A Big No to Sweatshops

The president of the United States has the ability to do many things but so far not to erase sweatshop labor practices in American and overseas clothing factories. Bill Clinton, however, at least is trying.

This week he proposed a voluntary code under which U.S. clothing companies would accept the presence of independent auditors to monitor compliance with a minimum set of workplace labor laws. The code would apply whether the work was done in the United States or abroad. Companies that pay at least the legal minimum wage in the country where the work is being done, use no child labor, have a workweek of no more than 60 hours and give workers at least one day off each week would be permitted to apply a “No Sweat” label to their clothes. Cute, and potentially effective.

Some critics will argue that the code merely sets forth standards that every company in the world should be observing anyway. But in fact few companies in the clothing industry or, for that matter, in some other handwork industries adhere to these minimum legal standards.

Another objection to the presidential initiative deals with the composition of the independent panel that would monitor compliance. Some American union leaders insist that nongovernmental, religious and human rights organizations, plus union representatives, perform the process. Employers who have agreed to the code want an international firm of auditors to do that job.

This should not be an issue. As long as the auditors do not have any conflict of interest, there should be no problem. The program should have a grievance procedure, however. And there is no doubt that under a grievance process the workers would use their voice to complain about any injustice, whether covered in the code or not.

The real test for the presidential initiative will be whether consumers make the “No Sweat” label the decisive element when they go shopping for clothes. That will make all the difference.