Rally links state to foreign sweatshops
3 Mich. contracts involve abusive firms, group says
July 4, 2008, Lansing State Journal
By David Harris
When Miranda Alger imagines her future, the recent college graduate pictures having a good job and earning enough money to allow her to live comfortably.
But Alger, a member of SweatFree Kalamazoo, said women her age who work in sweatshops in foreign countries do not have that luxury.
Alger, 32, of Kalamazoo, spoke at a SweatFree Communities rally this week outside the state Capitol to raise awareness about sweatshops around the world.
"My peers have no opportunity to imagine what their future will be like," she said.
SweatFree Communities is an organization advocating local action against sweatshops. About 25 people attended the rally.
Executive order
Victoria Kaplan, Midwest regional coordinator of the organization, called on Gov. Jennifer Granholm to sign an executive order denouncing sweatshops.
A report, released by SweatFree Communities, said Michigan has contracts with three companies - Lion Apparel, Williamson-Dickie Manufacturing Co. and Fechheimer Bros. Co. - that have sweatshops in foreign countries.
The report says that in a Dickies factory in Karachi, Pakistan, workers are paid $80 to $109 per month; a wage that has not been raised in 10 years.
"The company adheres to all applicable country labor laws and requires that all manufacturing facilities, including subcontractors, comply with country labor laws," according to a statement released by Dickies management.
At a Fechheimer plant in China, workers are paid $172 to $202 a month. There also are about 20 workers who are under the age of 14, the report says.
Interviews at the Lion Apparel factory in China were conducted by the Worker Rights Consortium, which holds corporations responsible for their workers' rights.
13-hour shifts
Workers said in the report that schedules were sometimes 13 hours per day for 30 days in a row and there were about 20 workers as young as 14 years old.
Lion Apparel officials received the WRC report Tuesday, said Andrew Schwartz, corporate counsel. "We're investigating it," he said. "We will take appropriate actions if it turns out to be true."
The state Department of Resources has contracts with Lion Apparel and Dickies, while the Michigan State Police has a contract with Fechheimer Bros. Co. to make personnel uniforms. However, the uniforms aren't made at these factories, Kaplan said.
According to the Michigan State Police contract with Fechheimer, uniforms must be made by unionized workers in the U.S.
The report conducted interviews with workers in 12 factories in nine countries. Key findings were low wages, unpaid overtime, and physical and sexual abuse.
Liz Boyd, spokesperson for Granholm, said Michigan's solicitation process for contracts requires bidders to ensure, to the best of their knowledge, that unfair working conditions are not prevalent in the companies being dealt with. "Our initial reaction is that we reject the notion that the state of Michigan is contributing to the problem," Boyd said.
Also published at:
July 6, 2008: WZZM 13 ABC
