75work stoppage to protest conditions at the factory. A
group of worker leaders negotiated an agreement with
management that called for specific changes. Following
this agreement, which was signed by both parties and a
neutral government mediator, the worker leaders came
together in an attempt to organize a union. The factory
responded by firing the group of worker leaders and
eventually, over a period of several weeks, an additional
300 workers as well. An investigation was launched by
an activist group, who called on several brands sourcing
in the factory to persuade the factory to re-hire the
illegally fired workers. Levi Strauss & Co. was one of the
brands sourcing in the factory. They were contacted by
the activist group and asked to intervene on behalf of the
workers.Roles: The following roles are assigned to specific students
or groups of students. Approximately 15-20 minutes
should be provided to discuss the case study, with
students sharing viewpoints based on their assigned roles.
- Levi Strauss representative
- Factory manager
- Factory worker
- Labor rights activist
Outcome: The final outcome can be shared at the
conclusion of the group discussion.
Levi advised the factory that compliance with their code
was a mandatory part of their business relationship.
As a result, the factory decided not to maintain the
business relationship^6. Levi no longer had leverage to
advocate directly on behalf of the workers. Following this
development, Levi decided that the best course of action
was to engage the other brands still in the factory and
offer them support. They also wrote letters to the local
government entities in Mexico asking them to support
the legal claims of the workers.^7 Years later, the situation
has yet to be settled to the workers’ satisfaction.
The following questions may be considered with the
students at the end of the first two role plays.- What were the similarities between these two case studies?
- Why were the outcomes so different? What can we learn
from this? - What should other brands learn from these case studies?
2A. Case study on child labor in the supply chain: Primark
in India
Students are provided with the following information:
An exposé by the BBC program Panorama^8 revealed
that clothing produced in India for UK retailer Primark
was made by child labor. The garments had been
subcontracted by the original supplier to shops and
homes, even refugee camps, where children as young as
11 years old were employed to do handwork on the
garments. Journalists reported that the children worked
long hours and did not earn the minimum wage. Reports
suggested that five children earned the wage of one
adult. The exposé claimed that, as a provider of low
price clothing, Primark had pushed to the bottom of the
production rung in their sourcing practices, ensuring that
suppliers would in turn use the cheapest labor inputs,
even child refugees.^9Roles: The following roles are assigned to specific students
or groups of students.
Approximately 15-20 minutes should be provided to
discuss the case study, with students sharing viewpoints
based on their assigned roles.- Primark representative
- Consumer
- Factory production manager
- Child worker’s parent
- Labor rights activist
(^3) Human rights Watch World Report 2002 http://www.hrw.org/wr2k2/business.html#The%20Apparel%20and%20Footwear%20Industry
(^4) Thompson, G. (2001) Mexican Labor Protest Gets Results, New York Times
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A01E6DB133CF93BA35753C1A9679C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2
(^5) Ferriss, S. (2003) Mexican workers say rights denied as firms threaten to pull out, Cox News Services. http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/1103-08.htm
(^6) Workers Rights Consortium (2003), p.8 http://www.workersrights.org/Freports/Interim%20report%20of%20WrC%20Inquiry%20-%20Tarrant%20Ajalpan%20(Mexico)%20%2009-15-03.pdf
(^7) Letter from Levi written in response to USAS Campaign, dated Monday, 22 Sep 2003. Also see Annex 4 of the Draft report Addressing Labor rights Violations at Tarrant, http://www.eti2.
org.uk/Z/lib/2004/05/codeviol-mex/ETI-tarrant-summ.pdf
(^8) BBC News, Primark: On the Rack, http://new.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/panorama/7461496.stm
(^9) McDougall, Dan,The hidden face of Primark fashion, The observer, 2008. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/22/india/humanrights
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