October 28, 2007
-
Child Labor and Gap
It is being reported that children as young as 10 were making clothes in what is called a “sweatshop” in India that would be sold in Gap stores.
The children are said to have been sold to the sweatshop by their families. The children would not be allowed to leave until they repaid the debt.
The workers would work some days as long as 16 hours. Some of them were not being paid because they were told they were still trainees. Here is the link: Link
When I read stuff like this about Gap and Walmart, I think it would be hard for them to keep up with what every supplier is doing.
Do you think Gap is responsible for the age of workers and working conditions of its suppliers?
Comments (61)
I don’t know how they couldn’t know.
it disappoints me, though. . . I like Gap clothes; they’re well-made.
OF COURSE!
These are just kids!
No ignorance is a good excuse, unless their ignorance is intentional. Making zero effort to know what is going on, is the same as condoning it
Well, they obviously don’t CARE, or they would have made sure it wasn’t happening. As to whether they supported the decision to use underage workers… who knows.
Now that it’s out, yes. I don’t think it was their responsibility to see and inspect how their clothes were being made other than checking it after receiving the finished product. However, now that this is known information, they are responsible.
My uncle once bought me a GAP shirt when he was stationed in South Korea. He joked that he took it directly from the hands of a child laborer.
All corporations should be held responsible for the age and working conditions of their suppliers.
i dunno, do you think the kids were making product red stuff?
I think they should check in on their companies more. I do think they should know who their workers are and how they are treated. All companies are responsible to those who work for them.
there you go again making me think… i have an icky head cold and just don’t wanna…
Definitely. They have a responsibility to know where their clothing comes from.
Definitely they only care about making a profit
Yes but at the same time childhood is different in third world countries. Childhood is something only the very rich can afford. The west takes so much for granted. Beter a sweat shop and a family have food to eat than everyone dead from starvation. Parents love their children just as much in India.
I would blame as much as humanly possible on Gap. As a matter of fact, I wish I could blame global warming on the Gap.
I don’t know! Go Red Sox!!
Umnenga
She is right we can’t demand that other cultures, abide by western standards of what is a child and what type of work a child should do. Now the virtual slavery aspects of this is another story. That is something were we should impose our western standards.
Well…I hate kids, so I’m okay with them being exploited to make clothes. I just wish they’d make better clothes.
If only my suit were made from the suffering of war orphans!
In a way.
If the stories are true, even if not directly responsible, Gap and Walmart are responsible for creating the demand for the child laborers. Not only that, they must have been monitoring the situation of their financial investments abroad; so they would have known. Known and done nothing about it.
“She is right we can’t demand that other cultures, abide by western standards of what is a child and what type of work a child should do.”
This idea goes so far. There is an universal morality that extends beyond geography and culture. Everywhere murder is wrong. Just because it’s genocide in Armenia doesn’t mean we can’t apply moral judgement. And just because it’s the Rape of Nanking and Chinese civilians raped and murdered (and not Western European ones) doesn’t mean we must turn a blind eye.
I’m fairly certain we can all agree that child exloitation, regardless of the cultural context, is wrong. The situation here is more than a child working, but children being forced 16 hour work days.
“I would blame as much as humanly possible on Gap. As a matter of fact, I wish I could blame global warming on the Gap.”
I see how you’re homeless and jobless at 21.
Gap companies should have known about it. If not they really need to work on that.
Maybe they weren’t responsible before, but they’re responsible now that the information is out, otherwise they’re gonna be in trouble. ):
RYC: thankyew. 8D It was the best concert in the whole wide world. *wide-eyed kiddie face*
Ethically, I think they should check into their suppliers before buying from them and child labor is a huge no-no. So, yeah OF COURSE they should be responsible.
not uless it is a monopoly and the corporation directly controls the production on all levels. since i know that they don’t it was not their responsibility until now. now they don’t use that supplier because there is little else that can be done.
They must have known… And thus condone it at the very least.
Yeah, I do. Because if they’re not responsible for it, who is going to be? I would think because they’re in a position of power, protecting the employees of suppliers from exploitation is an element of CSR.
It is always difficult to keep up with offshore suppliers, unless they put an observer on each site. And how can they be completely trusted when bribery works so well in most parts of the world.
Nevertheless, I think the are willfully ignorant. That makes them somewhat liable. But buyers in this country are largely responsible too. We should know that one doesn’t get bargain basement prices without cost to someone somewhere. Yet we continue to support places like WalMart.
I’m not gonna answer that. Instead I have a question…
Hey consumers! Would you pay 300% MORE for clothes that were well made in the United States knowing that unskilled 18 year olds just out of high school got a living wage and health benefits for making them?
I want to have sex with idealists, but GOD they are stupid!
They are just doing what everybody would do. They are overlooking the issue.
Just like how ABC Landscaping that mows your yard most likely employs many illegal Mexicans.
It is not your fault they do it, but they do a good job and is doesn’t cost you much, so you overlook it.
If the people forcing kids to work are employed on the Gap payroll, then Gap would be responsible.
But how could the Gap be responsible for the illegal actions of ANOTHER company?
no, i don’t think they are, but they probably should be concerned about it and not be supporting it..??
RYC: I just sold a book I listed last night for $32.00. I paid for Christmas last year by selling used books on Amazon.com. You should really check it out.
Yes.
I don’t know…
But I would hope they plan to do something about it now.
My GAP jeans are my favorites.
Of course it’s hard. But a multi multi multi million corporation shouldn’t be an easy thing to acquire, either. I mean, if you’re going to go the moral way and think we all live on the Disney Channel.
They should have investigated, though.
i think they are responsible for the loss of a hell of a lot of american jobs.
When corporations look at nothing but the bottom line, this sort of thing will always happen. The “suits” will look the other way and hope they make as much profit as possible before somebody blows the whistle. Profit in itself isn’t bad. God knows I’m not a Marxist. But profit should be measured in more ways than piles of gold at the end of the day.
They knew. They definitely knew.
Souless bastards.
This is news to some people? I wrote an article about child labor and gap for my high school news paper, and I graduated 3 years ago!
There are 2 things that suprise me about this though. 1) Gap publicly announced a couple years ago that they were switching to more ethical means of production, so how are they getting away with this? 2) The UN banned that sort of labor (selling your kids to “work off their debt”) in, I think, the 70s. So how can they do that, especially now that’s it’s obviously common knowledge?
Also, saying this shouldn’t be happening is not “imposing american beliefs on other cultures” because more than likely the country they’re outsourcing to is in the UN or has some other law outlawing this. Most of the industrialized world has adopted some degree of child labor laws.
And this is extremely bad for the economy of the country. A few rich families own all the indentured slaves and are continually getting richer. The rest of the country is so poor they have to sell their kids to survive, and more than likely they’re dying anyway from their own time spent in the factories in horrible conditions, and usually with some pretty severe injuries (if they live even up to 18 they’re lucky). Most of these kids will die doing their job, or by mistreatment of their “owner,” or by some sort of cancer or lung disease. So they’re causing extreme class stratification, and killing off the population of their country.
Now I’m not saying we should bomb these countries, because apparently that’s how America “helps” people, but something should be done about this!
No…as least they are busy and not making trouble like the America kids are.
Personally I think that a company like the Gap should have the resources to check out their suppliers prior to using them.
Of course they are…corporations are responsible for all of thier employees.
Yes.
You can’t do much about the way a company works on foreign soil. People say buy this brand, or buy that, then later on they find that the company they say has no”child” labor is just as bad. It’s how the vast majorities of markets work today. If you want good clothing at a “fair” price, you have to decide where you want to get them. It kind of makes my choice of buying “mostly used” a good choice.
Doesn’t every franchise store do this? I mean, we don’t really have any proof, other than a British newspaper. OK, I’m not saying I don’t believe it, but I am skeptical to believe everything I read. And it wouldn’t surprise me if all the stores were doing the same thing anyway. Not that that justifies it at ALL. I don’t know what to do about it though. I can’t afford The Gap anyway.
Yes and No. Yes because they (Gap) are educated. No because where there is a need for cheap labor, people will work.
I think it’s their responsibility to know where their clothes come from.
We can’t go over there and change their work laws because they don’t match ours, they’d throw imperialism in our face more than they ["they" as in the rest of the world] already do. We can, however, choose not to get supplies and such from places that use child labor, or ridiculous work hours.
This reminds me of the movie Zoolander.
YOU MUST KILL THE PRIME MINISTER OF MALASYIA!
they should know. it’s not like they don’t have management or auditors.
I’m sure if they investigated further, they would discover that it’s Al Gore’s fault!
you want to give me a new link telling me what walmart is doing??? cause i wasn’t informed about the child labor… want a link if you’re going to blame walmart for something.
This doesn’t count as human trafficking?
“Gap and Walmart are responsible for creating the demand for the child laborers.”
I disagree. There is always a demand for cheap labor. People in certain countries take advantage of people in bad situations to turn a buck.
People often shop at places with lower prices because, well, the prices are lower. This isn’t wrong. However, it starts to become an ethical issue when the lower prices are achieved through exploitation.
I have less of an issue with voluntary child labor since, even if it sucks compared to our idea of fair, the child is often better off for it. However, the idea of being forced into it makes it less palatable.
yes it is, they should know what their individual factories are doing.
Tough question. As much as the corporation is responsible, I think the consumer is responsible too. **guilt**
whether Gap knew about it isn’t the point here, this kind of child labor happens around the world — and while it’s ugly, i personally think that people need to be worried about the sexual slavery that thousands of young children are exploited in AROUND THE ENTIRE WORLD, including the USA. sure, i don’t want to have clothes that a child was forced to make, and this is a terrible thing.. but at least these children have a place to live/food while they’re working in this sweatshop. that’s more than a HUGE part of the population (men, women, and children) in India can say. terrible, but where do we start helping? how do we give everyone there a meal, and somewhere to live? people have tried giving homes to some of the poorest people in India — free and clear, and never having owned anything, most of those same people sold their homes that had been given to them, and ended up far worse than they had been to begin with. we need to EDUCATE these people with what one does with belongings before/just as they are given to them, or else it’s so often done with good intentions, yet still in vain. how does a person that never had anything before react to having all of their dreams in one day? how do they keep up the homes that they’re given, if they’ve never had one? EDUCATION about the everyday things that they need to know as well as good safe jobs, schools and food enough for everyone, but education needs to be an important part of it! now that the news media had caught the world’s attention about this matter — they need to show us all what we can do to not only “give them fish”, but to “teach them how to fish” – so that they can begin feeding themselves (with our help in the beginning, sure — but the people in their country need to be able to sustain their own – or at least have that ultimate goal)
Age? Yes. Coersion (including targeting those too young to consent) is morally wrong.
Working conditions? No. If the people have a CHOICE about where they work, then they will pick the company which gives them the best options.
GAP should have documented policies regarding the age of workers and the conditions in which they work. If any factory is found to violate those policies, appropriate action should be taken to correct the wrongdoing or close the factory. If GAP were smart, they would have a payroll system and/or a computerized list showing which employee made which clothing items. The computer system should flag suspicious-looking activity and GAP should then take appropriate action! So, to answer your question, YES!
Gap runs a chain of stores that sells only one thing: it’s own clothes. Of course someone somewhere inside at GAP had to know.
They could have their garments made in the U.S. …so yes.
Shaaa!
Are there any major retailers that don’t use sweatshop labor? I mean, how do you avoid it? You can;t buy cheap clothes without supporting child labor.
My husband doesn’t have a problem with supporting sweatshop labor in foreign countries. In his eyes, a crappy wage and crappy work conditions are better than no wage and no work at all.