Corporate Responsibility Mondays
I think I’m going to start a new little thread around here. On Mondays I’m going to start highlighting a company each week that has poor ethics in regards to environmental standards, labor practices, customer service, and/or product quality. This started recently with me as I’ve been attempting to become more aware and knowledgeable about the things that I buy. Which is certainly not easy to do in our age of marketing and (mis)information. But I’ve decided that if I’m going to give a company my money . . . then it might be a wise decision to at least be familiar with how they handle their business. It doesn’t make very much sense for me to financially support someone or something that goes against the grain of what I value. So with no further ado . . . I present to you this week’s company.
L.L. Bean is a clothing retailer that attempts to appeal to outdoor enthusiasts. In 2005 alone, the company brought in more than 1.4 billion dollars in revenue and had over 3,900 employees. L.L. Bean has often portrayed an environmentally friendly image in it’s advertising. And while it is true that they have formed partnerships with various conservationist groups, they have a laundry list of labor violations.
The National Labor Committee (NLC) documents a series of workers’ rights violations in their Saidan factory (a factory in Jordan), which sews t-shirts for L.L. Bean (the average shirt for L.L. Bean costs between $15-$29). The lack of respect for workers’ basic human rights include:
1. Human trafficking and involuntary servitude of guest workers
2. Confiscation of workers’ passports and denial of legally required identification cards
3. Routine work shifts of 16 to 17.5 hours, with workers typically logging 118 hours of work a week
4. No sick days, paid vacations, or government holidays allowed. Workers received only one Friday off every other month
5. Wages below the legal minimum without overtime pay
6. Workers denied 60 percent of the wages legally due to them
7. Sporadic pay
8. Inadequate and unsanitary working conditions
9. Workers subject to pay reduction, humiliation, violence and threats if production goals not met
This hardly sounds like a company with fair labor practices. The question has to be . . . is paying $29 for a t-shirt worth 30 days a month, 16 hours a day, of another human’s life?
Sources: The National Labor Committee & Responsible Shopper
You can also check out L.L. Bean’s Wiki (which I updated to include this information at Eric’s suggestion)
Tags: Corporate Responsibility, Labor Violations, L.L. Bean, National Labor Committee, Sweatshop Labor
right on. their crap doesn’t fit me anyway. i have started to try and be more conscious about what i buy. when levis moved out of the states i stopped buying them new. (i get 501’s for $12 at the dirt mall) and if i buy new pants i buy Ben Davis - made in the usa by a union. although i am not completely stoked on the style american apparel is made in LA. it is tough though. but i think if i keep working at it i will be able to buy all or most my clothes in a responsible way. it is tough because in my work (construction) i go through clothes quick (they get destroyed).
i think it is great what you are doing. but maybe you should also highlight an alternative. like, say if walmart sucks then the alternative would be “X”
good point mike. that’s the goal. i’m still doing some research on good companies. there aren’t as many resources that highlight those which is sad. and since i’m relatively new to try to be aware of what i buy, i don’t have many that i’ve supported yet.
i would also say that the “big picture” (although it’s probably more of a pipe dream for those who live in a metropolitan city or even suburb . . . would be to shop locally on most everything. including clothes and body care stuff. which makes it a bit difficult.
i’m on the lookout though. if anybody knows of any good resources or companies, let me know and i’ll add them to the list.
i’ll probably try to alternate weekly. a poor company one week. a good one the next.
Josh, I like this idea. But what would be equally helpful is if you provided an alternative. That way you’re offering negative advertisement for the “bad guys” and positive reinforcement for the “good guys” while helpfully suggesting where to turn.
Crap, I just read your comment. Check out TreeHugger.com and Hugg.com. They might have some resources.
I’m with Mike and Joe. . . finding a company that does things wrong is easy. . . I mean name anyone and your good. . . hell your house was probably built by people who didn’t get paid enough. . . I vote for strickly positive posts about companies that do things right. . .
Takers?
thanks joe. i’ll check out the links.
i agree nick. but i think its safe to assume that most of (including myself) make ill-informed decisions every single day. i think part of our role as a called out community is to live by different values. when the gross majority of christians tend to reflect the same materialistic, unethcial spending that the rest of the world does . . . then there should be a voice that gently at times (eccentrically at others) calls from the margins that agitates and reminds us of what’s of value to God.
i’ll definitely be on the lookout for good companies and as i said, i’m going to split them each week. but there is also room and place to either inform christians who do not know about a company or remind those that do know just exactly what the facts are. i’m not trying to play the morality place by any means as i am a walking contradiction on many levels. my next week’s post is already written and it’s about Apple. how’s that for irony.
i’m just laying out the information. do with it what you want to.
it’s also a good thing that the prophets didn’t just talk about things that the host empire was doing right.
Kudos to this idea as well. I like the idea thatfor each company that sucks, there is an alternative posted as well.
Good stuff. I’m looking forward to reading more.
Buying locally is definately the way to go if possible. I try to buy as much as I can from thrift stores, so my cash goes to charity and not a multi-national.
I did not find the info you planned on posting on the L.L. Bean wiki.
The next week’s post is about Apple? Woo, I think I’ll hack into your wordpress admin and read it. brb.
L.L. Bean Wiki
eric, haven’t put it in wordpress yet. you’d have to have my computer and read my word document. but you’re not leet with a mac so you’d probably fail miserably.
Great idea! Why not post a good one and a bad one each week - that way we won’t suffer from the roller coaster of depression and celebration from week to week - we would have balance each Monday - a great way to start the week!
A terrific thread to start!
If I can scrap it together, I’ll post a Good place to match up with your bad? How does that sound?
I’m not sure I can find a computer one for the Apple alternative (open source maybe), but I can look.
plenty of clothing options that I can think of…
Let me know what you think
[...] Wiki and took down the information I posted about their company’s questionable labor ethics. My write up here. Their Wiki here. I mean who likes the truth anyway? And who really wants to correct a bad [...]
Based on the info on this company’s website, I’d be more interested in seeing what they did in response to this report before passing judgement.
http://www.llbean.com/customerService/aboutLLBean/human_rights.html
The labor violation is for a vendor in the Sudan, who produces products for many companies like LLBean. Get your facts straight.