NY Times, April 24, 2001 Labor Standards Clash With Global Reality By LESLIE KAUFMAN and DAVID GONZALEZ SAN SALVADOR - Six years ago, Abigail Martínez earned 55 cents an hour sewing cotton tops and khaki pants. Back then, she says, workers were made to spend 18-hour days in an unventilated factory with undrinkable water. Employees who displeased the bosses were denied bathroom breaks or occasionally made to sweep outside all morning in the broiling sun. Today, she and other workers have coffee breaks and lunch on an outdoor terrace cafeteria. Bathrooms are unlocked, the factory is breezy and clean, and employees can complain to a board of independent monitors if they feel abused. The changes are the result of efforts by Gap, the big clothing chain, to improve working conditions at this independent factory, one of many that supply its clothes. Yet Ms. Martínez today earns 60 cents an hour, only 5 cents more an hour than six years ago. Full: http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/24/world/24SWEA.html Louis Proyect Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org
