Social Responsibility

Social Responsibility Statement:AAFA members are committed to socially responsible business practices and to assure that sewn products are produced under lawful, humane and ethical conditions. As evidence to this commitment, the Association endorses the Worldwide Responsible Apparel Production (WRAP) Principles and Certification Program.

Latest News:

12.16.08
By unanimous consent, the US House of Representatives and the US Senate both approved the Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (H.R. 7311) on December 10. President George W. Bush is expected to sign the bill into law. The legislation, which deals mostly with reauthorizing US law and US programs against the trafficking of children, also contains a provision that requires the US Department of Labor to publish by January 15, 2010, a list of products (by country) that, according to the US Department of Labor, are made using child and/or forced labor. The US Department of Labor already published guidelines for the development of the list, guidelines that and others feel are inadequate for a list that could have a significant impact on the US industry as well as the livelihoods of millions in developing countries worldwide. While the US Department of Labor does not have the power to ban the import of the products described in the list, AAFA believes that such a list would become essentially a "black list" that would lead to de facto bans on US imports of the subject products.

06.09.08
The US Department of Labor’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) held a hearing May 28 as a follow-up to its December 27, 2007 publication of the final procedures for developing a list of the products and countries where there is evidence of child and/or forced labor. The only topic mentioned during the hearing that affected the footwear and apparel industries was the issue of the use of child forced labor in the production of cotton in Uzbekistan. AAFA submitted comments to ILAB last fallciting numerous problems with the then proposed procedures. Regrettably, most of AAFA’s comments and concerns were not addressed in the final procedures. While the publication of the list is tentatively slated for January 2009, the final timing remains unclear.

12.10.07
The Hosiery Association (THA) recently announced that it has adopted the Worldwide Responsible Apparel Production (WRAP) principles and certification as the standard code of conduct and compliance certification program for the US hosiery industry. THA joins over a dozen other major organizations worldwide that have adopted or endorsed the WRAP principles and WRAP compliance certification.

10.1.07
The US Department of Labor on September 4 released its 2006 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor . While the report found a dramatically decreased incidence of child labor in apparel and footwear factories worldwide, it did find minor problems with child labor in apparel factories in certain countries, particularly in the Middle East (Egypt, India, Morocco, Pakistan, Turkey and Yemen). While the report found problems child labor in footwear factories in fewer countries, the incidences of child labor existed in all regions of the world, including Brazil, India, Indonesia and Turkey. Problems with child labor, however, continued to persist in the leather tanning industry in many countries around the world, including Bangladesh, Egypt, India and Turkey.

7.10.07
The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, on June 29 adopted a new labor contract law. The law, which will come into effect on Jan. 1, 2008, won 145 of the 146 votes. Under the new law, if employers don't sign a written contract with their employees within a year after the employees start to work for them, it should be taken as that they have signed a labor contract of no fixed term. The law also adds a number of new requirements for labor contracts and provides employees some rights to organize and collectively bargain. However, the new law is unclear as to whether these new organizations are separate unions or must affiliate under China’s only officially recognized union – the All China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU).

The International Labor Organization's (ILO) Better Factories Cambodia has released its 18th Synthesis Report on Working Conditions in Cambodia's Garment Sector. The report, which evaluated compliance with Cambodian labor law and international labor standards in Cambodia's garment factories, determined that labor conditions continued to improve.

5.31.07
A diverse group of Democrats backed a bi-partisan agreement on a "New Trade Policy for America" on May 22. US Representatives Ellen Tauscher, Adam Smith, Joe Crowley, Ron Kind and Artur Davis spoke in support of the agreement on the floor of Congress during a "special order." According to all of the speakers, the agreement would allow pending US Free Trade Agreements to be amended to include core Democratic values such as core labor standards and environmental protections. The incorporation of these deep-seated Democratic principles will shape US trade policy going forward and provide the advantages of globalization for everyone – not only US workers and consumers, but workers and consumers worldwide.

5.23.07
AAFA applauded the landmark trade/labor deal reached between Congress and the Bush administration on May 10. While AAFA continues to review the details of the trade/labor deal, AAFA hopes that all pending trade agreements -- Colombia, Peru, Korea and Panama -- and renewal of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) will now be swiftly approved by Congress.

3.12.07
The US State Department on March 6 released its 2006 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. The reports review the treatment in every country of internationally recognized individual, civil, political and worker rights.

2.22.07
In what AAFA expects to be the first of many hearings on "sweatshops" in Congress, Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Chairman of the Interstate Commerce, Trade, and Tourism Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, held a hearing February 14 titled Overseas Sweatshop Abuses, Their Impact on US Workers, and the Need for Anti-Sweatshop Legislation (For a list of witnesses, copies of their testimony and a webcast of the hearing, please go to the Senate Commerce Committee website). While the list of witnesses appeared "stacked," witnesses from WRAP and the CATO Institute, a libertarian think-tank, successfully highlighted the expansive efforts of the US apparel and footwear industries and others to improve work place conditions overseas. The CATO Institute witness also detailed the flaws in recent legislation introduced by Senator Dorgan that would, among other things, allow US businesses, including their shareholders, a private right of action to sue other US companies allegedly importing product made with as yet undefined "sweatshop" labor. AAFA submitted a written statement for the hearing record. Only two members of the 23 member Senate Commerce Committee -- Senator Dorgan and Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) -- participated in the lightly-attended hearing. This hearing comes at a critical time as the Bush Administration and Congress work to try to reach a compromise over the role of labor rights in free trade agreements.