biff
Rock n' Roll Doggie Band-aid
Gap needs to mind the cracks
The US retailer has invested heavily in Lesotho under Bono's anti-poverty Red initiative, but a new report highlights problems, says Nick Mathiason
Sunday September 16, 2007
The Observer
In May last year, rock star Bono visited the Precious Garments factory in Maseru, the capital of Lesotho - one of the world's poorest nations, nearly a third of whose 2 million population are HIV positive.
The U2 frontman and Make Poverty History campaigner flew to the drought- stricken country, which is completely surrounded by South Africa, to try to ensure that the people of Lesotho - and the millions of others in Africa living with Aids - receive the vital anti-retroviral drugs that slow the spread of the disease.
Earlier that year in the Swiss ski resort of Davos, where high financiers and businessmen mix with world leaders, the Irish star launched a new initiative, Product (Red), to huge fanfare. This new 'virtuous brand' would, he said, harness the force of conscious consumerism to save African lives.
Bono persuaded some of the world's most sought-after brands to develop special products under the Red umbrella. Half the profits would go directly to the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Latest accounts, say Red insiders, show that the programme has so far raised $45m (£22.5m) for the Global Fund - more than any other private-sector contribution - with brands including Armani, Motorola, Converse, Apple and American Express joining Red.
Another high-profile recruit was US clothing retailer Gap. Long a bete noire for ethical campaigners - it was accused as recently as 2003 of running sweatshops in Lesotho - Gap has in recent years tried to clean up its act. The firm says it is working hard to eliminate labour abuses and has received plaudits for facing up to that challenge.
So Gap seemed a perfect choice to join Bono's war on Aids. Touring the Maseru factory, which makes clothes for Gap, including Red T-shirts, Bono said. 'If it wasn't for Gap, some of these people would be dead.'
In many ways he was right. Thanks to Gap, the Maseru factory - the largest of its kind in Lesotho - provides some of the 4,500 workers who need them with free anti-retroviral drugs. At a cost of £70 a year in a country where half the population is unemployed, this indeed is a lifesaver.
And the success of Gap's Red T-shirt, using cotton sourced in Africa, has enabled the factory's owner to invest in machinery that allows Precious to produce embroidered goods - a departure that has yielded more jobs. It is a virtuous circle in a country starved of investment.
But for employees at Gap's factories life is still no picnic. Interviews with 15 workers last year by a respected Dutch campaign group, the Centre for Research on Multinationals (Somo), to be published this week, show that workers producing Red T-shirts earn barely more than the monthly 686 rand (£47.50) minimum wage - most earn 695 rand. Workers told the report's authors that they were so poor they were forced to borrow against their severance pay to fund their children's education.
One worker interviewed by the campaign group said: 'To pay my kid's education, I had to borrow the money. Our salaries are so low, we can't solve our problems.'
The Dutch researchers also came across health and safety concerns. Esther de Haan, joint author of the 58-page report, entitled 'Footloose Investors - Investing in the Garment Industry in Africa', said most of the workers she interviewed had shaken Bono's hand. She acknowledged that the Precious factory was 'not the worst factory in Lesotho by a long way', but said the workers she spoke with told her that wages weren't increasing.
A spokeswoman for Red said that it could not take responsibility for the levels of wages at its partner organisations. It suggested the matter was something for Gap to resolve.
A Gap spokeswoman said: 'Gap has a long history of investment in Lesotho and of working to improve the lives of garment workers. We're proud of our record in social responsibility, and while we know there's always more we can do, we believe we're on the right track.'
The company added that the Precious factory's work with unions and others had recently resulted in significant improvements. And Gap has won much praise for keeping the factory open when other garment factories pulled out of Lesotho after world trade restrictions on the amount of clothes that could be made in China were lifted two years ago. Most retailers, in a bid to save costs, have moved production to China, where workers are paid half of what Lesotho workers get.
The closure of Precious would have had a devastating effect on a country racked by high unemployment - which is why it is so vital that Red T-shirts fly off the shelves.
But de Haan added: 'People are working hard for these products and there should be fair pay. A lot of people are getting money out of this.'
De Haan is not suggesting Bono himself is one of those making money from Red. But there has been scepticism about the real value of the initiative. The publicity and kudos that brands get from Red is significant. And the brands do keep half the profit from Red products - this is no charitable venture.
And while Red says its brands are the largest private-sector contributors to the Global Fund, this is nevertheless tiny in comparison with the challenge of funding effective treatment for the 38 million people living with HIV/Aids in developing countries. The Global Fund says between $7bn and $10bn a year is needed to address the Aids epidemic in low- and middle-income countries.
But Bobby Shriver, a member of the Kennedy clan and chairman of Red, told The Observer that the $45m raised by Red in a year had exceeded expectations. Furthermore, the goal is to at least double its contribution to the fund.
Ultimately, Shriver is working towards Red achieving regular contributions of $100m a year. Once that is achieved, he believes a bond could be launched on the back of revenues, which could raise $500m - a huge sum that would make a vital contribution to combating HIV/Aids in Africa.
The grand vision is compelling. It relies on increased sales of Red-branded iPods, sunglasses, mobile phones and T-shirts from a public that buys into the concept of conscious consumerism. It is to be hope that the workers making these goods in faraway places also see a lift in their living standards. That, surely, would be the ultimate virtuous circle.
I found this bit (intentionally?) amusing:
LOL!
The US retailer has invested heavily in Lesotho under Bono's anti-poverty Red initiative, but a new report highlights problems, says Nick Mathiason
Sunday September 16, 2007
The Observer
In May last year, rock star Bono visited the Precious Garments factory in Maseru, the capital of Lesotho - one of the world's poorest nations, nearly a third of whose 2 million population are HIV positive.
The U2 frontman and Make Poverty History campaigner flew to the drought- stricken country, which is completely surrounded by South Africa, to try to ensure that the people of Lesotho - and the millions of others in Africa living with Aids - receive the vital anti-retroviral drugs that slow the spread of the disease.
Earlier that year in the Swiss ski resort of Davos, where high financiers and businessmen mix with world leaders, the Irish star launched a new initiative, Product (Red), to huge fanfare. This new 'virtuous brand' would, he said, harness the force of conscious consumerism to save African lives.
Bono persuaded some of the world's most sought-after brands to develop special products under the Red umbrella. Half the profits would go directly to the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Latest accounts, say Red insiders, show that the programme has so far raised $45m (£22.5m) for the Global Fund - more than any other private-sector contribution - with brands including Armani, Motorola, Converse, Apple and American Express joining Red.
Another high-profile recruit was US clothing retailer Gap. Long a bete noire for ethical campaigners - it was accused as recently as 2003 of running sweatshops in Lesotho - Gap has in recent years tried to clean up its act. The firm says it is working hard to eliminate labour abuses and has received plaudits for facing up to that challenge.
So Gap seemed a perfect choice to join Bono's war on Aids. Touring the Maseru factory, which makes clothes for Gap, including Red T-shirts, Bono said. 'If it wasn't for Gap, some of these people would be dead.'
In many ways he was right. Thanks to Gap, the Maseru factory - the largest of its kind in Lesotho - provides some of the 4,500 workers who need them with free anti-retroviral drugs. At a cost of £70 a year in a country where half the population is unemployed, this indeed is a lifesaver.
And the success of Gap's Red T-shirt, using cotton sourced in Africa, has enabled the factory's owner to invest in machinery that allows Precious to produce embroidered goods - a departure that has yielded more jobs. It is a virtuous circle in a country starved of investment.
But for employees at Gap's factories life is still no picnic. Interviews with 15 workers last year by a respected Dutch campaign group, the Centre for Research on Multinationals (Somo), to be published this week, show that workers producing Red T-shirts earn barely more than the monthly 686 rand (£47.50) minimum wage - most earn 695 rand. Workers told the report's authors that they were so poor they were forced to borrow against their severance pay to fund their children's education.
One worker interviewed by the campaign group said: 'To pay my kid's education, I had to borrow the money. Our salaries are so low, we can't solve our problems.'
The Dutch researchers also came across health and safety concerns. Esther de Haan, joint author of the 58-page report, entitled 'Footloose Investors - Investing in the Garment Industry in Africa', said most of the workers she interviewed had shaken Bono's hand. She acknowledged that the Precious factory was 'not the worst factory in Lesotho by a long way', but said the workers she spoke with told her that wages weren't increasing.
A spokeswoman for Red said that it could not take responsibility for the levels of wages at its partner organisations. It suggested the matter was something for Gap to resolve.
A Gap spokeswoman said: 'Gap has a long history of investment in Lesotho and of working to improve the lives of garment workers. We're proud of our record in social responsibility, and while we know there's always more we can do, we believe we're on the right track.'
The company added that the Precious factory's work with unions and others had recently resulted in significant improvements. And Gap has won much praise for keeping the factory open when other garment factories pulled out of Lesotho after world trade restrictions on the amount of clothes that could be made in China were lifted two years ago. Most retailers, in a bid to save costs, have moved production to China, where workers are paid half of what Lesotho workers get.
The closure of Precious would have had a devastating effect on a country racked by high unemployment - which is why it is so vital that Red T-shirts fly off the shelves.
But de Haan added: 'People are working hard for these products and there should be fair pay. A lot of people are getting money out of this.'
De Haan is not suggesting Bono himself is one of those making money from Red. But there has been scepticism about the real value of the initiative. The publicity and kudos that brands get from Red is significant. And the brands do keep half the profit from Red products - this is no charitable venture.
And while Red says its brands are the largest private-sector contributors to the Global Fund, this is nevertheless tiny in comparison with the challenge of funding effective treatment for the 38 million people living with HIV/Aids in developing countries. The Global Fund says between $7bn and $10bn a year is needed to address the Aids epidemic in low- and middle-income countries.
But Bobby Shriver, a member of the Kennedy clan and chairman of Red, told The Observer that the $45m raised by Red in a year had exceeded expectations. Furthermore, the goal is to at least double its contribution to the fund.
Ultimately, Shriver is working towards Red achieving regular contributions of $100m a year. Once that is achieved, he believes a bond could be launched on the back of revenues, which could raise $500m - a huge sum that would make a vital contribution to combating HIV/Aids in Africa.
The grand vision is compelling. It relies on increased sales of Red-branded iPods, sunglasses, mobile phones and T-shirts from a public that buys into the concept of conscious consumerism. It is to be hope that the workers making these goods in faraway places also see a lift in their living standards. That, surely, would be the ultimate virtuous circle.
I found this bit (intentionally?) amusing:
LOL!
