Welcome to FLA WATCH

Welcome

FLA Watch was created to expose the truth about the Fair Labor Association (FLA). The FLA purports to be an "independent" monitor of working conditions in the apparel industry. But the organization is funded and controlled by the very corporations that have been repeatedly found to be sweatshop violators. The FLA's dishonest attack on United Students Against Sweatshops' (USAS) Sweatfree Campus Campaign showcased the true agenda of this "fox guarding the hen house" scheme. FLA Watch was created in March, 2006 in an effort to set the record straight on USAS' anti-sweatshop proposal and to expose the truth about the FLA's ongoing failure to defend the rights of workers. Unfortunately, the FLA's efforts to derail anti-sweatshop campaigners did not stop there, so this website is updated as needed to educate the public about the FLA's ongoing anti-worker tactics. FLA Watch is a project of United Students Against Sweatshops.

Click here to read more about FLA Watch and the Fair Labor Association.

Workers and Students Protest FLA and Its Member Corporations.

Students from the US and Canada protest Hanes' refusal to respect the rights of workers in the Dominican Republic

Workers at a Hanes factory in the Dominican Republic were threatened, spied on, and fired when they tried to stand up for their rights

Is this what the FLA means by worker empowerment?

In an ongoing case at TOS Dominicana, workers and students are actively protesting the FLA and its member corporation Hanes' failure to address blatant violations of worker rights. Workers at the factory are paid poverty wages, are exposed to unhealthy working conditions, and have been subject to a massive anti-union campaign. Thus far, neither the FLA nor Hanes have taken sufficient action to correct these egregious abuses of worker rights violations that no one denies have taken place.

HOT TOPICS

FLA Welcomes New Corporate Member Hanes Amidst Massive Sweatshop Controversy

While FLA Receives Funds from Hanes and the Company Touts FLA Membership as Proof of Social Responsibility, Labor Abuses Continue

The FLA has become involved in yet another sweatshop scandal. For the past two years, workers at TOS Dominicana, a Hanes factory in the Dominican Republic, have been subject to poverty wages, verbal abuse, unhealthy working conditions, and an aggressive anti-union campaign. Labor and human rights organizations across the world have launched an international campaign, calling on Hanes to end the abuses at their Dominican factory. But despite this international pressure, Hanes has refused to meet the workers' demands and has attempted to hide their corporate misdoings by joining the FLA – an organization known for welcoming sweatshop abusers with open arms. Read more about the FLA's willingness to accept this newest member – and their massive membership dues, without even a hint of improvement for the workers at TOS.

FLA Colludes with Nike to Spread Misinformation about BJ&B

FLA ignores workers' voices, claims situation is resolved

The BJ&B factory in the Dominican Republic, which has produced university baseball caps for Nike and Adidas/Reebok, was one of the few factories in the global garment industry that was actually not a sweatshop, after the factory was forced by universities and students to begin respecting workers' rights in 2003. But decent conditions mean higher costs, so BJ&B became unattractive to Nike and Reebok and was forced to close on February 22, 2007. Since then, both Nike and the factory have become the subject of intense worker and student protest, both for the closure itself and for the factory's well-documented trampling of worker rights throughout the closure process. After initially remaining silent in the midst of this sweatshop crisis, the FLA has finally weighed in—with a report that ignores the facts and claims that BJ&B has acted in good faith! Read more about the FLA's efforts to support the closure of BJ&B.

FLA's new approach to labor enforcement lets corporations off the hook

A new spin on the same FLAws

"FLA 3.0" is the FLA's newest tool to address the shortcomings of existing factory monitoring programs and begin to effectively enforce workers' rights standards. But this new program does little more than shift responsibility for compliance from our university licensees to workers and factories, absolving the FLA's corporate members of responsibility for their contribution to poor working conditions. Read more about the FLA's new spin on the same FLAws.

FLA 'alternative' to the DSP is just more corporate self-monitoring

FLA tells small companies: Just do it like Nike

After unleashing a campaign of disinformation against USAS' Designated Suppliers Program (DSP) last year, the FLA has finally offered its own program to address widely-acknowledged shortcomings of the current approach to enforcing compliance with university codes of conduct. Unfortunately, the program, called the "Collegiate Licensee Screening and Compliance Initiative," simply takes the same failed monitoring techniques used by the FLA's member corporations and applies them to university licensees. Read about why this new program is not an alternative to the DSP.

BACKGROUND

FLA Spreads Lies About Anti-Sweatshop Campaign

In its first public attack on the Designated Suppliers Program, the FLA has brazenly misrepresented this proposal put forward by United Students Against Sweatshops. The FLA’s distortions are clearly intentional given that the author repeatedly quotes from the documents he or she proceeds to misrepresent. Read a claim-by-claim review of the FLA's lies.

Legal Analysis finds FLA Has Limited Knowledge of International Labor Law

Mark Barenberg, Professor of Law at Columbia University and recognized expert on international labor law, finds the FLA’s attack on the DSP to be at odds with basic knowledge of textbook labor law. “The FLA provides no analysis or reasoning in support of its legal assertions. If a monitoring organization based its actions on the FLA’s legal assertions, the organization would be derelict in its responsibility to monitor core components of workers’ right of association." Click here for Professor Barenberg's memo.

FLA’s Own Monitoring Reports Reveal Stunning Ineptitude in Factory Monitoring

The FLA must be hoping that no one will actually read its factory reports. Maybe that's why they are showcased in a barely squintable 6-point-font, under layers of flashy graphics, in the FLA’s annual report. We have squinted our eyes and read the reports and what we found was a disturbing lack of seriousness for the enforcement of basic worker rights, especially the right to organize. Read United Students Against Sweatshops’ in-depth analysis.

FLA Uses For-Profit Monitors with a History of Covering Up Abuses

The majority of the FLA's "independent external monitors" are for-profit firms whose primary source of revenue is the major corporations for whom they monitor. When Coca-cola hired the Cal Safety Compliance Corporation to conduct an investigation of its labor rights practices in Colombia, the results of the investigation were quickly discredited by the university community and an independent commission was formed to create an acceptable investigation plan. Why then is Cal Safety still monitoring university factory conditions for the FLA? Read the USAS critique of Cal Safety that helped discredit the company's investigation in the Coca-cola case.

A Chronology of Failure

From its inception to the present day, the FLA has failed to provide effective and timely responses to egregious violations of worker rights. Time and again, the FLA has failed to respond to worker complaints and time and again taken the side of multinational corporations against workers. View a timeline of key moments where the FLA has failed to respond to appeals for help from sweatshop workers. View a timeline of key moments where the FLA has failed to respond to appeals for help from sweatshop workers.



Home About FLA Watch The Sweatfree Campus Campaign Key Documents Links Contact Us	Welcome FLA Watch was created to expose the truth about the Fair Labor Association (FLA). The FLA purports to be an "independent" monitor of working conditions in the apparel industry. But the organization is funded and controlled by the very corporations that have been repeatedly found to be sweatshop violators. The FLA's dishonest attack on United Students Against Sweatshops' (USAS) Sweatfree Campus Campaign showcased the true agenda of this "fox guarding the hen house" scheme. FLA Watch was created in March, 2006 in an effort to set the record straight on USAS' anti-sweatshop proposal and to expose the truth about the FLA's ongoing failure to defend the rights of workers. Unfortunately, the FLA's efforts to derail anti-sweatshop campaigners did not stop there, so this website is updated as needed to educate the public about the FLA's ongoing anti-worker tactics. FLA Watch is a project of United Students Against Sweatshops. Click here to read more about FLA Watch and the Fair Labor Association.	Workers and Students Protest FLA and Its Member Corporations. Students from the US and Canada protest Hanes' refusal to respect the rights of workers in the Dominican Republic Workers at a Hanes factory in the Dominican Republic were threatened, spied on, and fired when they tried to stand up for their rights Is this what the FLA means by worker empowerment? In an ongoing case at TOS Dominicana, workers and students are actively protesting the FLA and its member corporation Hanes' failure to address blatant violations of worker rights. Workers at the factory are paid poverty wages, are exposed to unhealthy working conditions, and have been subject to a massive anti-union campaign. Thus far, neither the FLA nor Hanes have taken sufficient action to correct these egregious abuses of worker rights violations that no one denies have taken place.
	HOT TOPICS FLA Welcomes New Corporate Member Hanes Amidst Massive Sweatshop Controversy While FLA Receives Funds from Hanes and the Company Touts FLA Membership as Proof of Social Responsibility, Labor Abuses Continue The FLA has become involved in yet another sweatshop scandal. For the past two years, workers at TOS Dominicana, a Hanes factory in the Dominican Republic, have been subject to poverty wages, verbal abuse, unhealthy working conditions, and an aggressive anti-union campaign. Labor and human rights organizations across the world have launched an international campaign, calling on Hanes to end the abuses at their Dominican factory. But despite this international pressure, Hanes has refused to meet the workers' demands and has attempted to hide their corporate misdoings by joining the FLA – an organization known for welcoming sweatshop abusers with open arms. Read more about the FLA's willingness to accept this newest member – and their massive membership dues, without even a hint of improvement for the workers at TOS. FLA Colludes with Nike to Spread Misinformation about BJ&B FLA ignores workers' voices, claims situation is resolved The BJ&B factory in the Dominican Republic, which has produced university baseball caps for Nike and Adidas/Reebok, was one of the few factories in the global garment industry that was actually not a sweatshop, after the factory was forced by universities and students to begin respecting workers' rights in 2003. But decent conditions mean higher costs, so BJ&B became unattractive to Nike and Reebok and was forced to close on February 22, 2007. Since then, both Nike and the factory have become the subject of intense worker and student protest, both for the closure itself and for the factory's well-documented trampling of worker rights throughout the closure process. After initially remaining silent in the midst of this sweatshop crisis, the FLA has finally weighed in—with a report that ignores the facts and claims that BJ&B has acted in good faith! Read more about the FLA's efforts to support the closure of BJ&B. FLA's new approach to labor enforcement lets corporations off the hook A new spin on the same FLAws "FLA 3.0" is the FLA's newest tool to address the shortcomings of existing factory monitoring programs and begin to effectively enforce workers' rights standards. But this new program does little more than shift responsibility for compliance from our university licensees to workers and factories, absolving the FLA's corporate members of responsibility for their contribution to poor working conditions. Read more about the FLA's new spin on the same FLAws. FLA 'alternative' to the DSP is just more corporate self-monitoring FLA tells small companies: Just do it like Nike After unleashing a campaign of disinformation against USAS' Designated Suppliers Program (DSP) last year, the FLA has finally offered its own program to address widely-acknowledged shortcomings of the current approach to enforcing compliance with university codes of conduct. Unfortunately, the program, called the "Collegiate Licensee Screening and Compliance Initiative," simply takes the same failed monitoring techniques used by the FLA's member corporations and applies them to university licensees. Read about why this new program is not an alternative to the DSP. BACKGROUND FLA Spreads Lies About Anti-Sweatshop Campaign In its first public attack on the Designated Suppliers Program, the FLA has brazenly misrepresented this proposal put forward by United Students Against Sweatshops. The FLA’s distortions are clearly intentional given that the author repeatedly quotes from the documents he or she proceeds to misrepresent. Read a claim-by-claim review of the FLA's lies. Legal Analysis finds FLA Has Limited Knowledge of International Labor Law Mark Barenberg, Professor of Law at Columbia University and recognized expert on international labor law, finds the FLA’s attack on the DSP to be at odds with basic knowledge of textbook labor law. “The FLA provides no analysis or reasoning in support of its legal assertions. If a monitoring organization based its actions on the FLA’s legal assertions, the organization would be derelict in its responsibility to monitor core components of workers’ right of association." Click here for Professor Barenberg's memo. FLA’s Own Monitoring Reports Reveal Stunning Ineptitude in Factory Monitoring The FLA must be hoping that no one will actually read its factory reports. Maybe that's why they are showcased in a barely squintable 6-point-font, under layers of flashy graphics, in the FLA’s annual report. We have squinted our eyes and read the reports and what we found was a disturbing lack of seriousness for the enforcement of basic worker rights, especially the right to organize. Read United Students Against Sweatshops’ in-depth analysis. FLA Uses For-Profit Monitors with a History of Covering Up Abuses The majority of the FLA's "independent external monitors" are for-profit firms whose primary source of revenue is the major corporations for whom they monitor. When Coca-cola hired the Cal Safety Compliance Corporation to conduct an investigation of its labor rights practices in Colombia, the results of the investigation were quickly discredited by the university community and an independent commission was formed to create an acceptable investigation plan. Why then is Cal Safety still monitoring university factory conditions for the FLA? Read the USAS critique of Cal Safety that helped discredit the company's investigation in the Coca-cola case. A Chronology of Failure From its inception to the present day, the FLA has failed to provide effective and timely responses to egregious violations of worker rights. Time and again, the FLA has failed to respond to worker complaints and time and again taken the side of multinational corporations against workers. View a timeline of key moments where the FLA has failed to respond to appeals for help from sweatshop workers. View a timeline of key moments where the FLA has failed to respond to appeals for help from sweatshop workers.