The Columbus Dispatch

October 11, 2000, Wednesday

FRONT PAGE

HEADLINE: WORKERS SWEATING FOR OSU

BYLINE: Alice Thomas, Dispatch Higher Education Reporter

BODY:


Factories that make Ohio State University-licensed clothing discriminate against pregnant women, expose their workers to dangerous chemicals and flout overtime and other labor laws, according to an investigation of several of the plants throughout the world.

The offenses were discovered in visits to 13 factories in seven countries, including the United States, and represent "the tip of the global production iceberg,'' says a report issued yesterday by OSU and four other universities.

Ohio State, which last year earned about $ 3 million in royalties from licensing agreements, has no plans to cancel or alter its licensing agreements, officials said yesterday.

"We are concerned about what the report says, and we have said all along as we got into this that we wanted to get a sense of what's going on in these facilities. . . . We have a much better sense of that now,'' said OSU spokesman Lee Tashjian.

Companies with which OSU contracts to make everything from sweat shirts to commemorative coins will be asked to compile a list of steps they can take to improve the treatment of workers.

OSU will evaluate these efforts, Tashjian said. "If the proposed corrective actions turn out to be insufficient, we'll certainly re-evaluate our agreements with our licensees,'' he said.

Student reaction to the "sweatshop issue'' ranges from a small group of activists who have staged protests to those whose first allegiance lies with the Buckeye logo.

"If it came down to buying a shirt or not buying a shirt, I'd buy the Ohio State shirt just because of my pride in the school,'' said Jacob Biesenthal, a 19-year-old business major, wearing a bright red OSU T-shirt.

OSU and four other colleges -- Harvard, Michigan, Notre Dame and California -- joined together to examine working conditions in factories where licensed clothing is made. The four schools shared the $ 250,000 cost of the yearlong investigation, which concluded with the report.

Visitors found violations in each factory visited, including relatively minor problems in two U.S. plants. Factories were given 72-hour advance notice of the visits.

Other highlights of the report:

* In two factories in Mexico, female employees were forced to take pregnancy tests and were routinely asked whether they were pregnant.

* In South Korea, two factories in Seoul that make sweat shirts and caps failed to give workers medical insurance as required by law. The workers used benzene, a suspected human carcinogen, to clean clothes without training or protection.

* Two factories in Bangkok, Thailand, will neither hire pregnant women nor allow female workers to become pregnant during their first year on the job. Pregnant workers were found to work an average of 16 hours of overtime a week.

The Bangkok factories also forced workers to pay a "security deposit'' that is supposed to be returned when an employee quits. Employees worked more than the maximum 60 hours per week and lived in cramped quarters -- up to 12 women in a room of 150 square feet.

* In China, workers received less overtime pay than required by law. In one factory in Shanghai, they worked an average of 101 hours of overtime a month, exceeding the 36- hour limit. Workers also did not receive legally mandated days off. Safety concerns were noted, including poor lighting, blocked fire
exits and overcrowded dorms with inadequate bathrooms.

* At a T-shirt and sweat-shirt factory in El Salvador where 618 people worked, employees were found working with hazardous spot-removing chemicals without gloves or masks. Some workers labored long hours without mandatory breaks.

"It is common to work from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. and then continue working the next day. When this happens, employees sleep on light mattresses, and there is not enough time to rest between these shifts,'' the report said.

* In Pakistan, in two factories employing about 1,350 workers who make baseball and football shirts, workers were paid below minimum wage and did not receive extra pay for working overtime.

The Pakistani workers also lacked protection -- boots, gloves and masks -- when using dangerous chemical dyes, the report said.

Abuses in two U.S. shirt-making factories -- in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin - - included a first-aid kit without eyewash, sewing machines without belt guards and failure to post the federal minimum wage act. The most serious offenses involved a worker found using spot-removing chemicals without protection; and missing tax forms, which could indicate that some employees weren't legally eligible to work in the United States.

The clothing manufactured in these plants is sold under brand names that include Nike, Champion, Jansport and VF Knitwear. OSU has licensing agreements with all of those labels, and Nike is its biggest producer of royalties, netting the school $ 150,000 last year.

Matt Teaman, a 20-year-old English and women's studies major, is a member
of the recently formed Ohio State chapter of United Students Against
Sweatshops, which last week participated in a rally protesting Kohl's Department Stores' purchase of merchandise produced overseas.

Teaman and other members said yesterday they were skeptical of the report -- although they hadn't read it -- after reading a separate report written by a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor who was part of the team that investigated the factories.

"He's a highly respected person, and he said the inspectors are not reliable and missed many things,'' Teaman said.

OSU agrees, and the report states that it's difficult to know exactly what's going on in the factories.

"Any kind of look is just a snapshot of what's going on,'' said Rick Van Brimmer, director of trademark and licensing services for OSU.

Apparel production is a vast and complex enterprise that changes rapidly, with an estimated 80,000 factories worldwide making clothes for U.S. consumers.

Some anti-sweatshop activists believe some abuses -- involving children, for example -- are hard to track. Smaller companies that subcontract work from large factories are suspected of illegally employing children, the 145- page report states.

OSU English major Margaret Winnen, 18, said she looks at labels but finds it difficult to apply social consciousness to buying clothes. She said she is looking forward to reading the report.

"It's so hard to decipher which companies are good and which are bad. I actually paid $ 70 for these jeans because they're made in America,'' she said, showing off a pair of flared Lucky brand denims.

LOAD-DATE: October 11, 2000