October 16, 2000 Five universities issue report on apparel manufacturing By Mary Spletter The University of California, Harvard University, the University of Notre Dame, Ohio State University, and the University of Michigan released a report this month from a team of independent consultants that the universities commissioned to gather and analyze information on apparel manufacturing. The report is the result of a year-long effort that included the compilation and analysis of information about working conditions in the apparel industry in seven countries; the observation of working conditions in a sampling of factories in countries that represent a substantial portion of the university-licensed apparel business; and a survey of efforts being undertaken by government, business, labor, and independent organizations involved in efforts to improve working conditions. Based on meetings with stakeholders, factory visits, and surveys, the findings included: Sub-par working conditions exist in apparel factories in all of the countries visited, as reported by stakeholders and confirmed by factory visits; The diffuse nature of apparel production hinders enforcement of labor standards; Awareness of codes of conduct and monitoring efforts is currently insufficient to promote effective compliance; Many trade unions and some nongovernmental organizations are skeptical about the efficacy of monitoring; The proliferation of codes of conduct and the resulting duplication of monitoring efforts does not support greater compliance; It is particularly challenging to gather information from workers about the conditions in factories. The report also identified issues of concern, focusing on compliance with wage and hour and health and safety regulations, limitations of freedom of association and collective bargaining, employment discrimination, and related issues. The consultant team also discussed good practices that it had identified, local conditions hindering compliance with good working conditions, and opportunities for universities to contribute to the improvement of conditions. The report was prepared by the consultant team of the Business for Social Responsibility Education Fund (BSREF) of San Francisco; the Investor Responsibility Research Center (IRRC) of Washington, D.C., and Dara O'Rourke, an assistant professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA. Termed the "Independent University Initiative" because it is unaffiliated with any other inquiry, the initiative began in the summer of 1999. Its costs were underwritten by the five participating universities. The consultants visited factories that manufacture licensed apparel in Mexico, China/Hong Kong, El Salvador, Thailand, Pakistan, Korea, and the United States. They interviewed representatives of 24 non-governmental organizations, 15 companies or business associations, 22 public officials or international organizations, 12 trade unions, and nine researchers, academics and attorneys. Thirteen factories were also visited, and monitoring reports prepared. The consultants also reviewed other anti-sweatshop initiatives, including independent monitoring projects. In releasing the report for public discussion, the universities emphasized that the initiative was not conceived or carried out as a monitoring project as such. Information gathered from the monitoring of selected factories was not tied to particular factories or licensees, but rather was presented as a means of evaluating compliance issues specific to each country, and of demonstrating the role of monitoring as part of an overall compliance strategy. One of the report's conclusions is that gathering complete and reliable information about working conditions in factories making licensed apparel is a difficult process. Information on workplace conditions was gathered in factories by PricewaterhouseCoopers, which was accompanied in one-half of their visits by representatives of BSREF, IRRC and/or O'Rourke. Each of the universities will make its own decisions about how best to formulate and implement an "anti-sweatshop" policy for its licensed apparel. An electronic copy of the 147-page report is on the UC Web site at: www.ucop.edu/ucophome/coordrev/policy/initiative-report.pdf Return to Front Page