Fair Labor Association

The Fair Labor Association (FLA) "initiative is designed to complement international and national efforts to promote respect for labor rights."

"The FLA represents a multi-stakeholder coalition of companies, universities and NGOs. There are currently 20 leading brand-name companies participating in the FLA. These are adidas AG, Asics, Eddie Bauer, Drew Pearson Marketing, GEAR for Sports, Gildan Activewear, H&M, Liz Claiborne, Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC), New Era Cap, Nordstrom, Nike, Outdoor Cap, Patagonia, Phillips-Van Heusen, PUMA, Reebok, Top of the World, Twins Enterprise, and Zephyr Graf-X. These companies have committed to a rigorous program of Workplace Standards implementation, monitoring and remediation in order to bring their manufacturing sites into compliance with FLA standards." 

Precursor to the FLA - the AIP
Clinton convened the Apparel Industry Partnership (AIP) in 1996, after the National Labor Committee's report on Kathie Lee Gifford's K-Mart clothing created an uproar. The AIP talk-shop could have followed the pattern of the Clinton panel on race relations: a few resume-padding appointments, some medium-profile discussions and the issuance of a bland report. The AIP, however, would not go away - effectively neutralizing the unions that could have mobilized important support for consumers seeking meaningful changes in overseas sweatshops.

A year after consumer outrage had subsided, the Partnership morphed into the Fair Labor Association (FLA); the unions and the Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility departed, at this point, but it mattered little, since the sweatshop firms had changed the media frame from "abusive contractors in repressive countries" to "look at what we are doing with our Code of Conduct".

A Patagonia representative present at the creation of the FLA told the Oregonian newspaper that it was Nike's trade lobbyist in Washington, Brad Figel, that "kept everyone at the table" when Clinton's initiative was dying from lack of interest (of course, no other company needed the cover the way Nike did). The FLA was given $1.5 million from Nike in 2003 -- when it settled the Kasky corporate right-to-lie case.

NGO Advisory Council
Source
 * Asesoría Juridica Laboral - Mexico City, Mexico
 * Asia-Pacific Center for Justice and Peace - Washington, DC
 * Baidarie - Sialkot, Pakistan
 * Cambodian Defenders Project - Women's Resource Center, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
 * Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC) - Phnom Penh, Cambodia
 * Cambodian Labour Organization - Phnom Penh, Cambodia
 * Center for Labor Research and Union Consultation (CILAS) - El Centro de Investigacion Laboral y Asesoría Sindical, Mexico City, Mexico
 * Community Awareness Research Education (CARE) - Tamilnadu, India
 * Community Development Concern (CDC) - Sialkot, Pakistan
 * Consumer Federation of America - Washington, DC
 * COVERCO - Commission for the Verification of Corporate Codes of Conduct, COVERCO - Comisión de Verificación de Códigos de Conducta, Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala, C.A.
 * Federation of Free Workers (FFW) - Manila, Philippines
 * Grupo de Monitoreo Independiente de El Salvador (GMIES) - San Salvador, El Salvador
 * Human Rights Resource and Documentation Centre - Alice, South Africa
 * Indonesian Institute for Children Advocacy - Medan, Indonesia
 * International Labor Rights Fund - Washington, DC
 * International Human Rights Law Group - Washington, DC
 * International Resources for Fairer Trade (IRFT) - Mumbai, India
 * Human Rights First - New York, NY
 * Made By the Bay - San Francisco, CA
 * Malaysian Trades Union Congress - Kongres Kesatuan Sekerja Malaysia, ubang Jaya, Malaysia
 * Lenore Miller - President Emeritus, Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (AFL-CIO)
 * Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights - Minneapolis, MN
 * National Consumers League - Washington, DC
 * National Council of Churches - New York, NY
 * Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER) - Karachi, Pakistan
 * Physicians for Human Rights - Washington, DC
 * RMALC - Mexican Network for Action on Free Trade, Red Mexicana de Accion Frente al Libre Comercio - Mexico City, Mexico
 * Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights - Washington, DC
 * Jim Silk - Orville H. Schell, Jr Center for International Human Rights, Yale Law School
 * SALIGAN - Quezon City, Philippines
 * Taiwan Grassroots Women Worker's Centre - Taipei, Taiwan
 * United Methodist General Board of Church and Society - Washington, DC

Directors

 * Adele Simmons - Chair, Chicago Metropolis 2020

Industry Representatives
 * Daryl Brown - Liz Claiborne, Inc. - Term ends: Dec 2009
 * Reiner Hengstmann - PUMA AG - Term ends: Dec 2007
 * Tim Freer - New Era Cap Co, Inc. - Term ends: Dec 2008
 * Caitlin Morris - Nike, Inc. - Term ends: Dec 2008
 * Art Heffner - Phillips-Van Heusen Corp. - Term ends: Dec 2009
 * Gregg Nebel - adidas-Group - Term ends: Dec 2007

Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) Representatives
 * Marsha Dickson - Educators for Socially Responsible Apparel Business - Term ends: Dec 2008
 * Mike Posner - Human Rights First - Term ends: Dec 2009
 * Linda Golodner - National Consumers League - Term ends: Dec 2007
 * Jim Silk - Orville H. Schell, Jr. Center for International Human Rights - Term ends: Dec 2007
 * Pharis Harvey - Former Director, International Labor Rights Fund - Term ends: Dec 2008
 * One seat vacant

University Representatives
 * Bob Durkee - Princeton University - Term ends: May 2008
 * Rick van Brimmer - The Ohio State University - Term ends: May 2007
 * Liz Kennedy - University of Southern California - Term ends: May 2007
 * Craig Westemeier - University of Texas at Austin - Term ends: May 2010
 * Carol Kaesebier - University of Notre Dame - Term ends: May 2009

Source
 * Karen Daubert (Washington University in St. Louis), Derek Lochbaum (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill), and Maureen Riedel (The Penn State University) have been elected to the Board with terms beginning June 1, 2007. At that time, Liz Kennedy and Rick van Brimmer's terms will expire and universities will have a full complement of six representatives on the Board.

Critique

 * Bernardo Issel, "Sweatshop Companies Fund Nonprofit Groups of FLA!", Nonprofit Watch.

Contact

 * Web: http://www.fairlabor.org

Related Sourcewatch articles

 * Doug Cahn - Founding board member