Report links Wal-Mart's school uniforms to Bangladesh sweatshops

Beatings, 19-hour work days — for $20 a month

By Matt Smith

NYSUT and the state Labor-Religion Coalition are sounding the alarm over a recent report that links a popular school-uniform clothing line sold at Wal-Mart to a Bangladeshi factory that forces its workers to labor in extreme sweatshop conditions.

The JMS Garments Factory in Chittagong, Bangladesh, produces school uniforms sold under the brand name "Faded Glory" school wear.

A report by SweatFree Communities — an anti-sweatshop group based in Bangor, Maine — says JMS is home to some of the world's worst working conditions.

The report claims laborers at the factory are routinely forced to work shifts as long as 19 hours; exposed to beatings and verbal abuse; made to stand for several hours as punishment for arriving late; and paid as little as $20 per month — an income lower than the country's $24 per month minimum wage.

NYSUT and the Labor-Religion Coalition say it's important the public is made aware of the report so parents and schools don't unwittingly support sweat labor.

Students attending charter and private schools are often required to wear uniforms, and sometimes schools will list acceptable brand names and the stores where uniforms can be purchased in guidelines sent home to parents. It is also common for parents to resell uniforms online.

Wal-Mart often attends charter school conventions, exhibiting uniforms including Faded Glory, as was done during the National Charter School Convention in New Orleans in June.

"A union cannot be successful without a social justice agenda, and central to our agenda is our anti-sweatshop campaign," said NYSUT Secretary-Treasurer Lee Cutler, who oversees the union's social justice mission.

NYSUT President Dick Iannuzzi, who co-chairs the labor- religion coalition, said Wal-Mart's history "is a dubious one" of union-busting activity and labor exploitation.

"It's time to send the message that it is not acceptable to reach to the top of the business world by climbing on the backs of those at the bottom," Iannuzzi said.

Jordan Wells, Labor-Religion's Sweatfree coordinator, said the deplorable conditions described in the report are the inevitable result of the lack of transparency and relentless cost cutting that characterize the apparel industry at large.

"Despite this bleak reality, we know things can change — and New York state has an important role to play in seeing that they do," he said.

NYSUT and the coalition have been instrumental in helping bring about such change.

In 2003, the two organizations along with United University Professions were key players in lobbying for "sweatfree" schools and campuses.

The initiative resulted in the State University of New York administration issuing a system-wide memorandum banning campuses from contracting for apparel with bidders who don't provide information about labor standards during all phases of production.

Brian O'Shaughnessy, executive director of the state Labor-Religion Coalition, said New York could lead other states and cities on the path to sweatfree public purchasing by enacting a Sweatfree Code of Conduct.

The code enumerates worker rights principles for inclusion in state apparel contracts, and by formally affiliating with the State and Local Government Sweatfree Consortium.

"Basic morality," said O'Shaughnessy, "dictates that taxpayer dollars should support sweatfree alternatives."

Meanwhile, as for Wal-Mart, the company said it took "immediate action" upon receiving a draft of the SweatFree Communities report. Wal-Mart said in a statement to BusinessWeek magazine:

"We visited the factory unannounced and then met with the principal factory owner and our suppliers to ascertain conditions. Additionally, we proposed using an independent third party to work with factory management over the next 12 months to monitor factory operations."

Workers at the factory, however, claim in the SweatFree report that notice is always given in advance of a Wal-Mart visit and as a result, "everything changes in the factory" prior to the arrival of company representatives.