ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, September 27, 1996 TAG: 9609270043
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RADFORD
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE STAFF WRITER
RADFORD UNIVERSITY heard from a Nicaraguan maquila worker and union organizer about working conditions and what consumers can do to help.
Recently, Kathie Lee Gifford's name has been more synonymous with sweatshops, child labor and free-trade zones than her show "Regis and Kathie Lee."
The clothing line developed by the television star brought alleged labor abuses to public scrutiny after it was discovered the clothes were being made by children in Honduran factories.
A worker from a similar factory in Nicaragua spoke to Radford University students Wednesday night about conditions in sweatshops, and what Americans can do to help improve them.
"Roberto," who uses a false identity, leads a clandestine labor union movement in 12 of the 18 maquilas, or sweatshops, in the country's free-trade zone. Using his real name could mean being blacklisted and refused any work. Already, one company that suspected his union activity fired him; he could get additional work only by lying, he said.
He and four other union organizers came to the United States with the help of Witness for Peace, a human rights organization.
They came, he said, to educate people about how their clothing and other products are being made.
Through an interpreter, he told the group not to boycott brand names that are manufactured in the maquilas, but to write letters to companies about the poor working conditions and encourage them to enforce labor laws.
Under pressure from publicity brought about by the Kathie Lee Gifford line, executives from Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the largest U.S. retailer, have said they now have inspected all factories that make her line and all private lines in its stores.
The free-trade zones in Nicaragua were first established in 1976, but during the war between the Sandinista government and Contra rebels, companies left the area. By 1992, companies based in the United States, Taiwan and Korea returned, lured by tax incentives.
The main incentive for apparel manufacturers, said Allison Wolf from the National American Apparel Association, is cheap labor.
"Labor costs are extremely large, about 10 percent, and profits are usually about 4 or 5 percent" of a garment's retail price, she said in an interview. Utilizing under-educated, low-skill workers in Central America, Wolf said, frees higher-skilled jobs for Americans.
In a country with about 60 percent unemployment, any wage is helpful to Nicaraguans, she said. Often, children as young as 14 will lie to get work to help their families.
Base salary for a maquila worker is equivalent to about $15 a week, Roberto said. A group of workers can receive a bonus of about $12, but they rarely complete the work quickly enough to earn the additional money.
Workers often are asked to work for 18, sometimes 24, hours at a time, without overtime pay. He said he has seen a dramatic increase in the number of pregnant women who have suffered from spontaneous abortions because of the severe working conditions.
Typically, Wolf said, conditions are worse in factories owned by Asian companies. All companies are supposed to follow the labor laws of the country in which the factory is based. Wolf said American companies do a better job following those laws and have begun asking for advice on how to regulate factories better.
Conditions may be better in American maquilas, said Roberto, but the Nicaraguan laws are not being followed.
The Nicaraguan government should be responsible for regulating its own labor laws, he said. Right now, the labor department rarely becomes involved with worker complaints. Roberto said the government even stationed its army at three of the Taiwanese maquilas to suppress union organizing.
Elections in Nicaragua are scheduled for Oct. 20, and Roberto said his group plans to unify and tell the new government its demands for better regulation.
Until the government responds, he said, it's up to the consumer.
LENGTH: Medium: 77 linesby CNB