CEO Donald Fisher
The Gap, Incorporated
One Harrison Street
San Francisco CA 94105
U.S.A.

Dear Mr. Fisher,
As a critical customer, I want to express my concern about the sweatshop conditions and labour abuses of your subcontractors on the islands of Saipan, Mauritius and Madagascar, in Russia, Romania, Thailand and in Bangladesh, that have been brought to my attention by the Clean Clothes Campaign.

As a global company contracting in dozens of countries worldwide, The Gap has an obligation to its customers and its workers to reverse the race to the bottom in labour standards that is occurring in the garment industry. Especially since The Gap adopted it’s own code of conduct several years ago. Which would suggest an interest in promoting good labour practices. This was a first step. A second step was taken in 1995, when The Gap agread to an independent monitoring system in one of its factories in El Salvador. But these events took place years ago. Therefore I feel it really is time The Gap takes responsibility in ending labour and human rights abuses at its subcontractors. I ask you to take steps to:

- protect workers' rights, including the freedom of association and collective bargaining;

- provide a save and healthy working and living environment;

- abolish the use of labour contracts that deny workers their basic human rights;

- ban the collection of recruitment fees and create a trust fund to repay such fees for all present and former workers, and pay return passage for any present or former worker who wishes to return home; and

- set up a credible, enforceable independent monitoring system, with semiannual public reports, to ensure an end to all labour, health and safety abuses.

I suggest that you upgrade The Gap code so that it is a code that makes reference to ILO labour standards, for example such as the model code of the Clean Clothes Campaign. (Clean Clothes Campaign, P.O. Box 11584, 1001 GN Amsterdam, the Netherlands.)

I thank you for your attention to this urgent matter and look forward to hearing your response. I will also get in touch with retailers in the Netherlands that sell The Gap label to let them know about my concerns.

Sincerely,