State of Maine Slammed over Failure to Protect Rights of Workers Producing Uniforms Made by Cintas
March 24, 2005
International Textile Garment & Leather Workers' Federation
The State of Maine has come under attack for allegedly not exercising due diligence in its selection of service providers.
The Global Union representing workers in the textile and clothing industry has described it as ‘extraordinary’ that a public authority should not make every possible effort, and in the most transparent manner, to ensure its suppliers abide by international labour standards and national labour laws and that their workers are able to do more than just subsist at the end of a normal working week.
The anger of the Brussels-based International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation (ITGLWF) arises from Maine’s lackadaisical approach to allegations of labour abuses at Island Apparel in Haiti, a company producing uniforms supplied by Cintas.
Says ITGLWF General Secretary Neil Kearney: “To earn the minimum wage, workers often have to work unpaid hours in order to meet the unrealistically high production quotas. Armed guards prevent them from leaving the plant until they have completed their production. The minimum wage is not enough to cover both transport and food, so there are many days when workers go hungry.
“Contrary to what the State of Maine claims, certification by Worldwide Responsible Apparel Production (WRAP) is no assurance of compliance. WRAP certification is a whitewash”.
Says Mr. Kearney: “The WRAP is a programme created by US business interests. It lacks any public credibility whatsoever. The code is essentially useless, as it goes no further than demanding compliance with national laws. It legitimises long working hours and poverty wages.
“The WRAP programme claims to have certified hundreds of factories, but names not a single one. This lack of disclosure of information makes independent evaluation impossible.
Mr. Kearney also raised concerns about auditor independence and transparency. “The certification audit was carried out by a company linked to a Cintas contractor”, he says, “which means there is a danger of conflict of interest”.
The ITGLWF has contacted Commissioner Rebecca Wyke. In light of these allegations against Cintas suppliers, the international union is asking the State of Maine to make public details of the origin of all uniform apparel supplied by Cintas.
Mr. Kearney says that if the Commissioner’s response is unsatisfactory, he will ask for the personal intervention of Governor Baldacci.
The Global Union has also asked WRAP Executive Director Gary Lerman to release a copy of the Island Apparel’s certification review, to indicate what has been done to eliminate the abuses at the factory , as well as to indicate what procedures are in place to ensure that national laws and international standards are adhered to in future.
The International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation is a global union federation bringing together 220 affiliated organisations in 110 countries with a combined membership of 10 million workers.
For more information, contact:
Neil Kearney (General Secretary) at 32/475932487 (mobile) or nkearney@itglwf.org
ITGLWF Secretariat at tel: 32/02/512.26.06, fax: 32/02/511.09.04 or office@itglwf.org
Visit the ITGLWF website at www.itglwf.org