent monitors into some factories and make summaries of the audits public.

Clinton said in a prepared statement that the accord will "give American consumers confidence that the clothes they buy are made under decent and humane working conditions. Today's agreement...is an historic step toward reducing sweatshop labor around the world."

Nike Chairman Phil Knight said: "This is a historic agreement for everyone involved - manufacturers, workers and nongovernmental organizations - all who sought a level playing field within the global marketplace. It is a good beginning with more work still to be completed."

The often fractious nature of the partnership's negotiating sessions continued to Tuesday's announcement. Some charter members of the group have thus far refused to sign onto the agreement.

The Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility, a New York-based religious human rights group, is one of the organizations with misgivings, particularly when it comes to wages, monitoring and public accountability.

"The significant issue for us is whether it goes far enough," said David Schilling of the Interfaith Center. Schilling said his group will make a final decision today on whether to participate.

Schilling and most of the other nonprofit-sector members of the partnership met for more than two hours Tuesday afternoon in New York. Members supportive of the accord were trying to persuade the Interfaith Center and the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees to come on board, Schilling and two other sources said.

UNITE officials were unavailable for comment.

Private-sector members of the partnership include Nike, Reebok International Ltd., Liz Claiborne, Phillips Van Heusen, Patagonia, L.L. Bean and Tweeds. Other nonprofit members are the International Labor Rights Funds, the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights and the National Consumers League.

Highlights of the accord included:

• A requirement that member companies undertake comprehensive internal factory monitoring as well as submit "a significant number" of factories to external independent monitoring.
• Creation of a new association to be jointly controlled by the companies and labor and human rights groups that will oversee workplace practices, monitoring and company compliance. This new organization will select the groups to do the external monitoring.
• Regular public reports on the performance of individual companies in complying with labor standards.

Wages were a consistent sticking point between the two camps. The partnership agreement calls for the U.S. Department of Labor to launch a study of factory salaries, poverty levels and purchasing power in apparel and footwear producing countries.

Beyond that, the agreement calls only for the new association to review the data and "consider their implications" on factory wages and their code of conduct.

Nike, a company at the flashpoint of the Asian sweatshop controversy, was often at the center of the heated negotiations inside the partnership. At least one member said that the new agreement would not have happened without the company and its Washington, D.C., lobbyist Brad Figel.

"There were times when Nike and Brad really held this together," said Kevin Sweeney, director of communications for Patagonia, a Ventura, Calif., outdoor apparel company.

[See Analysis in Part 1 and Documents in Part 2.]