Group raps Disney on labor
By Gary Gentile
Monday, October 07, 2002 - 10:22:57 PM MST
BEVERLY HILLS, CA (Long Beach Press-Telegram/AP) -- They made an odd couple: 80-year-old Shirley Schlesinger Lasswell, who controls the merchandising rights to the "Winnie the Pooh" characters, and Lisa Rahman, a 19-year-old who until recently worked at a factory in Bangladesh assembling Pooh apparel.
Yet they embraced Monday at a press conference called to pressure The Walt Disney Co. to improve conditions at a factory where workers were allegedly paid the equivalent of 5 cents to assemble Pooh shirts Disney retails for $17.99.
"I'll do everything I can," Lasswell, who is engaged in her own legal fight with Disney, told Rahman. "You be a good girl now. Don't worry about it."
The Campaign for the Abolition of Sweatshops and Child Labor, a coalition that includes religious groups, lawmakers and labor unions, accused Disney of ending an eight-year relationship with Shah Makhdum garment factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh, earlier this year. Coalition members claim Disney pulled out after workers publicly complained about poor working conditions. The company denies the allegations.
Rahman described 14-hour days, seven-day work weeks and beatings if workers did not meet quotas.
"Disney walked away after eight years," Charles Kernhagen, executive director of the private nonprofit National Labor Committee, said. "The women's demand is that Disney return to the factory immediately, but this time do it correctly, work with that contractor to clean up the factory and finally, after eight long years, guarantee that the rights of these women are respected."
A Disney spokesman said the company had conducted 11 inspections of the factory over the past 3 years and worked to correct any conditions that violated its code of conduct for manufacturers, including overtime compensation.
The company said it conducted its most recent inspection in March. The inspection included interviews with workers in their homes, away from factory supervisors, Disney said.
"At no time did we find the types of issues cited in the report," Mark Spears, director of Disney's International Labor Standards office, said.
Disney also said the Shah Makhdum factory is eligible to do work for the company, but that it cannot force its contractor to return there.
The contractor, Jerry Leigh of California, did not immediately return calls seeking comment Monday.
Schlesinger Lasswell is engaged in a long-running legal dispute with Disney over payment of royalties on Pooh products.
Her attorney, Bertram Fields, said he contacted the coalition several days ago and is investigating whether the alleged violations at the Bangladesh factory might be used to end his client's licensing agreement with Disney.
"I don't mean to say that Disney is in favor of sweatshops. They're not," Fields said. "If these stories are true, the situation is appalling."
By Gary Gentile
Monday, October 07, 2002 - 10:22:57 PM MST
BEVERLY HILLS, CA (Long Beach Press-Telegram/AP) -- They made an odd couple: 80-year-old Shirley Schlesinger Lasswell, who controls the merchandising rights to the "Winnie the Pooh" characters, and Lisa Rahman, a 19-year-old who until recently worked at a factory in Bangladesh assembling Pooh apparel.
Yet they embraced Monday at a press conference called to pressure The Walt Disney Co. to improve conditions at a factory where workers were allegedly paid the equivalent of 5 cents to assemble Pooh shirts Disney retails for $17.99.
"I'll do everything I can," Lasswell, who is engaged in her own legal fight with Disney, told Rahman. "You be a good girl now. Don't worry about it."
The Campaign for the Abolition of Sweatshops and Child Labor, a coalition that includes religious groups, lawmakers and labor unions, accused Disney of ending an eight-year relationship with Shah Makhdum garment factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh, earlier this year. Coalition members claim Disney pulled out after workers publicly complained about poor working conditions. The company denies the allegations.
Rahman described 14-hour days, seven-day work weeks and beatings if workers did not meet quotas.
"Disney walked away after eight years," Charles Kernhagen, executive director of the private nonprofit National Labor Committee, said. "The women's demand is that Disney return to the factory immediately, but this time do it correctly, work with that contractor to clean up the factory and finally, after eight long years, guarantee that the rights of these women are respected."
A Disney spokesman said the company had conducted 11 inspections of the factory over the past 3 years and worked to correct any conditions that violated its code of conduct for manufacturers, including overtime compensation.
The company said it conducted its most recent inspection in March. The inspection included interviews with workers in their homes, away from factory supervisors, Disney said.
"At no time did we find the types of issues cited in the report," Mark Spears, director of Disney's International Labor Standards office, said.
Disney also said the Shah Makhdum factory is eligible to do work for the company, but that it cannot force its contractor to return there.
The contractor, Jerry Leigh of California, did not immediately return calls seeking comment Monday.
Schlesinger Lasswell is engaged in a long-running legal dispute with Disney over payment of royalties on Pooh products.
Her attorney, Bertram Fields, said he contacted the coalition several days ago and is investigating whether the alleged violations at the Bangladesh factory might be used to end his client's licensing agreement with Disney.
"I don't mean to say that Disney is in favor of sweatshops. They're not," Fields said. "If these stories are true, the situation is appalling."