ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, April 15, 1997 TAG: 9704150105
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Critics charge the measure doesn't go enough and will simply make "kinder, gentler" sweatshops.
Acknowledging ``sweatshop labor will not vanish overnight,'' President Clinton proposed a code of conduct Monday to help improve working conditions in the garment industry.
Joined by a task force of human rights groups, unions, religious leaders and a few clothing manufacturers, Clinton urged companies to adhere to the voluntary standards so children and adults won't have to work long hours for abysmally low pay.
``We support the proposition that businesses are in business to make a profit,'' Clinton said. ``But in our society ... we know that human rights and labor rights must be a part of the basic framework within which all businesses honorably compete.''
Some human rights groups say the code does not go far enough.
``It calls for an end to child labor, prison labor and physical abuse, but it does not set standards for work with dignity,'' said Elaine Bernard, director of Harvard's trade union program. The code, she said, is tantamount to giving ``the Good Housekeeping Seal of approval to a kinder, gentler sweatshop.''
Clinton admitted that in order for the code to succeed, it must be embraced throughout the apparel industry.
``We know sweatshop labor will not vanish overnight,'' Clinton said. ``Our real measure of progress must be in the changed and improved lives and livelihoods of apparel workers. That is why we need more companies to join this crusade.''
Highlights of the code include a guaranteed minimum wage pegged to existing standards in individual nations, a maximum 60-hour workweek with at least one day off, and an independent monitor of conditions in overseas factories used by U.S. companies.
It also would bar harassment and abuse in the workplace and prohibit using workers younger than 15.
Gene Sperling, chairman of the president's National Economic Council, said the provisions are important because sweatshops employ many of the more than 80 million children worldwide.
Nike Inc., Reebok International Ltd., Liz Claiborne Inc., L.L. Bean, Patagonia and Nicole Miller were among the corporate members who signed on to the agreement.
The code would allow participating companies to use a ``no sweatshops'' label on their garments - a designation critics said would be unfairly extended to companies like Nike, which pays Vietnamese workers 20 cents an hour.
``If this task force is serious about eliminating sweatshops, it must call on companies to pay a living wage, not just the minimum they can get away with,'' said Lora Jo Foo of San Francisco's Asia Law Caucus.
Michael Posner, a human-rights advocate who served on the task force, acknowledged the prevailing wage in some countries probably is ``not good enough.'' But, he added, members had to be realistic about stipulating a ``living wage'' all over the globe.
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