Nov 2nd, 2007
News that bums me out
Over the years, I’ve occasionally shopped at the Gap and its cousin, Old Navy. I stopped visiting those stores when I heard about how their “Made in the U.S.A.”-labeled clothing was actually made in the Northern Marianas Islands, a U.S. commonwealth where U.S. labor laws do not apply and the workers toil in sweatshop conditions. There was an attempt in 2000—spearheaded by prominent conservative Frank Murkowski, even, who was appalled by what he saw there—in Congress to reform this, but it was stopped by good ol’ (ahem) Tom DeLay. (It looks like some improvements are underway in the Northern Marianas Islands, but it’s still a rotten place to work. Check out the links here if you want to learn more.)
But then I heard that the Gap had changed its practices, so I put the Gap and Old Navy back on my shopping radar. It’s hard to pass up some of their deals, particularly on maternity wear (when I was pregnant, it was nigh impossible to find decent-looking, non-polyester maternity clothes that was affordable–who spends $120 on a pair of pants that can be worn for only four or five months, anyway?) and cheap baby/toddler socks (which get lost in various nooks and crannies in the house).
And then this news hit the airwaves earlier this week. Yes, that’s right: until a few days ago, the Gap was using child labor in India to make Gap Kids clothes. (Oh, the irony.) And they aren’t just ordinary kids–they are slaves, sold to the factory by their families.
Yes, the Gap higher-ups say they didn’t know this was going on. And yes, they’ve severed ties with the factory. But give me a break: last year, the Gap fired twenty-three factories last year for labor violations. I’m not sure if the company is doing a lot of looking-the-other-way-until-it-gets-caught or if the company is simply run by incompetent people. Either way, you can bet I’m never shopping there again.
