Ethical Sourcing & MEC

Breaking Up: Canadian Arctic & Product Sustainability

The Canadian Arctic is breaking up.  The Sept 13 Wall Street Journal writes of a yachtsman sailing his boat through the mighty Northwest Passage.  The same route that only a double clad iron and steel coast guard ship could navigate ten years ago.  The implications of losing our polar caps are both substantive and depressing.  See for yourself at NASA.

Retailing and consumerism are major factors to our warming planet.  Retailers exist to sell you merchandise.  The more you buy the better we do.  You buy for both practical and emotional reasons.  Regardless of the why, you're consuming more and more.  You want the freshest look, newest features and greatest variety (and lowest price).  The mindset of retailers to sell and consumers to buy feeds off one another and directly drive the 1000's of cargo ships crossing the oceans and hundreds of coal burning plants powering low cost manufacturing zones.  The ice is melting and its because of retailers and consumers. 

Everything we do has a footprint.  Whether its ecological (warming planet) or social (poor factory conditions).  Short of retreating to a cave and swinging a club like our forbearer, the cro-magnon man, we're here to stay and will continue to stomp a print.  There's hope.   If we get our act together we can lighten our footprint.  Google the Suzuki Foundation for real ways. 

At MEC, there are two steps to this.  Step One is the realignment of our retailing model to minimize our imprint on this earth.  This involves brick and mortar tactics like greening our operations to more abstract strategies like influencing unbridled consumption via Gear Swap and etc.,  We're well prepared in this area and we anticipate a long path ahead to be even better.  Step Two is less developed.  It's about holding a deeper meaning of social sustainability which must include tackling the immense social misery steps away from our storefronts or in the factories that sew our products.  Like Step One we need to creatively build the equivalent brick and mortar or abstract tools to reduce our social footprint.  We've taken our first steps and we'll soon find our stride.

There were two life defining steps in my career and each one involved a MEC product.  In 1989, I left my family on the Coast and relocated to Toronto.  The first thing I did was buy a olive and tan Serratus pack.  It carried all my belongings to the unfamiliar city.  Six years later, I relocated overseas and this time I purchased a blue fleece jacket.  That soft-shell served me well in the office and while trekking through three continents. 

I still have the fleece and pack.  The latter sits in my garage  largely unused and the fleece is always worn when I work outdoors.  Both look tired but remain structurally sound.  Looking back at those two life changing moves, I bought the MEC items because I knew they would endure the hardships of travel.  But more notable than their durability was the reassuring comfort they gave while living in the complete unknown - they spoke of home, Vancouver.         

Making products that don't break after a few uses is one strategy our head-office in Vancouver is employing to reduce our footprint. By having you not replace that fleece each year, we hope to bridle consumption (and reduce global warming).  But if you must replace it, we want to exhaust its life by connecting you to a buyer (via gear swap) or recycling it into something completely new.  All of this is product sustainability.

An ice-less Arctic within my lifetime is a real possibility according to Environment Canada. The immensity of such a loss makes me gasp.  I'm not worried for our generation.  But I am for my daughter's.  And likewise, I believe you're equally concerned for yours.    Starting today, let's act together.   

 

Abandoning our Values & The Man with the Cart

There are a number of vocal members who feel that MEC should only be sourcing from Canadian factories because it supports local jobs.  Canada is also a country with high human rights and environmental standards.  By sourcing in the developing world where the regard for people and the environment are typically short, MEC is abandoning its core values.  Even worse, according to these opinion holders, our offshore merchandising props up morally decrepit regimes and aggravates environmental instability.    Instead, we should immediately boycott all products from China, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Israel and Sri Lanka because of their human rights and environmental records and demand justice from the respective host governments.  Until these governments come around, we'll source only from like-minded countries.

There is merit to such a view.  After all, Apartheid slowly disintegrated partly because of the imposed sanctions on South Africa in the 80's.  "Why not reinvigorate boycotts?" asks the proponents of isolation. 

Boycotting the third largest economy in the world (China) or half of the planet's population (Asia and Indian Subcontinent) is today impossible.  Asian economies directly influence our comfortable lives not only in terms of cheap clothes or computers but also in the financial markets where they are major holders of American debt.  Whereas racist South Africa was a minor player in the global economy, isolating it had little impact on Canada's standard of living and economy.  The world has changed considerably since Apartheid's chief advocate President Botha condescendingly wagged his finger.  To explore these constraints click Why Can't You Source More in Canada and then hyper-link to Why Do You Source in China.  We source overseas because of economic necessity and pragmatism.  And because we deeply believe that business can make factories safer and the human condition a little better. There is equal merit to our views. 

To some members this is just a sly intellectual contortion to justify what we do.  As one person writes after having read the referred pages "... yeah, yeah I read your website giving further insight on this topic, but I'll be honest with you. I think you're pulling the merino over my eyes."   

We respectfully disagree.  We're not trying to shield her eyes or anyone else's.  Quite the opposite.  We're pushing candidness and dialogue as we develop a better sourcing model while meeting our members' product expectations. 

In any disagreement between reasonable parties, there is validity on all sides.  Our current debate is no different.  Nonetheless, I often wonder what the typical worker behind the assembly line would think about all of this.  I suspect, if she were like my mother, not much.  She would politely smile, attend to the mindless task at hand and ponder about tomorrow.   

As a young child my mother was a war refugee.  During WWII, the Japanese bombed her village in Southern China in preparation for a large scale invasion.  Aware of the brutality of the Imperial Army, my maternal great grandmother fled with my mom and her toddler sister.  Together, the three set off by foot for Hong Kong, a Protectorate still in the hands of the British. 

My great grandmother was the principal caregiver of her extended family.  She was also of the last generation in China with bound feet.  Her foot was no bigger than your fist. With what ever belongings they could carry, my mother and her family set off by foot on a several hundred mile journey.  Less than a week on the road, my mom's left foot got infected and ballooned several sizes larger.  She couldn't walk.  Her elderly grandmother was already carrying her younger sister plus a small sack of personal effects.  It was impossible for her to take on a sick child.  They were immobilized.   

At that point in time if you weren't on the move you would die.  Bandits roamed the countryside, the Japanese were approaching and dysentery was rampant.   My mother and her family were terrified. 

From nowhere a stranger passing by with an empty cart stopped and offered to carry my mom to her destination.  He saved my family. 

For the vulnerable found either in conflict or in factories, what matters most are not well constructed arguments but it's action.  It's our joint activities with factory managers to install more adequate ventilation. Or our financial threats that drive stubborn factories to eliminate "Oliver Twist" like practices.  These small gains resonate much deeper than words ever will.  This is the heart of our Ethical Sourcing program.  Everyone of us is vulnerable and in our moment of weakness we look to the man with the cart and less so to the one with the words.   

      

Apples to Apples, Oranges to Oranges & Big Macs to Big Macs

When my ex finished law school, we celebrated by backpacking in Turkey.  The "ex" was both an occasional Sikh and occasional vegetarian, which made traveling fun. Together, we explored the Roman ruins, Turkish baths and the epicenter of Islamic and Christian clashes, Istanbul.

We loved Turkey but we didn’t enjoy the food. Endless meals of feta cheese, olives, tomatoes and toast left us craving for our Western high sodium and fat diet. Which, we eagerly satiated at the Golden Arches conveniently found by the East exit of Istanbul’s spice market. My travel mate devoured half of my Big Mac, which surprised me given her sporadic vegetarianism and predictable pickiness over food. Cravings can defy particularity. 

A Big Mac in Vancouver costs $3.08 (US). That’s about 24 minutes of work in one of our Vancouver contract factories. In the developing world it can take up to 3 hours behind the assembly line to achieve the same feat. Below is a rough table of how many minutes a worker must spend sewing a MEC garment in order to buy a Big Mac.

These numbers are a crude indication of purchasing power indexed to a Big Mac in US$ (thanks to the Economist Magazine). It’s not completely “apples to apples” because it doesn’t factor the purchasing power of local currencies for local foods. In other words, you can get a very filling Thai noodle for 30 of minutes work instead of the 3 hours for the hamburger. Nonetheless, the Big Mac index speaks enormous volumes about “North South” equality, retailing practices and consumer demand for low prices.

MEC is in its 35th year as a retailer while its Ethical Sourcing program has only been around for about six years. During this period, we moved from just auditing factories to understanding the systemic causes of having to work 180 minutes for a hamburger. This is extremely important because as a values based retailer we need to face these brutal realities and find some alternate business model. We’re on that knowledge path and recognize hard decisions on the horizon. Along this route, we’re developing interim measures to advance the human condition in factories.

For some this isn’t good enough. They believe all of this is just stealth designed to rationalize a subtle capitalist retail model. We explore these issues and the role of retailers and consumers in causing poor factory conditions at MEC & Ethical Sourcing and won’t dwell on them here.

I’ve eaten Big Macs all over the world and with the exception of India it’s more or less the same. Likewise, the challenges we find in our contract factories around the corner from our Vancouver office to the ones in the Middle East and Asia are similar. They centre upon a largely marginalized work force taking jobs you and I will never entertain while making goods for a Western consumer market bent on low prices. We've successfully globalized the Big Mac and the flaws of manufacturing and consumerism.

Jesus Freaks, Corruption and 140 KMPH in Traffic

Remember when Jesus freaked at the Pharisees and merchants who were conducting business in the temple?  Christ wasn't a communist opposed to the market.  He was just angry at the debasement of faith and conviction.  There is something about factory corruption that irks us.  It's because we rightfully want to know the factories that make our tooth paste, toys and dog food are on the "up-and-up".  No one wants to do business with a supplier who uses industrial grade chemicals designed for heavy manufacturing in consumer products.  We should all freak. 

Likewise, factories that cheat workers by exposing them to debilitating work conditions or unlawful wages should also inflame our ire.  After all it's an affront on the dignity and security of another being.  With these factories, we should be tossing them out like the Chosen One did with the money changers.

There are limits to our indignation.  The August 4th Economist Magazine writes brilliantly of the cultural nuances of corruption in China.  It states that corruption is largely driven by greed but there is a component that is a result of a different set of beliefs.  For example, Confucianism emphasizes loyalty to family and friends first.  Second comes "face" and finally conformity to laws.  It writes "even then, the law is seen as malleable rather than absolute".  Let's be clear, the Economist doesn't endorse corruption or the current mess in China but instead offers insight.  It seeks to balance our indignation.

In the mid-90's I worked for Foreign Affairs Canada.  Part of my job was to review our Embassy rating of countries.  Canadian diplomats in their postings all over the world compiled profiles of their host countries on a number of indicators (e.g., corruption, freedom of speech and etc.,).  Most of the indicators were no brainers as they conformed to human rights law and philosophy.  Other's such as graft I found a bit more tenuous as some cultures don't see it as black and white.  It would serve us well to balance our sentiment toward factory corruption with a more enlightened understanding of cultural nuances.

The biggest culture shock I endured in China was not the consistent smog that hides the sun in Chinese cities nor the enormous wealth adjacent to wretched poverty but it was instead two simple cab rides to the airport.  On the first occasion, the taxi, a shiny new red Volvo, shephered me from my hotel in the Bund neighbourhood to Shanghai's Pudong airport.  Taking the A1 and A20 freeways, the cab drove at speeds of 140 KMPH between lanes, on the shoulder and in "bumper-to-bumper" traffic.  We dodged merging tractor trailers and weaved through lanes and lanes of cars driving exactly like us.  Imagine the unruly traffic patterns of Ho Chi Minh city or Delhi but accelerate them almost ten fold.  Understandably, I was terribly frightened. 

Six months later I was heading for the same airport from the same hotel.  On this occasion, I instructed the driver via the bell hop to take his time and drive only at the speed limit.  Instead, the worn looking VW taxi drove identically to the Red Volvo.  Even worse the young driver would periodically brush his tightly groomed hair while aggressively passing those decrepit looking blue dump trucks that are everywhere in China.  I feared for my life and I still tipped him.  He was just too affable.

I recounted my taxi experiences to a local and he told me that for some cabbies getting passengers to their destination quickly is a sign of proficiency and zealous service.  Driving like what many of us would deem as crazed is apparently regarded as good customer service in Shanghai.  This is one cultural norm I would opt out of.

There is a body of human rights norms that is universal to every culture.  Standards like the right to a safe workplace, child labour, health and etc.,  There's also a series of standards that are nuanced by culture.  Graft is one of them.  MEC's Ethical Sourcing program is well respected in some quarters in part because of our ability to spot universal norms from cultural practices.  And maybe even more pivotal to this success is the simple feat of not taking rides from overly eager cabbies.

       

You're Fired

I was fired from my last job.  I ran the Compliance & QA department for a $7.3 billion retailer.  This retailer missed its financial targets for about 20 quarters.  Fed up, a major US shareholder made moves to take control.  To shake off the interloper, the retailer cut costs including 800 mid level managers. 

The process of being retrenched is fascinating.  In terms of timing, it's done best on a Thursday morning.  That way the media can pick up the news on Friday and management can reassure the remaining workers just as the weekend arrives to calm everyone's nerves.

I was made redundant on probably the most beautiful day in Toronto, November 3.  The air was crisp and the sky cloudless and blue.  It was a sunny autumn day and the brilliant red, yellow and orange leaves of giant maple trees littered the streets.  I remember purposely riding over the leaves and hearing them crack under my tires as I biked to work. 

Once at the office our departmental EA nervously hoovered outside my door.  She informed me that the Sr. VP needed to see me now.  Seconds later, the Sr.VP phoned me urgently repeating the request.

When I finally stepped into Sr.VP's office there sitting at her left was the Human Resources Manager.  Instantly,I knew the ax was about to drop.  As the two went through their well rehearsed "releasing you" speech, my concentration shifted to my two year old, a $250,000 mortgage and financial survival.  The meeting eventually ended and they escorted me out the building with a paper bag of my personal belongings.  A terrible end to a beautiful day. 

Being reasonably savvy (and pissed) I immediately contacted my lawyer.  Unfortunately, not everyone is aware of their rights especially immigrant factory workers who don't speak English and who come from cultures that emphasize conformity and subordination. 

Recently, we had this worker (Asian immigrant woman) in a North American factory "separate" from her employer.  Whether she quit or left under duress remains to be determined.  She contacted our Worker Hot Line to express her frustration. 

MEC Ethical Sourcing policy endeavours to ensure that factory workers are treated according to local employment standards and due process.    Right now we're encouraging the parties to resolve this matter in good faith.

Canada has a heavily regulated workplace.  There are scores of government agencies and programs to govern and investigate employer and employee conduct.  In addition there are legal implications and potential liabilities for getting too involved in the affairs of our factories.   

The developing world on the other hand is much less restricted.  The laws that regulate work standards are not enforced.  The culture of employer and employee obligations is less defined.  Hence, there's greater leeway for violating workers rights and correspondingly, fewer implications for intervening in the affairs of employer and employee. 

Workplace disputes are probably hardest on the affected incumbent.  For a retrenched worker it's not only a temporary end to a career it's also a blow to the self-esteem.  In other words, the loss is both professional and personal.  For the employer, there's no personal loss just a whole lot of operational adjustments (e.g., soothing office morale, spreading the work).  Redundancy is another business tool.  No different than a back-to-school-sale or the newest point of sale machine at the check-out.    

We hope the matter between the factory worker and our N. American supplier is resolved satisfactorily.  And no matter what happens there will be hard feelings.  Only time can resolve this.

As a parting note, the next time you're urgently called to an unplanned meeting on a Thursday morning with your boss and the HR manager - stop, turn about face and run hard!  You're always employed until you're served your "release" papers.      

Cairo School of Carpets - Child Labour Part 3

The first time I visited a factory with child labour was in the outskirts of Cairo in the mid 90's.  The proprietors took me around the showroom and then to the production floor below.  There I saw about a dozen kids behind a loom weaving carpets.  They must have been 8 to 14 years old. 

The proprietor described his carpet business as the Cairo School of Carpets.  It was just a fancy name to obscure the fact that very young children were hired to make carpets. 

The matter of children working in factories or in full time jobs is extremely emotionally charged.  Some groups argue that kids should not be working at all.  Others reason that it is regrettably acceptable for kids to work because in some economies their paid employment helps to stabilize a family's finances.   I suspect this was much the case at the Cairo School of Carpets.  According to the World Bank, 23% of Egyptians live below their national poverty line with more than 12% of children under the age of 5 being malnourished.  With these alarming stats, one can understand why children are in paid employment.

Recently, I was at a Trade Show in Salt Lake City and a number of my colleagues mentioned that there are a lot kids working in American cities and etc.  The difference between N. American kids working and their counterparts in the developing world is that in the Western world, children in paid employment likely only work part time.  The majority of the day the kid is required by law to be in school.  Furthermore, there are scores of laws and agencies that regulate the employment of children.   In emerging economies this is not so.  Government agencies are weak in terms of enforcing employment standards and impoverished children have little opportunity in terms of schools, girl guides, libraries and etc.,  Poverty breeds poverty including child labour.

Children working full time or not working and not having schools to attend are no win situations.  My gut feel is that societies need to develop and economically they will ween themselves off child labour.  Sadly, a lot of lives will be ruined in the process. 

At the Cairo School of Carpets in 1996, I bought a off-green wool carpet for $1,000 US.  It was likely made by kids who probably got $30 - 50 for their labour on that carpet.  Today, that carpet is wrapped tightly in a contractor grade burlap bag and sits neatly in the corner of my garage.  It's been intentionally unused for over seven years.  Personally, I would never again knowingly buy something that was made by kids given that child labour is illegal, morally repugnant and harmful to the incumbents.  However, at the same time I'm not sure if boycotts and principles really help impoverished kids facing hunger, miserly and lack of opportunity.

 

Why Men Earn More & the Price of Human Rights

Did you know that in many occupations women and men do the same work but the former only makes about 65 cents for every dollar men make.  This is pay discrimination.  When I finished grad school I did a year at the Canadian Human Rights Commission and investigated pay equity complaints.  There was this one case where a woman flight controller (with many years experience and a ticket) was making less than a recent male hire.  In fact she made less then all her male peers.  In the past, women public servants in our Federal government were paid less than their male peers in similar jobs.    For details hyperlink Ottawa.

One reason why pay discrimination exists is because of traditional gender roles and the valuation of them.  For example, traditional female occupations are supportive ones like nurse, flight attendant, school teacher secretary and etc.,  Being in a support role is not valued as high as say a plumber or problem solver (historically seen as male occupations).  Furthermore, traditional gender roles value men more then women.  Hence, men are paid more.  There's many other reasons why pay discrimination occurs.  Just google the key words.

At first I thought all of this was a crock but when I saw the data and trends, it was obvious.  I support equal pay for work of equal value.  What is befuddling are the tens of million spent on legal fees by our Federal government.  One department (Human Rights Commission) on behalf of the workers/unions contested another Federal department (Treasury Board).  In other words, the Feds were battling itself, all financed by our horrendous tax brackets.  Mind you the deserved redress amounted to billions spread over thousands of discriminated female workers. 

Regrettably, money places a ceiling on human rights principles.  I visited a factory in May and it reported that its labour turnover this year is at 30%, and its material and labour costs have risen by 10-30 percent.  Negating the inherent posturing by some factories (to obtain better prices from their buyers), there is inflation happening in our supply chain.  At the same time retailers are looking for better prices from suppliers. 

So what does this all mean to factories and ethical sourcing?  It means this, in the next few months we'll begin to dollar quantify the improvements factories shall take to meet our code of conduct.  Workers are notoriously underpaid in factories throughout the developing world.  To get them to approach legal minimum wage will mean a spike in their operating costs.  One consultant firm estimated labour costs hiking up to $360,000 US per annum for a factory of 500 workers.  This cost will go somewhere including possibly at the cash register.

Unlike the public sector where pockets are deep and hundreds of millions can be spent on battling human rights principles, retailers operate in finite economies where price hikes can be disastrous. We all support equality.  But will we support it at the cash register?

Fighting Against Apartheid and For BMWs

I worked in Joburg right after Apartheid collapsed in the mid 90's for IDASA, a political activist group.  Many of my colleagues were with the resistance movement.  Some were directly involved with the armed wing MK of the ANC while others worked on more subtle ways to overthrow the racist government.  Regardless of the intensity of their involvement, the vast majority suffered to some degree under the Apartheid system in terms of detention, torture, threats or lost loved ones. 

IDASA was a key party in getting the ANC and Apartheid government to talk.  After Apartheid formally ended, IDASA was active in helping the "new" South Africa build democratic procedures and machinery.  It was a blend of consulting services and political activism.  Somewhat novel and chic. and a good job fit for idealistic activists now attending University. 

During one of our many comparative discussions on life in South Africa and the Western World, a co-worker Scrooge, commented on his difficulty with integrating to a "normalized" South Africa.  His old world was about plotting and clandestine activities.  His new one focused on exams and eventually finding a middle class job.  Life vastly changed and almost overnight.  Scrooge's lament was common.

Many of my colleagues eventually found their way to mid to senior level positions in the corporate and public sectors.  One of the first things they did was buy a BMW and the other material trappings we pursue in the Western world.  What struck me about this is the speed at which individuals travel from a state of "revolution" to one of middle class.  Humans desire and crave comfort. They risk their lives for an ideal (racial equality) but when the dusk settles they want comfort and material goods.  This is human nature.  It's no different from the factory worker who spends her first earnings on a fridge for her parents or a cell phone for herself.  And it's certainly not that much different from our own desire for that sleek phone or sofa set. 

Consumerism is inherent to human nature and to some extent its probably quite healthy. 

Dust Storms and 60 Degrees Plus: Working Conditions

Health & safety issues are the second most common infractions after improper wages and excessive overtime in factories today.  Typical H&S violations are improper emergency procedures, exposed machinery and exposure to toxic chemicals. 

I was in a factory not too long ago where they were making faux leather furniture.  Three workers were in a cutting room (20 by 40 feet) with a single table saw in the centre.  They were cutting multi density fibre boards (MDF) to size for ottomans and chests.  Against the wall were dozens and dozens of 4x8 feet sheets of MDF.  One guy was pushing the MDF through the table saw.  Another was behind the table saw receiving the cut pieces and the third worker was hoovering about stacking and unstacking the boards.   This would go on for hours and days.

If you ever worked with MDF, you'll know that it's a man made fibre board that crumbles easy.  When it's cut, the "fibres" generate a huge amount of dust.  Kind of like the snow storms in central Canada where visibility is clouded and two feet banks of snow lean against building walls.  That's what it was like in this cutting room.  The three labourers were creating this "storm" and they weren't wearing any respiratory device.  They were inhaling the fibres. 

May is the beginning of monsoon season in India.  It's also darn hot with outside temperatures approaching 50 degrees celcius.  On one audit, I visited the pressing room (where they iron clothes) of a factory.  Here were a dozen guys working with hot steam irons.  They were working in temparatures of atleast 60 + degrees (celcius).  Sweat was dripping down the workers.  I couldn't imagine working in such an environment.  Can you?

"Girls aren't worth it"

The newborn was placed in an earthen pot under the sun.  Reportedly, she was terribly weak and would soon die anyways.  The pot only mercifully hastened the inevitable.  I don’t buy it!  The newborn was my mom.  The woman who abandoned the infant was my maternal grandmother.  No loving parent would forsake their child – especially one struggling to live. 

My mother was born at a time when the landed class in China faced its sunset and the turmoil of the Japanese occupation and Chinese civil war were on the horizon.  My maternal grandparents were wealthy landlords who led leisurely lives and were akin to cultural traditions that favored sons.   
   
My mother was the first born - a double liability.  Tradition favors boys, especially the first born, since they can continue the family name, inherit the family wealth and eventually support their aged parents.  Female offspring don't.  They marry into the groom’s family, while adopting his identity and resources.

Women just about everywhere are subordinated to men.  They typically earn less, hold few positions of authority (look around your office) and are of lower status than their male peers.  This inequity is not a feature of political or economic systems.  It's a trait of men. 

For greater details on gender inequality click this link UN and the Status of Women.

A depressing and real consequence of this inequality is the violence perpetrated on women.  Right now as you read this, in parts of the middle east, a girl is being forcibly circumcised (genital mutilation).  While in other places like the Asian sub-continent, a raped women is being stoned, often by her own father, because of the "dishonour" the rape has brought to the family.  In parts of Asia hundreds of baby girls are being sent to the West for adoption simply because they're not boys.  This barbarism doesn't escape the west.  It's only more shaded.  It's found beneath domestic conflict and violent crimes. 

One hopes we have become more civilized.   But I'm not sure.  From the time my mother was left to die under the sun to the recent death of the young Egyptian girl from a botched circumcision, the violence against women hasn't changed.  I hope for my daughter's generation.   

In our contract factories, women labourers dominate the sewing machines.  In Canada, it’s Asian immigrant women who occupy those positions.   Factory work offers some economic mobility.  It’s a chance for a young factory worker to live on her, buy some material goods and support her family.  The work is hard and the independence gained small.  What a trade off!

Part 2 – Gender and the Factory Workplace – coming soon. 

We Believe in Social Justice - We Believe in You II

Two high school students were awarded MEC's first ever human rights scholarship.  They are Raena Kai Fisher and Brenda Chow.  Both are finishing high school in Vancouver, BC. 

Congratulations.  MEC will be purchasing their text books for the entire duration of their post secondary education.

Here are the essays:  Download mecscholarshipraenakaifisher_2.doc Download brenda_chows_social_justiceessay.doc

Good luck with your studies Brenda and Raena. 

Cheers

60, 80, 100 Hour Work Week

Can you imagine working 60, 80 to 100 hours a week for 16 weeks straight without a day of rest each week.  Well this happens in factories throughout Asia. 

A typical day may start at 8:30 with a 10 minute break at 10am, hour lunch at 12 noon, and another 10 minute break at around 3pm.  The official work day ends at 5:30 pm.  However, the huge demand from Western brands and consumers and the quest for greater sales by factories have led to much longer work days.   Instead of ending work at 5:30, workers often return from a 1 hour supper break to work late into the night, often ending at 10 pm or even later.

Local laws clearly cap overtime at about 12 hours on top of a regular work week of 48 hours.  Workers must have at least one day of rest.   Obviously this is rarely being adhered to.

To get an idea of what work should be like click this Fair Labour Organization.

Compounding the long hours is the often practice of not paying workers the ovetime pay earned and or financially penalizing workers for not "volunteering" to work overtime. 

So why does this matter?  It matters because these long work hours are unhealthy to the incumbent to society as a whole.  Imagine attaching a screw to a widget for 10 hours a day.  Repeating the same task hunched over a desk connected to an unstopping conveyer belt of widgets waiting to be processed.

Before we blast India, China, Vietnam and just about every developing economy with a factory sector, let's recognize that this is a reality partially caused by global capitalism and our own western consumerism.  It's sobering and mind boggling. 

Child Labour & Factory Conditions Part 2

In May 2007 we returned to the factory to verify the factory's commitment.  Well we didn't find the girl or any of the confirmed and suspected child workers.  According to the factory managers, all the children workers from our 2006 audit resigned voluntarily. 

Case closed!  Well no.  We have reason to believe they were likely terminated or pressured to resign.  Which in essence "re-victimized" the workers.  We also found the following:

• financial penalities for not working OT and for using the toilet during work without a "permit"
• new incident of child labour
• misrepresentation of working conditions
• improper fire exits
• suspected fabrication of documentation

We have suspended this factory indefinitely which is regrettable because more can be achieved in terms of "smartening" up the factory had we stayed.  We could only remain if the factory was sincere in improving.  All findings and inclinations showed otherwise.   The other brands in the factory, to the best of our knowledge, don't require these standards.  The factory is not pressured nor motivated to change.

Pictured to the above right is the dorm where the workers sleep.  Every window is barred for security reasons.   Directly to the right is the one staircase leading to each room.  With one path of exit this factory is a fire trap.   

More on this factory next time. 

 

No Free Rides Here

About a month ago, I attended a Multi Fibre Agreement (MFA) session on the impact of ending trade restrictions on labour. It was hosted in Toronto by the Maquila Solidarity Network.

During the panel discussion, organized labour lambasted the brands for not doing enough to protect the wages of factory workers (according to them real wages have declined year after year). Honestly speaking, they’ve got a point. Factories and brands (including my employer) have a moral obligation to figure this thing out. How can we run our businesses successfully without hammering workers (e.g., lower and lower wages).

On the flip side, labour needs to recognize that consumers are contributing to the downward pressure on wages. Statistics Canada estimates that apparel prices have been dropping steadily over the past five years. This means consumers are demanding cheaper prices from brands which in turn lead to brands demanding lower unit costs from suppliers. To assume that brands operate in a vacuum is nonsense. Brands continuously scan the market place to meet market demands. Consumers are demanding a whole bunch of things including low prices.

Cracking the wage problems in overseas manufacturing requires everyone to participate. It involves more than just brands and factories. It must include price conscious consumers. Critiquing brands and retailers (which society must do) while not considering the impact of consumer habits will not solve the wage trap of workers. Everyone plays a role. There are no free rides – not for factories and brands, and certainly neither for organized labour nor consumers.

Child Labour & Factory Conditions

Here’s a 15 year old we found in one of our contract factories (see photo).  That’s child labour.  She’s one of about 215 million kids the UN estimates are in the work force throughout the world.  When we discovered this MEC immediately suspended business with the factory and made certain conditions (e.g., transition the kids out of the workforce, improve conditions and etc.,) for business to commence.   

Well the factory agreed to all our conditions.  We were hopeful because there’s more value to engagement (e.g., ensuring the kids return to school, stop the practice of employing children) then to withdraw and make no difference in the practices of the factory.   

When the UN talks about kids working, they’re not talking about a part time job wrapping cheese in a local deli like my 15 year old nephew (Ryan) did in Vancouver.  They’re referring to long hours in often very dangerous environments.  Children in paid employment is generally acceptable as long as that work doesn’t interfere with their schooling, play, sleep and just basically being kids. 

The reason why child labour is so bad morally and pragmatically is because kids need a chance to grow up.  Excessive work messes “growing up”.  Messed up kids become messed up adults.  This leads to messed up societies that stay messed up.  It’s a poverty trap. 

Last May we went to visit the factory to locate the girl (pictured) and to confirm the improvements. What we did find was a clean and orderly factory. So we thought. Behind the sterile façade were extensive abuses which really surprised us given the exhibited commitment and sincerity of the factory during the negotiations. We were idealistic.  More on the girl and other findings next week. 

"Is life better?" ponders Sandy the CFO of MEC

Our CFO (Sandy) asked is life better for workers who leave their farms and villages for work in factories.  He's originally from South Africa so he's seen first hand the horrors of racial conflict and socio-economic deprivation.  Is life better?

Life in a factory (making retail goods) is tough.  The hours are often long (8 - 12 hour days), the pay poor (about 40-80 cents per hour in the developing world), and the work repetitive and mind numbing.  It's an occupation shunned by most workers in the Western world (one reason for the exodus of factories from the developed world).  In Canada, the vast majority of workers in our contract factories are not Canada born but Asian immigrant women.  This speaks volumes. 

In the emerging economies, factory work in spite of all its serious faults, provides an opportunity for workers.  A salary of say $1,200 US per annum allows a worker to seek material comfort (e.g., cell phone), support her family and have some financial means to make possible life changing decisions.  A life on a farm or village typically doesn't afford this.  The Wall Street Journal (Nov 8, 2004) neatly chronicles the working life of an 18 year old and the socioeconomic mobility factory work has given her.  Working in a factory can make life better.       

My dad pushed a broom for most of his working life and likewise, my mom cleaned chickens.  Both had low status menial jobs (dad was unionized, mom minimum wage) that only poorly educated immigrants took.  Their lack of job status caused me considerable embarrassment throughout my teen years.  Regardless of what I felt, my parents "accepted" their station in life because it offered them stability.  They escaped the wreckage of war, civil war and famine.  So cleaning up after others, for over 20 years, was the price to pay!

Improving the human condition in the developing world is always a balance between social justice and economic opportunity.  Working in a factory is everything horrible that Karl Marx laments but it also paves a new avenue for individuals and nation states to improve themselves. 

Is life better for the factory worker?   Was life better for my parents?  For many including my folks I suspect it is.  But take note, it's a relative "better" in comparison to the alternatives and it'll never be good enough for the likes of you and me.       

The Business of Retailing & Human Rights

Anyone who's worked in an organization can attest that it can be difficult to get everyone aligned.  Especially, when individuals work on seemingly conflicting portfolios.

My job at Mountain Equipment Co-op is to vet our contract factories and to work with everyone to get them to meet a human rights standard.  Sometimes this makes it very challenging for the merchandisers to do their jobs.  For example, not too long ago a buyer spent significant time sourcing a great product.  At the end we couldn't sell it because the factory had major problems.  The buyer took a hit and is starting over again.

There is a misconception that retailing is simple: just buy some inventory, mark it up and sell it.  If it were only this simple.  Merchandising is complicated and tied to extremely sensitive staged time lines.  Do any of this wrong and you're stuck with lots of unsold and out of season goods (or out of stock hits).  (That's how and why Woodwards, Dylex, Eaton's Woolco, Kmart and etc., all died).  Getting factories to perform to a human rights standards complicates this.  Factories must not only deliver product at the right price, time, quantity and style, they must also behave in a certain manner.

Getting factories to deliver product and behave is daunting.  It's less daunting when your merchandisers are on board.  To date, the buyers, QA, designers and production people screen factories, reinforce ethical obligations, and give up hard earned merchandising "deals" when a factory is non compliant.  That's a good sign because the bigger test is coming when we begin to deal with those long term factories who contribute nicely to our bottom line and who are incrementally improving on the wokers rights front.  That's when we test the real commitment of MEC.      

So what's the point of this "hurray hurray" message?  Well, when we talk about integrating human rights to our business practices its more than just joining a human rights group or donating some money.   It's balancing pure commercial objectives with social ones.   It's building into your business, processes and ideas that move human rights forward.  It's no longer just about the cash register by the entrance of a store.      

Retailing ain't easy. Ethical sourcing is complex.    Being successful while doing the two is a challenge.

What's the bugaboo with China?

Personally, I have issues with the Chinese government since my family suffered considerably both personally and materially when the Communists took over.  Having put that on the table, I can’t help but wonder how much of the current indignation and fear over China are warranted.  It seems like just about everything China does or doesn’t do "we’re affronted”.      

First there is considerable reason to be appalled by the current “goings-on” in China.  The Economist describes best the Chinese government as being morally bankrupt.  The pretence of “rule for the people” under communism passed long ago when Dao Xiaoping took his own “great leap forward” to capitalism.  Now China is anxiously looking for ways to justify its despotism since it can no longer govern under the moniker of “for the people”.   Meanwhile Amnesty International accurately shouts at the enormous human rights abuses in China and Harvard Business Review depressingly details the shocking environmental consequences of the “Made in China” phenomena.   

In light of these and other very critical issues should we feel indignation over China? Is it justified?  What action must we take?  I think anytime human rights are breached or our planet wantonly disregarded we must be disgusted and justifiably.  Where there is considerable disagreement is what action to take.  Some passionately advocate boycotting China.  Others equally feel we should engage the regime.  Regardless of the action, there are pros and cons to both and neither are wrong.

A bit of me wonders if our feelings over China are “inflated” because of a discomfort for an emerging power that is not from the Occident.  For centuries, rotating Western countries dominated the world in terms of military rule, sciences, commerce and philosophy.   In essence they defined reality.  With China, we may be on the cusp of seeing this old order turned on its head.  This is understandably scary and perhaps even more so given the country’s human rights record.

Regardless of our feelings, China is inextricably tied to our individual lives and to global order.  We depend on it for a good portion of our clothes, electronics and increasing economic stability.  China will mature and take a healthier approach to all the issues it now seemingly disregards.  Unfortunately, it won't likely be soon.

We Believe in Social Justice – We Believe in You

MEC launched a pilot Human Rights Scholarship to support under-privileged kids (from Vancouver) entering a post secondary program.  The Scholarship will buy the text books for the duration of a student’s post secondary education.  Imagine not having to buy a text book for your entire degree.  To win the Scholarship, students must write a simple essay on human rights. 

Our goal with this initiative is to get more high school students involved in human rights.  After all they are our future. 

A few years back a whole bunch of coworkers had kids leaving home for university and college for the first time.  They were fresh faced 17 & 18 year olds entering a fantastic stage in their lives in terms of learning, independence and exploration.  What really struck me about this was that across the globe, their peers in the 1000s were also leaving home for the first time. But instead of going to school, they’re going to work, eat and live in a factory.   In some ways the lives of these two groups couldn’t be so different.

In 2008, we’re looking to expand the Scholarship to two other provinces.  Perhaps, we can offer something similar to the young factory workers.