Gap Inc Contracts Factories In 64 Countries example essay topic

Gap Inc. was founded in 1969 by Donald and Doris Fisher in San Francisco, California, with a single store and a handful of employees. Today, they " re one of the world's largest specialty retailers with three of the most recognized and respected brands in the apparel industry - Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy. Gap Inc. has more than 153,000 employees supporting over 4,200 stores in more than 3,100 locations in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Japan and Germany. Their 2004 Sales were well over $15 billion, bringing in a net income of $1.03 billion, a 115.7% income growth from previous year. Gap Inc contracts factories in 64 Countries, allegedly also making clothes within the US. And by "Made in the USA", they mean, "Made in the indigenous countries that, out of desperation, joined the United States in hopes of gaining more stable government regulations, yet remain excluded from basic employment rights and minimum wage laws".

The "guest workers" from countries like Saipan, who joined the United States in 1975 to be citizens of the "land of the free", commit themselves to conditions that are simply shameful to basic human rights. Once committed, workers who toil for 12 hours daily behind barbed-wire fences, eat infested food, sleep on cots in dormitories that they are forced to pay more 'fees' for, and work 'off the clock' hours that they aren't paid for, can't escape from the madness, unless they can pay a mandatory $10 thousand dollar fee for this "privilege". Despite over 1,000 citations over a mere 5 years in Saipan, GAP remains stern on their refusal to pay a settlement with exploited workers. One worker was quoted:" Before 1997, we called for the strike because we were forced to work overtime with no opportunity to take a holiday, we wanted to go home for the holiday. But now we have so many holidays, and we have no money to go home. There is nothing in balance...

I have no question why people commit suicide". Of course, not all of the factories that GAP contracts could possibly conduct themselves like that, right? They have model factories like the Shin Won factory in Guatemala, acclaimed by industry reps and retailers, as well as winning several exporting awards in recent years. From afar, Shin Won is just an average factory that employs simple people to make clothing. Under the microscope, Shin Won is a factory that employs underprivileged people for roughly $3.60 daily and armed guards to keep them in line. Complaints of physical / sexual harassment aren't uncommon, yet no supervisor or guard has been found guilty or disciplined for their actions.

The majority of Shin Won workers live below the poverty line, in iron shacks without indoor plumbing, running water or electricity. One of the leading contractors for GAP Inc., Par Garment Co. Ltd, knows all too well about the sweatshop market. Established in 1987, Par Garment Co. Ltd began with a capital of 14 million baht and over 800 employees. Presently, Par Garment's property alone is valued at over 288 million baht ($8.2 Million USD), yet in 2002, they only employed a mere 149 workers.

Obviously the clothing isn't making itself, so how would the Par Garment Co.'s net worth increase by twenty fold? By subcontracting orders to sweatshops in smaller undisclosed provinces after the Bangkok government cracked down on the company for refusal to pay bank loans and for victimizing the poor workers of their Bangkok-based factory. On December 18, 2002, Mr. A-CEO of Par Garment Co. Ltd- fled Bangkok without paying the workers their salary or the mandatory overtime (a total of 5 additional hours daily), while taking everything from inside the factory so the bank couldn't liquidate it. To this day, The Ministry of Labor is still targeting Mr. A for the 10 months salary he stole from the citizens of Bangkok he employed.

Out of the 334 factories that GAP contracts, 100+ of them scored a 2: "Needs Improvement", or a 1: "Immediate attention required". On a five point scale and only having 17 factories rated "Excellent", one would think that the 90 "Full Time" inspectors they employ would be able to assist in taking action against such factories. The Gap agrees... sort of:" We know that if we were to pull out of a factory every time a problem was found, management might feel inclined to hide violations rather that work with us, and issues would never be resolved. Workers would lose their jobs. However, sometimes we have no choice".

Sometimes they have no other choice then to shut down factories like Tainan Enterprises, a contractor who subcontracted to unionized factories in El Salvador. But that's okay, because the workers had other opportunities at newly contracted factories such as Leader Garments, BCT C, and Roo Sing that, unlike Tainan, are within the San Bartolo free trade zone; a zone that enforces a formal blacklist against anyone affiliated with any organized labor unions. One woman by the name of Daisy Hernandez, who lost her job at Tainan when the Gap retracted, has found rejection wherever she has applied for work in clothing manufacturing. After being hired by three different factories on three consecutive days, she had been fired a mere hour to two-and-a-half hours into her workday after each plant discovered that she had been a union supporter at Tainan:' The human resources departments in each factory told me that they were very sorry but that they couldn't hire me,' recalls Ms. Hernandez. 'And when I challenged them and asked them why, they said it was because I had worked in Tainan and had been [a union supporter]. ' Interestingly enough, the Gap contracted Leader Garments, a former subcontractor for Tainan that now happens to be in the San Bartolo free trade zone.

In late June, a garment worker and union member who had been previously employed at Tainan applied for a position as a sewing operator at Leader Garments. She reports that she passed the entrance examination and was shown to her new work-station, only to be fired a half-hour later because she was recognized as a sindicalista (a union supporter). Common complaints about Leader Garments include: impossibly high quotas, poor ventilation, filthy drinking water, and a measly $0.53 USD an hour. One worker described the factory as, "One of the worst in the zone. But we do not dare even speak of joining or forming a union.

If we do, they fire us". In the Dominican Republic, a Brother and Sister by the name of Freddy and Julia worked at the BJ&B factory, a major baseball cap producer for the Gap; 3,600 daily. Such figures where hats are retailing at $19.95 USD presumably translate into millions of dollars weekly. However, the two had a combined weekly income of $80.00; a figure well below the poverty line. Living with ten other relatives in a one story home, they can only afford to eat meat once a week.

The rest of the week they settle for beans, rice, and inexpensive vegetables. Dissatisfied with the poor conditions and low wages, Julia and Freddy along with 10 others formed a Union. In response, BJ&B quickly fired all 12, and told the rest of the workers that their actions were jeopardizing the jobs of the rest of those employed. In response, their former coworkers began to yell and shove them all out. After being rehired and fired again, Julia claimed that she had no choice other then disbanding their union and rejoining the factory with a reduced salary of $24.00 a week (formerly $35.00) because she doesn't know how to do anything else "other than sew". One employee from Lesotho claimed to develop a severe respiratory illness from the poorly ventilated Gap factory she works at.

The problem being; no factory worker is issued any safety or protective gear. The woman, Mahal i, described to reporters:' I have a problem in my chest: it aches and I cough. Sometimes the stuff comes out the same color as the fabric I am working on. Now when I cough, it comes out blue because we " re working on blue track suits.

There are no masks to protect us. ' Another woman employed in Lesotho said that she has to continually take loans at 360% APRs so she can feed and clothe her family. She makes $0.30 and hour. Another Lesothian woman said: "In June 2001, my husband died. To help pay for his burial costs, I had to borrow money from my supervisor at work -- $50 at 30 percent monthly interest. If I can't pay my $15 interest payment, my supervisor gets angry.

On payday, he goes into my pay packet and takes my wage. He doesn't give a damn... Then to buy food for my kids, I had to take out another loan for $20 from a loan shark". To think that these are just individual problems or "special cases" is outright foolish. 24 of 27 factory workers in Lesotho said that they owed money to loan sharks. Even more shocking, many loan sharks are supervisors at the factories in which these people make a living.

This means that the supervisors can deduct money from the checks of people who borrowed the money. What does this mean to the workers? Weeks of work without pay, and the need to, you guessed it, borrow more money. How could so much corruption ensue in these factories when the Gap's 90 inspectors are paid to keep tabs on violations of their Code of Conduct? One Lesotho worker had this to say:" In our factory we have this policy that we have two separate time sheets, one for the buyer and for the owner. Whenever the buyer comes, they show that person a sheet which does not have our actual salary.

The management does not show the buyer our original time sheet, the one which shows what we are actually paid. We have two time sheets, and we have to sign both sheets. If I don't then I will get fired. I have no other option but to sign both sheets.".