CHINA AND THE AMERICAN ANTI- MOVEMENT

BY KATIE QUAN

As the gradual phase-out of China’s apparel strategies for engaging China in the worldwide movement export quotas under the Multi-Fiber for corporate social responsibility. This article briefly introduces the historical origins of the Arrangement brings a shift in international movement for corporate social responsibility in the apparel garment production to China, ambivalence industry,and argues that the perceived obstacles to the imple- over applying international codes of conduct mentation of CSR in China are not as great as they might seem. The information in this paper was gathered from formal to China must come to an end, Katie Quan research, as well as the authors’ personal observations as a writes. Labor abuses in China affect not only former garment worker, national officer of the garment and textile workers’ union UNITE, and board director in anti- domestic workers, but also workers in sweatshop organizations such as Sweatshop Watch, the Worker Chinese immigrant communities abroad. Rights Consortium, and the International Fund.

Background Introduction During the 1990s, a number of high profile exposés of Advocates of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the U.S. sweatshop conditions caught worldwide attention. Millions have been somewhat reluctant to enforce codes of conduct in watched TV star Kathie Lee Gifford on national television as China, in spite of a general perception that there are many she tearfully apologized for clothes bearing her label having violations of labor rights and labor standards. Most been made in in Latin America.1 Public attention corporations have relaxed the standards that they would apply and outcry intensified when Thai women in a Los Angeles in other countries, with some formulating a policy of “parallel suburb were discovered sewing for $.50 per hour behind means” as a substitute for enforcement of codes as normally razor wire fences,2 and when a Nike contractor was found to interpreted. Many labor rights activists have also been have disciplined women workers in a Vietnamese by equivocal on labor standards in China, and have waged forcing them to run circles in the sun until they fainted.3 relatively few campaigns addressing the issue. While workers were being mistreated and abused, the This reluctance is especially regrettable when evidence corporations that manufactured and sold the products were indicates that CSR and codes of conduct can be a valuable tool making huge profits and luring customers by advertising their for workers to assert their rights. In the 2001 case of the brands as being fashionable and sexy.4 Ironically,it was Korean-owned Kukdong factory in Mexico, for example, precisely this consumer engagement with branded products workers used codes of conduct to leverage support from that propelled the anti-sweatshop movement forward. While students and consumers in Korea and the United States, corporations had long profited from sweatshop exploitation, suggesting that workers elsewhere could similarly benefit the 1990s brought the recognition that consumers who wore from effective implementation of codes of conduct. a Nike swoosh or other logos were complicit in this The ongoing phase-out of apparel export quotas under the exploitation. Furthermore, consumers realized that they could Multi-Fiber Arrangement (MFA), accompanied by a general express their displeasure about sweatshops and support labor assumption that a large portion of apparel production and jobs rights through boycotts, leafleting, picketing and media will shift to China, is bound to bring greater scrutiny of labor exposure against these brands. conditions in China. Under these circumstances, advocates of Thus the movement for labor rights became a movement CSR can no longer afford to be ambivalent about enforcement for corporate social responsibility,resulting in the of labor standards in China. The time has come to discuss the establishment of voluntary “codes of conduct” for shoe and value of corporate social responsibility,to address the apparel producers. Closely modeled on the labor standards challenges to its implementation in China, and to formulate established in the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) of corporate governanceof corporate intheglobaleconomy. relatively toanew oftimegiven rise period dimension short the movement for socialresponsibility hasina corporate itisfair tosay that enforcement oflaw andunionorganizing, conduct cannotberegarded asasubstitutefor government compliancewithcodesof Whilemonitoring contractors. establishing programs for orexternal monitoring internal almost alllarge adoptingcodesofconductand corporations with ofdoingbusiness intheapparelintegral part industry, Garment workers in a sit-in-protest at a Guangzhou factory ownedby aHongKong company. ina sit-in-protestataGuangzhoufactory workers Garment Photo: Reuters. Labor Association. the Worker andtheFair RightsConsortium organizations: procurement policiesandjoiningoneorbothmonitoring in more than100 universities adoptingsweat-freeAmerican hasresulted the UnitedStudents Against Sweatshops (USAS), ledby Thiseffort, made incompliancewithlabor standards. policies that require vendors toensure that theirproducts are asgovernmentssuch anduniversities adoptpurchasing entities inwhich is thesweat-free procurement movement, for workers. investment anddevelopment provide sustainable livelihood to eliminate theworst ofexploitation forms andensure that standard for basicwages andworking conditionsinanattempt thesecodesgenerally setaminimum core conventions, The caseofagroup ofworkers at theKorean-owned Today socialresponsibility hasbecomean corporate Another important driver of corporate socialresponsibility ofcorporate driver Another important 5 6 to assert theirrights. to assert toolsfor codesofconductintoimportant transform workers consumer actionandstrong worker organization canhelp international labor-hostile environment as Mexico, such gone ontoorganize otherfactories. andSITEKIMhas wages have by 40percent, risen agreement, Following negotiation ofacollective bargaining CROC. managementwhich eventually agreed torecognize over andestablished anindependentunioncalledSITEKIM, plant, the workers andremedy theothercomplaints. Nike persuadedKukdong toreinstate wasreport madepublic, netgto usatae h okr’claims, investigation substantiated theworkers’ A WRC university licensedproducts for codescompliance. independent non-governmental organization that monitors to USASandthe an Worker (WRC), RightsConsortium theworkers out reached CROC, union, fraudulent “company” from the support Lacking andadecreasethe cafeteria inpay. several workers whohadcomplainedabout spoiledfood in 850workers went over onstrike of thefiring In January 2001, mainly women from thevillages Puebla. surrounding workers, Kukdong employed 900 and othermajorsportswear brands, Reebok, manufacturer for Nike, offleecegarments conduct.A potential effectiveness ofproperly implementedcodesof Mexicoprovides anexampleofthe Kukdong factory inPuebla, The Kukdong exampledemonstrates that inanotherwise The reinstated workers continued toorganize withinthe 8 7 and afterits

CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP AND HUMAN RIGHTS 63 CHINA RIGHTS FORUM NO.1, 2003 CSR and American Perception of China initiated campaigns against sweatshop labor in the spring of While cases such as that of Kukdong graphically illustrate the 2000 in an effort to block renewal of China’s Most Favored importance of CSR and codes of conduct, anti-sweatshop Nations trading status, but their depiction of the abuse of activists continue to display considerable hesitation and Chinese workers caused some union leaders and members to equivocation as they wrestle with implementing CSR in China. engage in racist demagoguery against China,15 and may have In the words of the late activist Trim Bissell of the Campaign led to an even greater reluctance to address the China issue. for Labor Rights, China has become a “planetary black hole” It should be noted that not all anti-sweatshop activists share attracting global production with its cheap labor, but “the anti- this reluctance and equivocation. Some labor groups and sweatshop movement has been without a China strategy.”9 NGOs such as Global Exchange and the International Labor For example, in January 2000, the University of California Rights Fund have attempted to address labor standards in (UC) announced that it would not allow any university- China, but on a scale that is much smaller than similar efforts licensed products to be produced in countries that do not in countries such as Mexico,Thailand, or Indonesia.The most allow freedom of association and collective bargaining, in well known exception is the Hong Kong-based Labor Rights in effect banning products made in China. According to UC China group, which has consistently exposed labor rights spokeswoman Mary Spletter,“It is a statement that the violations in Chinese workplaces and advocated for University of California will not tolerate inhumane work independent unions. conditions, wherever they occur.”10 Even taking these exceptions into account, the general Some anti-sweatshop activists at UC supported the ban, reluctance and equivocation that dominates the approach to given ample evidence of labor and human rights violations in labor standards in China creates the real risk that CSR advocates China. But others opposed it for a variety of reasons: 1) will create a double standard between countries where codes procurement bans hurt workers, and worker advocates should such as freedom of association can be more easily instead pressure corporations to correct labor conditions; 2) implemented, such as Mexico, and those where such standards the ban was unlikely to be effective, since UC’s relatively small cannot easily be implemented, such as China. purchasing share would not change corporate investment or Such a double standard has already been formally proposed Chinese government behavior; and 3) the ban would not by the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry in the strengthen worker organizing, since there are not many NGOs form of a theory of “parallel means,”16 which allows the inside mainland China to support workers.11 The upshot is following of different roads to move in the same direction. that to date there has been no official ban on UC licensed What this theory fails to recognize is that internationally products made in China. recognized core labor standards are meant to be uniformly This inability to come to a unified position on labor applied to all countries; otherwise “double” effectively negates standards concerning China echoed previous discussions in the very meaning of “standard.” Secondly,sometimes the the Apparel Industry Partnership (AIP) in the mid-90s and in means are just as important as the end. This is especially the the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) in 2000. During AIP’s case with codes such as freedom of association, where the initial discussion of which codes to adopt, key actors right of workers to engage in the process of organizing and acknowledged fundamental concerns with freedom of expressing their concerns can be even more important than association and China’s intolerance of independent unions. But the actual result they achieve. the matter was never resolved, since the AIP’s key actors were willing neither to negotiate lesser standards for freedom of MFA Phase-out and China association, nor to immediately confront companies with a Regardless of the vacillation of NGOs, labor standards in China demand that they withdraw their considerable investments are likely to come under sharper focus with the scheduled from China.12 The AIP’s successor, the , phase-out of apparel export quotas under the Multi-Fiber has developed “Special Country Guidelines” to deal with Arrangement in 2005, which is expected to bring a shift in countries such as China where laws conflict with codes.13 production from many different countries to a few large ones, During discussions about pilot projects in the Worker Rights especially China. Consortium in 2000, researchers raised the issue of studying Around the world, garment workers and their advocates are violations of labor rights in China, but again that discussion bracing for the kind of widespread job dislocation and was tabled because the task seemed too enormous for a depression of wages that previous trade deregulation has fledgling organization.14 caused.After passage of the North American The lack of an official relationship between the American Agreement (NAFTA) in 1995, more than 760,000 jobs were Federation of Labor – Congress of Industrial Organizations lost in the U.S.,17 decimating the garment industries in (AFL-CIO) and the All China Federation of Trade Unions California and causing widespread unemployment among (ACFTU) may be another factor in the reluctance to address low-wage immigrant Chinese and Latin American women. labor standards in China.Anti-sweatshop activists dedicated to Researchers are still trying to predict the outcome of the building strong unions have faced the equally unattractive phase-out of the MFA worldwide, but there seems to be alternatives of either bolstering the ACFTU, with whom there general consensus that China will end up with a propor- is no relationship, or aiding the formation of independent tionately greater share of the apparel production market.18 unions that might be persecuted. The AFL-CIO unions finally If more production does go to China, leaving workers in Photo:Reuters. sweatshop movement that Iwould like toraisehere. the Chinese community andtheglobalanti- American However, there from are theviewpoint acoupleofconcerns of whohave orresearchers studiedit closely.engaged init, China isbestlefttothosepractitionerswhohave already Detailed discussionofenforcement ofcodesconductin Resolving ChallengestoCSR andlabor standardswillcertainly beaddressed. same issues, replaced withconsiderable urgency indealingwiththose deal withlabor standardsinChinawillprobably soonbe Thusthereluctance to market andbuild asustainable living. recognized standardstoraisethevalue oftheirown labor will allow Chineselabor totake advantage ofinternationally- Thisscrutiny and negotiate for improved working conditions. workers have inthereceiving country toorganize theright there isat leastaminimum flooronexploitation andthat and practices.Workers losingtheirjobswillwant toknow that there isboundtobecloserscrutiny of China’s labor standards then toface joblossandeconomicdepression, other countries million dollars. workers fourteen weeks pay, totalingaround one ofback Wins closeddown ofCalifornia abruptly whileowing 200 their sewing at night. machines andmadetosleepat thousands ofdollarstotheirsmugglers, forced topay illegally, tensof been smuggled intotheU.S. premium pay, and somecaseswhere Chineseworkers have numerous casesofovertime hoursworked withoutovertime their deepesteconomicvulnerability.There have alsobeen months afterthepay isdue—asystemthat exploitspeoplein orpaying“late theworkers payment,” several weeks or there hasbeenawidespread practiceof the pastdecadeorso, During toallChinese shameful andembarrassing Americans. but is labor lawAmerican itnotonly theworkers, hurts andwhenthosepracticesviolate immigrant communities, influenceonlaborenormous practicesinChinese American with someleaders ofindependentunionsbeing detained evidence that independent unionsinChinaare notwelcome, Butwe have seen ample unions donotfairly represent them. whenexisting form unionsoftheirown iscrucial choice the ILO’s Convention #87: follows Theinterpretation codeforimportant union activists. perhaps themost implementation offreedom ofassociation, andhastaken agreat dealofeffort todispel. workers, it difficult for unionorganizers toorganize Chineseimmigrant Thisperceptionhasmade by thegovernment asit isinChina. that theunionwas financed undoubtedly many workers did, as brought homethatbut shebelieved, thisexperience duesshelefttheunionhall, government but only by workers’ her that in unionsare notfinancedAmerica by the taxpayer toattend themeeting.When Itold shehadtheright andasa claiming that unionsare financed by thegovernment, unionbuilding inSeptember2001, workers’ the garment that Sweatshop Watch andotherworker advocates convened at consider outrageous anddisgraceful. treated employees inaway that most wouldAmericans businesses intheChinesecommunity inspiteofhaving employer continues todeny wrongdoing andoperates other but this special government fundmore thanayear later, workers wereof it.The eventually compensated through a even thepaidfactory monitorwas notinitially aware her plant; illegal practicewas takingplaceiftheemployer hadnotclosed mightnever Theauthorities have known that this Chinatowns. pay becausethispracticeiscommonbothinChinaand previously of about theirlack complainedtotheauthorities In August 2001, a San Francisco garment factory known aSanFranciscogarment as In August 2001, isthatThe first labor concern practicesinChinahave an As the Kukdong case illustrates, the right ofworkers theright to As theKukdong caseillustrates, orimpedethelawful thisright restrict exercise thereof”. shallrefrain from anyauthorities interference would which withoutpreviouschoosing public authorisation…The tojoinorganisations oftheirown organisation concerned, ofthe subjectonly totherules have toestablish theright and, shall withoutdistinctionwhatsoever, “Workers andemployers, This sameemployer toforce herway tried intoameeting The second concern relatesThe secondconcern and totheinterpretation 19 The Chineseimmigrantworkers hadnot 20

CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP AND HUMAN RIGHTS 65 CHINA RIGHTS FORUM NO.1, 2003 without trial.21 For advocates of corporate social responsibility taking place today is critical for the process of such problem- this means that Chinese workers have no voice in workplace solving to begin. affairs if their union does not speak for them. Technically speaking, the official requirement that unions 1. Greenhouse, Steven, “A Crusader Makes Celebrities Tremble: Image Is must receive approval from the ACFTU does not constitute a New Weapon in Sweatshop War,” The New York Times Metro, June 18, 1996. ban on independent unions; but the question is what criteria 2. White, George, “Workers Held in Near-,Officials Say.” New York are used to approve certain unions rather than others. Thus the Times. August 3, 1995. issue may not necessarily be with the law,but rather with the 3. Herbert, Bob, “Brutality in Vietnam,” New York Times: In America. March 28, 1997. implementation of that law. If in practice only ACFTU affiliates 4. Klein, Naomi, : Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies. New York: Picador are approved, that indicates that independent unions are Press, 2000;Appelbaum, Richard and Edna Bonacich, Behind the Label. prohibited. But if non-ACFTU unions are also approved, that Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000. implies an acceptance of independent unions. 5. Featherstone, Liza and United Students Against Sweatshops, Students This is not to suggest that Chinese workers should form Against Sweatshops. New York: Verso, 2002. millions of independent unions in their workplaces; in fact 6. Surveys of companies which have adopted codes appear in Varley,Pamela quite the opposite. In America, the vast majority of trade (ed.), The Sweatshop Quandary: Corporate Responsibility on the Global Frontier. unionists do not advocate the formation of unions Washington, D.C.: Investor Responsibility Research Center, 1998, and independent of the AFL-CIO either, since this weakens the The Apparel Industry and Codes of Conduct.Washington, D.C.:U.S. Department of voice of the union movement. Independent unions that Labor, 1996. operate outside the AFL-CIO mainstream, or that have broken 7. http://www.workersrights.org/Report_Kukdong_2.pdf 8. Erlich, Reese, “No sweats: Student activists and campus administrators away from the mainstream, tend to be small, weak and join forces to fight against sweatshops,” Berkeley: California Monthly, unsupported in times of need. At the same time, almost all November 2002. American trade unionists would uphold the option of workers 9. Bissell,Trim, “A Step Forward?” Labor Alerts. June 5, 1999. to form these independent unions, in case existing unions do 10. Van Der Werf, Martin, “Universities Won’t Sign Product-Licensing Deals not fairly represent their workers. The option of forming with Countries That Ban Unions,” The Chronicle of Higher Education. January independent unions serves as a check and balance, a constant 24, 2000. reminder to the mainstream union movement that they must 11. Interview with Edna Bonacich of UC Riverside, Februrary 2000. either serve the workers or face a possible challenge from 12. Interview with Pharis Harvey of the International Labor Rights Fund, independent unions. May 1998. Strategically,those who have been serious about reform 13. http://www.fairlabor.org/html/amendctr.html#countryguidelines within the U.S. labor movement have worked from the inside. 14. Quan, Katie, Notes from WRC research task force meeting. 15. Quan, Katie, “The End of Whiteness? Reflections on a Demographic These efforts culminated in the 1995 election of John Sweeney Landmark,” New Labor Forum. Spring/Summer 2001; and Wong, Kent and as AFL-CIO president, and have led to many progressive Elaine Bernard. “Labor’s Mistaken Anti-China Campaign,” New Labor policies and programs introduced during his tenure. In the Forum. Fall/Winter 2000. same way it is possible that activists within China’s trade union 16. http://henningcenter.berkeley.edu/projects/sporting.html movement are also working to make the movement more 17. Scott, Robert, “NAFTA’s Hidden Costs: Trade agreement results in job democratic and powerful. losses, growing inequality,and wage suppression for the United States,” From the point of view of an American anti-sweatshop Economic Policy Institute: www.epinet.org. activist, freedom of association, including the right to form 18. Diao, Xinshen and Agapi Somwaru, “Impact of the MFA Phase-Out on independent unions, needs to be upheld as a safeguard against the World Economy: An Intertemporal GlobalGeneral Equilibrium inadequate representation by existing unions.At the same Analysis” at http://www.ifpri.org/divs/tmd/dp/papers/tmdp79.pdf; time, because the overwhelming majority of the workforce in Von Hoffman, Norbert and Erwin Schweisshelm. “China’s membership in the WTO—a headache for neighbouring labour markets?” Occational China belongs to the ACFTU, it makes strategic sense to work Papers: International Development Cooperation, Global Trade Union within the existing union structure to address democratic Program. November 2002. representation and labor policies from within. 19. “Law Closing in on Factory: SF garment maker accused of not paying workers for 3 months,” San Francisco Chronicle,August 17, 2001. Conclusion 20. www.sweatshopwatch.org Discussion of CSR and China is long overdue. Although some 21. See for example, Pan, Philip. “When Workers Organize, China’s Party- advocates of CSR have been reluctant to broach the subject, the Run Unions Resist,” The Washington Post. October 15, 2002. likely shift in world production of apparel to China following the complete phase-out of the MFA makes confrontation of these issues urgent today. Examples such as Kukdong show that codes of conduct can effectively improve working conditions under the right circumstances.While there are many challenges to CSR in China, solutions may not be elusive as they seem, as long as the parties involved bring a sincere commitment to improving conditions for workers. The kind of dialogue and engagement