Just as the Gap was beginning to polish its image with its 2004 social audit system and involvement with Product Red, the store for the affordably hip has once again tarnished its image. An Observer investigation discovered that a line of Gap garments slated for the December gift-giving season were being sewn at a child sweatshop in New Delhi. While a Gap spokesperson promised that the items (which number in the tens of thousands) would be recalled, I wonder: What do you do with recalled clothes made by slave labor?
Some good ideas, if you’re Santa-minded and want to follow the spirit of the season…
- Clothe your child workers.
- Open a bootleg Gap where the kids can sell their wares and rake in all profits. Since they would still be working, you’d have to let the wee workers determine their hours and wages.
- Dedicate all proceeds from this holiday season to improving working conditions in India.
Or follow the Grinchesque spirit of exploitation by…
- Putting the clothes in a warehouse until they can be marked down and passed away unnoticed in retail stores.
- Selling the clothes anyway. Who’s going notice the difference?
- Lay off the child workers so they can find more lucrative work elsewhere.
Give your Santa- or Grinch-spirited suggestion below…
—Anna Cynar
