It was enough to make you vomit all over your new denim jacket. The Gap has been caught using child labor in an Indian sweatshop, and not just child labor -- child slaves. As extensively reported on the news, the children, some as young as 10, were worked 16 hour days, fed bowls of mosquito-covered rice, and forced to sleep on a roof and use over-flowing latrines. Those who slowed down were beaten with rubber pipes and the ones who cried had oily cloths stuffed in their mouths.
But let's try to look at this dispassionately -- not as a human rights issue but as a PR disaster, ranking right up there with the 1982 discovery of cyanide in Tylenol capsules. Think of this as a case study in a corporate Crisis Communication course: How is The Gap handling the problem, and could it do better?
This is not the first time The Gap has been caught using child labor, but CEO Martha Hansen went on the air to state that the situation was "completely unacceptable" and that the company would "act swiftly." Two problems here: One, she failed to detail the actions. It would have been nice, for example, if she had announced that some of the top-producing child slaves would be reassigned to manage Gap outlets in American malls, and that the under-performers would be adopted by Angelina Jolie.
The other, more serious, problem is that she got defensive about child labor. This is the mistake Kathie Lee Gifford made in 1996. When accused of using child labor in Honduras to manufacture her Kathie Lee line of clothing, Gifford broke into tears on TV. Maybe Hansen meant to cover herself by saying that The Gap would not "ever, ever condone any child laborer making our garments" rather than saying the company does not condone child labor itself. We already knew, from the rubber pipes and oily cloths, that The Gap does not condone much from its child laborers.
Hansen underestimated the potential support for a full-throated defense of child labor. More and more American children are tried and punished as adults today. And the ubiquitous conservative pundit William Kristol will surely be enthusiastic, considering his recent -- though possibly facetious-- statement that "whenever I hear anything described as a heartless assault on our children, I tend to think it's a good idea."
The core of the argument, though, is that anyone who opposes child labor has not witnessed its opposite, which is child unemployment and idleness.
Hansen claims to be a mother herself, but I wonder how often she has returned home from a hard day in the C-suites to find her unemployed offspring Magic Marker-ing the walls and crushing the Froot Loops into the carpet. This is what jobless children do: They rub Crazy Glue into their siblings' hair; they spill apple juice onto your keyboard. Believe me, I see this kind of wantonly destructive behavior every day. Vandalism is a way of life for unemployed children, and they do not know the meaning of remorse.
In fact, corporate America should go further and make a strong statement against the sickening culture of dependency that has grown up around childhood. Why are jobless children so criminally inclined? Because they know that whatever damage they inflict, the Froot Loops will just keep coming. The Gap should portray its child-staffed factories as part of a far-seeing welfare-to-work program, which will eventually be extended to American children as well.
To appeal to American parents, our own child factories should be run more like Montessori schools, where the children are already encouraged to regard every one of their demented activities as "work." If they're going to pile up blocks and knock them down all day, then why not sew on buttons and bring home a little cash? But even American families will have to brace themselves for the inevitable cost cutting measures. First the cookies and milk may have to go, then, as in India, the toilets and beds. Wal-Mart has already pioneered the price-cutting defense of human rights abuses, and The Gap should follow suit.
The company can of course expect some lingering opposition. Just as there are vegetarians and pacifists, there will always be some men, for example, who would rather wear skirts than blue jeans impregnated with the excrement and tears of 10-year-olds. Well, let them shop at American Apparel or some other "sweat-free" vendor, and if they can't find anything there, let them wear dhotis. In a nation that cannot bring itself to extend child health insurance (SCHIP) to all children in need, child-made clothes make a fine fashion statement. And why not accessorize your denim jacket with a scarf derived from one of those oily cloths stuffed in weeping workers' mouths?
As for GAP's CEO. Prison. Soon. With an oily rag stuffed in her mouth 8 hours a day.
americans dont care if their clothes are made with slave labor they care about the price.
60 years of savage capitalism has created a me me society where greed is good and I want mine.
americans are so conditioned to think like the corporations want them to think most look under their beds each night for a commie socialist.
americans would not know the difference between a commie and socialist if they triped over one.
if there is a greater dumbed downed society than the american voter I have not found it.
the neo cons smile all the way to the bank as the dumb downed voters continue to support a two party system that neither party represents the voters but corporate and zionist lobbyists.
Why are Indian kids taking our jobs!
Why does this always happen tome.
These programs are NOT designed to raise the standards of the host countries.
They are solely designed to LOWER the standards of our country.
How can we expect to compete with countries like China where rural peasant girls get trapped in programs that make them work themselves to death for a sub-living wage?
We can't! So eventually we are going to find ourselves using similar tactics on our own populations just to stay "Competitive!"
NO, it's not right and we should do away with these programs that promote this type of atrocity.
Repeal Nafta, Cafta, and all the other programs that allow US corporations to outsource work to slaves in other countries.
My guess is considering most clothing is made
overseas where American retail companies do not
observe day to day operations, that there is
more that just Gap as an offender. When the object is to get the cheapest item to the US
consumer, there will always be child abuse.
Someone needs to show up un-announced in China.
Bet there are a few companies who use cheap
labor there too.
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.
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 a non-negotiable
for us. As we've demonstrated in the past, Gap has a history of addressing challenges like this head-on. 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 are working with a variety of groupsincluding government, non-governmental organizations and trade unions in
an effort to end the use of child labor.
The children are now under the
care of the local government. As our policy requires, the vendor with which our order was originally placed will be required to provide the children with access to schooling and job training, pay them an ongoing
wage and guarantee them jobs as soon as they reach the legal working
age. We will now work with the local government and with Global March, a
non-profit, child labor advocacy organization, that works to protect and
promote the rights of all children, to ensure that our vendor fulfills
these obligations.
We are working to make sure some good can come out of this.
Thank you,
Angela
Gap Inc. Customer Relations
The part about the destructive idleness of childhood ranks up there with Twain and Swift.
As for Bill Kristol...he should have his mouth stuffed with oily rags for the benefit of all...
Thank you.
someone above commented about the poisonous items from china these days, i have recently been thinking, oh now that our children our dying and suffering we want embargos? It is as I said, I will do my part, try my hardest that is to not put the well being of my child and myself over that of others.
This has brought an interesting debate, wherein i was asked what i thought would happen to the chinese if we suddenly stopped buying from china.
I responded that I hadn't insinuated that we should suddenly stop doing anything, but rather make a plan for it, a relief fund? something? i am sure there are supposedly better educated individuals out there who should be able to come up with an course of action.
When the first, notices of Coca Cola threatening and even killing would be unionizers in Colombia came out, or at least the first that I heard, I was told that the people there actually did want a boycott, yet. That they were afraid it would endanger there lives further. For this reason, they waited to call for a boycott.
So for China, plan for the boycott, or rather offer to step in and help them better there situation. So that no devastation is caused the working people.
signed
please pardon my insufferable grammar and punctuation mistakes.
We all know that slave labor in other countries is just part of the status quo, but are we so different?
Every retail operation here is America is out for a profit but unfortunately, ingenuity has been replaced by cheap labor, coupled with the immoral daily practice of profit over people.
When liberals and many members of the extreme right claim that no American will pick our cotton or clean our bathrooms, they sound just like the Southern slave farmers long ago who said the world would end if slavery was abolished. This is astonishingly regressive.
I embrace legal immigration with my whole heart, but I do not embrace criminals who come here to work as slaves and who are able find millions of slave-type jobs by just standing on the street corner. Like Lou Dobbs says, just enforce the laws on the books and punish every employer who knowlingly hires these criminals by the thousands everyday.
I am not surprised one bit that the religious right supports slave labor by advocating illegal immigration, but I am truly surprised that the Democrats support it as well. I thought Democrats supported a fair wage for every worker, but maybe I was wrong.