Apparel co., to name factory sites

Champion acceded to schools' calls that the locations be disclosed. In response to demands from universities and student anti-sweatshop groups across the country, a major manufacturer of Penn's college-logo apparel announced earlier this week that it will disclose the locations of its overseas factories. Champion Products Inc., the producer of Champion brand clothing and a subsidiary of the Sara Lee Corp., announced its decision to release the locations of factories that produce its collegiate products in a letter dated November 15. The announcement, sent out to colleges this week, follows a similar decision announced last month by shoe and apparel manufacturer Nike. The letter from Champion President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Flatow said the company realizes that though "the question of manufacturing sites has not been raised" on many campuses, "for those customers for whom it has, we are providing this information so that you can reassure your students of Champion's commitment to ethical workplace philosophies, principles and practices." The announcement was welcome news for the University's Center for Technology Transfer, the office responsible for licensing Penn's logo. "It is very significant because they are a major supplier in the bookstore," Jacqueline Miraglia, Penn's trademark administrator, said of the announcement by Champion. "Hopefully other companies will follow because Champion is a large company." Miraglia said the announcement was unexpected -- calling it "pretty much a nice surprise" -- but noted that the University will soon begin requiring all of its licensees to disclose the locations of overseas factories where Penn clothing is made, a decision announced last month by University administrators. Associate General Counsel Eric Tilles said the contracts for next year's licenses require all Penn suppliers to disclose their factory locations by January 15, 2000. Tilles said Champion's announcement this week was "something that we would have been expecting anyway" in January, noting that any company refusing to provide the locations of its factories will be at risk of losing its license to produce Penn's logo apparel under the new contract. Champion's letter to colleges said the company expects to be able to provide the factory locations some time early next January. Champion spokesperson Peggy Carter said the company decided to release the locations of its overseas factories only after careful consideration. "It was a very difficult decision for us to make," she said. "We were very protective of our competitive position, and we still are." Carter said Champion makes "a very big commitment" in both time and money when it sets up a location overseas, including the costs of buying land and constructing buildings and the time required to train the local workforce. She said Champion feared that disclosing the locations of its factories -- some of which are company-owned and others of which are owned by contracted manufacturers -- would allow its competitors to set up factories nearby and take advantage of Champion's investment. She said Champion is "as vehemently opposed to the conditions people describe as 'sweatshops' as the next guy," noting that Sara Lee has strict rules governing its overseas factories and that "we have been third-party auditing ourselves for some while." Miriam Joffe-Block, a member of Penn's chapter of United Students Against Sweatshops, said she was "very pleased" with Champion's announcement. "I think this is really good," the College senior said. "This is a really concrete example of how the student movement is leading to changes." However, Joffe-Block said she was not inclined to believe Champion's assertions that its factory locations were kept secret merely to prevent competitors from setting up shop close by, saying that Champion's employees would not want to go to another employer if Champion was paying good wages. Joffe-Block said she believed Champion chose to voluntarily disclose its factory locations now rather than being forced to do so at a later date by universities. "This is a really good first step," she said. "Obviously, there's still a lot of work that needs to be done." That work includes getting public disclosure of the reports of independent factory monitors, she said. Penn's USAS chapter has been demanding that the University join the Worker Rights Consortium, a monitoring organization comprised of universities and human rights and labor groups that the students view as an alternative to the Fair Labor Association. The FLA is a monitoring group comprised of apparel companies, human rights groups and universities to which Penn currently belongs. USAS says the FLA is an ineffective organization that will serve corporate interests rather than workers, while the FLA's supporters say the association is a good first step toward eliminating sweatshops that will operate under a clear set of rules and safeguards to protect workers' rights. Currently, Brown University is the only group to have joined the WRC.