Report: Gap uses child labor in India

[Saguaro]

LONDON - A British newspaper reported Sunday that it found children as young as 10 making clothes in a sweatshop in New Delhi, India, that the Gap Inc. fashion chain planned to sell in the West.

The Observer quoted the children as saying they had been sold to the sweatshop by their families in Indian states such as Bihar and West Bengal and would not be allowed to leave until they had repaid that fee.
Some, working as long as 16 hours a day to hand-sew clothing, said they were not being paid at the unidentified Gap supplier because their employer said they were still trainees.

The Observer quoted one boy identified only as Jivaj as saying that child employees who cried or did not work hard enough were hit with a rubber pipe or had oily cloths stuffed into their mouths.
The paper said the sweatshop, or "derelict industrial unit," that it found during its investigation in New Delhi was "smeared in filth, the corridors flowing with excrement from a flooded toilet."

The Observer printed a photograph of one of the child workers, and British Broadcasting Corp. television broadcast what it said was footage of the youngsters taken at the sweatshop by an unidentified German TV crew.

According to a statement issued Sunday by Gap, the San Francisco-based company first learned of the child labor allegations from The Observer last week.

An Indian vendor assigned work on an item for the company's GapKids line to an unauthorized subcontractor "in direct violation of our agreement," the statement said.

"As soon as we were alerted to this situation, we immediately began an investigation," the statement said. "In addition, we took immediate steps to stop the work order and to prevent the product from being sold in our stores."

Gap did not immediately cut ties with the supplier it accused of improper subcontracting, but a spokesman said the company was taking the breach of its child labor policies "extremely seriously."

"We're willing to end relationships with vendors when they don't meet our standards," Gap spokesman Bill Chandler told The Associated Press.

The company requires its suppliers to guarantee that they will not use child labor to produce garments, Chandler said. Gap stopped working with 23 factories last year over violations uncovered by its inspectors, he said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071028/ap_on_bi_ge/britain_gap_child_labor;_ylt=AqklUbr7sPITQzqrvaTn4 Bes0NUE

[Saguaro]

I used to shop at Gap 2 for the grandaughters.I will not shop there again

[Sweet Tart]

Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic are all the same company. This kind of sucks :(

[Saguaro]

I only shopped Gap 2
Thanks for the info ,I will steer clear of the others also

[Coco]

:cry I worked for Gap Inc

[Semantics]

Gap had another scandal like this a few years ago and had supposedly cleaned up their act.

Guess not.

Gap does a lot of charity work but at this point I'm TI(RED) :snicker of companies who take advantage of poor countries with lax child labor laws. They can claim ignorance all they want to, but they have to be well aware of where their clothing is manufactured. :no

[Kurtz]

Corporations want to increase their profits or their stockholders will suffer. :whistle

[Wabash]

Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic are all the same company. This kind of sucks :(

I never shop them anyway....I can go to Goodwill or Salvation Army stores and buy named brand stuff that is like new for a fraction of the price! My wife shops there first ...always! I can't believe some of the stuff that's donated and I can get for pennies on the dollar.



I used to shop at Gap 2 for the grandaughters.I will not shop there again
I used to like Fords...but since they are openly courting the homosexuals...I boycott anything they sell...same for Disney!

[Kurtz]

I never shop them anyway....I can go to Goodwill or Salvation Army stores and buy named brand stuff that is like new for a fraction of the price! My wife shops there first ...always! I can't believe some of the stuff that's donated and I can get for pennies on the dollar.




I used to like Fords...but since they are openly courting the homosexuals...I boycott anything they sell...same for Disney!


:lmao

[Sweet Tart]

I think you should boycott TPA since Q is courting homosexuals :snicker

[Kurtz]

That has got to go in the quotes!! :lmao

[Wabash]

I think you should boycott TPA since Q is courting homosexuals :snicker

Ohhhhhhhh, tell me it Ain't so!

[Sweet Tart]

You obviously don't visit the asylum part of TPA very much :para

[Wabash]

You obviously don't visit the asylum part of TPA very much :para

Probably not...I'm "forum specific"...:hotdog

Hell, I've never even noticed it!:rofl2

nope...just looked...don't see it!

[The Q]

Oh this pisses me off so bad I can't even think straight.

Fucking fucked up U.S. fucking capitalist motherfuckers who want something for nothing. Why do you think it's so cheap over there you useless pieces of fucking SHIT?

God it makes me so fucking SICK.

Fuck GAP.

ADQ

[Wabash]

Oh this pisses me off so bad I can't even think straight.

Fucking fucked up U.S. fucking capitalist motherfuckers who want something for nothing. Why do you think it's so cheap over there you useless pieces of fucking SHIT?

God it makes me so fucking SICK.

Fuck GAP.

ADQ

I take it that this was a generic post?:hide

[Saguaro]

Oh my :eek but I sure am with you on that Q

[Wabash]

Oh this pisses me off so bad I can't even think straight.

Fucking fucked up U.S. fucking capitalist motherfuckers who want something for nothing. Why do you think it's so cheap over there you useless pieces of fucking SHIT?

God it makes me so fucking SICK.

Fuck GAP.

ADQ

It's not just the capitalists that want it.......much of average America does too...and continue to buy this stuff from the stores listed...most people don't give a rip where anything comes from or how it's made.......that's why WalMart is king of the heap...

[Saguaro]

LONDON - Clothing retailer Gap Inc. said Sunday that it will convene all of its Indian suppliers to "forcefully reiterate" its prohibition on child labor after a British newspaper found children as young as 10 making Gap clothes at a sweatshop in New Delhi.

The Observer newspaper quoted the children as saying they had been sold to the sweatshop by their families in Indian states such as Bihar and West Bengal and would not be allowed to leave until they had repaid that fee.

Some, working as long as 16 hours a day to hand-sew clothing, said they were not being paid because their employer said they were still trainees.

Gap said it first learned of the child labor allegations last week and discovered the sweatshop was being run by a subcontractor that a vendor had hired in violation of Gap's policies. The product made there will be destroyed so it cannot be sold in Gap stores, company spokesman Bill Chandler said.

"We appreciate that the media identified this subcontractor, and we acted swiftly in this situation," Chandler told The Associated Press on Sunday. "Under no circumstances is it acceptable for children to produce or work on garments."

The Observer quoted one boy identified only as Jivaj as saying that child employees who cried or did not work hard enough were hit with a rubber pipe or had oily cloths stuffed into their mouths.

The paper said the sweatshop, or "derelict industrial unit," that it found during its investigation in New Delhi was "smeared in filth, the corridors flowing with excrement from a flooded toilet."

The Observer printed a photograph of one of the child workers, and British Broadcasting Corp. television broadcast what it said was footage of the youngsters taken at the sweatshop by an unidentified German TV crew.

Gap did not immediately cut ties with the supplier it accused of improper subcontracting, but Chandler said the company was taking the breach of its child labor policies "extremely seriously."

"We're willing to end relationships with vendors when they don't meet our standards," he said.

The company requires its suppliers to guarantee that they will not use child labor to produce garments, Chandler said, and Gap stopped working with 23 factories last year over violations uncovered by its inspectors. The San Francisco-based company has 90 full-time inspectors who make unannounced visits around the world to ensure vendors are abiding by Gap's guidelines, he said.

Gap has about 2,000 suppliers worldwide, including about 200 in India, Chandler said.

The company plans to convene all of its suppliers in the India region at a summit in the coming weeks to "forcefully reiterate the prohibition on any child labor," he said.

Marka Hansen, president of Gap North America, said its prohibition of child labor is non-negotiable.

"While violations of our strict prohibition on child labor in factories that produce product for the company are extremely rare, we have called an urgent meeting with our suppliers in the region to reinforce our policies," Hansen said in a statement. "Gap Inc. has one of the industry's most comprehensive programs in place to fight for workers' rights overseas."

Besides its chain of Gap stores, the company also owns Old Navy and Banana Republic and operates more than 3,100 stores in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Ireland and Japan.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071028/ap_on_bi_ge/britain_gap_child_labor;_ylt=AlptuP4uuPER.dJvIm6HU OGs0NUE

[Saguaro]

They should have known, this is NO excuse

[Wabash]

They should have known, this is NO excuse

Sure they do, and nothing will change!.... and NOW, the labor force will be taken underground, away from snoopes... and the practice will continue.

[The Q]

It's not just the capitalists that want it.......much of average America does too...and continue to buy this stuff from the stores listed...most people don't give a rip where anything comes from or how it's made.......that's why WalMart is king of the heap...

Excellent point, Wabby.

ADQ

[Wabash]

Excellent point, Wabby.

ADQ

Tankyouberrymudge..

[quiet man]

labor costs are why these practices continue!

[Sweet Tart]

Wabby is right, though. And GapCo isn't the only one, they are just the company that caught :(

[Kurtz]

I've never understood how 'American's' fight for
democracy yet promote capatilism to this point
of dehumanization, doesn't make sense to me.

It's like fightin' for people to die, doesn't make sense. :confused


Gawd, don't let me get started on the evils of capitalism. :lol

[Yellowdogtexan]

This American Life had a great story on Cambodia which has adopted the toughest labor laws in the far East as part of a Clinton era program. Cambodia has US style minimum wage laws and the prohibition of child labor that is actually enforced. As a result their labor cost are higher but there is no child labor or abuse of workers. The recent that this is relevant is that The Gap was one of Cambodia's largest customers because that store was supporting the use of fair labor.

Hopefully this story will encourage people to use labor in countries with strong labor laws like Cambodia.

[Yellowdogtexan]

Here is a link to This American Life episode onCambodia and its use of fair labor. http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?sched=1158Rachel Louise Snyder reports on the struggle to save the Cambodian economy. Right now, Cambodia is competing with other nations for the business of big clothing companies all over the world, buyers like the Gap, Nike, Adidas. But they've vowed to follow fair labor practices, which, while eliminating sweatshops for workers, also makes their costs higher. Other countries end up with the contracts — and the profits. So an official Cambodian committee sets out on a mission to convince the U.S. Congress to give them a special trade agreement, before time runs out. With additional reporting by producer Lisa Pollak. (30 minutes)The Gap was one of the key customers of Cambodia mentioned in this story. I expect that Cambodia may get a few more orders after this screwup

[Wabash]

I've never understood how 'American's' fight for
democracy yet promote capatilism to this point
of dehumanization, doesn't make sense to me.

It's like fightin' for people to die, doesn't make sense. :confused


Gawd, don't let me get started on the evils of capitalism. :lol

There's nothing wrong with the concept of capitalism, most everything we have or use is "because" of capitalism. It is the Greed of certain individuals that cause it to be renedered evil. That greed, runs the gamut from Corp. CEO to the consumer.

[Pristine]

All the more reason to Ebay... ;)

[The Q]

There's nothing wrong with the concept of capitalism, most everything we have or use is "because" of capitalism. It is the Greed of certain individuals that cause it to be renedered evil. That greed, runs the gamut from Corp. CEO to the consumer.

Wabash you're on a roll in this thread.

This may be the highest concentration of insightful posts I've ever seen from you.

:lol

ADQ

[Wabash]

Wabash you're on a roll in this thread.

This may be the highest concentration of insightful posts I've ever seen from you.

:lol

ADQ

Thank you....but notice...a certain party will not say anything nice to me about it...only disparages me when the opportunity arises!

It's funny, I can make good sense here, but my good sense is not recognized in other areas!:wink
I don't get it.

[Sweet Tart]

:waiting

[The Q]

Thank you....but notice...a certain party will not say anything nice to me about it...only disparages me when the opportunity arises!

It's funny, I can make good sense here, but my good sense is not recognized in other areas!:wink
I don't get it.

Take it from my Wabby---you can't please everybody.

ADQ

[Wabash]

Take it from my Wabby---you can't please everybody.

ADQ

Well, I came to that realization many years ago...but I still have hope! Some go out of their way to give me digs!

[Wabash]

:waiting

WHAT?

[The Q]

Well, I came to that realization many years ago...but I still have hope! Some go out of their way to give me digs!

You should administrating an internet message board sometime. :snicker


ADQ

[Wabash]

You should administrating an internet message board sometime. :snicker


ADQ

Why would I want to?:)