Sweatshop Panel Agrees on Monitor, Some Standards

A White House task force engaged in a groundbreaking effort to eliminate apparel industry sweatshops will propose an independent workplace monitoring system and international standards to address the problems of child labor and harassment.

But the group, which has been studying the sweatshop issue for six months, remains deeply divided over the issue of standards for wages and hours, sources close to the discussions said Friday.

The task force--which includes business giants such as Nike and Liz Claiborne, unions, consumer groups and talk show host Kathie Lee Gifford--is expected to present a full list of recommendations to the White House this month or in early March.

President Clinton is expected to endorse the group’s proposals and urge major retail chains and apparel manufacturers to voluntarily adopt the standards for both domestic and foreign operations. The effort could have a major effect on apparel industry conditions worldwide. U.S. Labor Department officials say sweatshops are a major problem in the Los Angeles area, which is the nation’s largest producer of apparel.

But the task force is far from an agreement on the critical issue of wages. Some members of the group argue that apparel manufacturers and their contractors should not be considered sweatshops if they pay the local minimum wage or prevailing wage.

However, the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees, known as UNITE, the apparel union represented on the task force, has favored setting minimums to ensure a “living” wage, said sources associated with the group.

Similarly, the group has not yet reached a consensus on maximum working hours and the sticky issue of whether workers should be paid overtime.

The task force has agreed that the public should be informed which companies are complying with the proposed standards. They have not, however, determined how to notify consumers of compliance.

Some members favor a “no sweat” label that would be attached to a garment. Such a label would assure consumers that the product was made in compliance with international labor standards. The National Retail Federation has been critical of such an approach, suggesting that there is no way to ensure that each garment is made in compliance with such standards.

The task force believes such assurances can be given if manufacturers agree to an independent inspection system. While such a system has been agreed to in principle, it has not been determined who would make the inspections or how they would be financed.

The task force has also agreed that no children younger than 14 should be employed in apparel plants and that sexual or other harassment should be prohibited. Discrimination based on race, sex or nationality would also be barred.

The task force was formed following a spate of scandals in the apparel industry. Former Labor Secretary Robert B. Reich sought volunteers for the task force and announced its formation on Aug. 2, 1996, exactly one year after government labor investigators liberated more than 60 Thai workers held in virtual slavery at a garment sweatshop in El Monte.

The sweatshop issue flared again when union activists found that children were employed by a Honduras sewing contractor that produced clothing for Gifford’s line of garments sold at Wal-Mart.

The controversies have generated public concern about working conditions in the apparel industry, said Linda Golodner, co-chairwoman of the task force and president of the Washington-based National Consumers League.

“We get calls and letters from consumers who care about this,” she said. “The task force is dedicated to doing something to make the apparel industry a better place to work.”