PricewaterhouseCoopers releases sweatshop report
By MYRA McGRIFF
News Writer
PricewaterhouseCoopers, one of the largest auditing firms paid to perform factory monitoring, released the first public monitoring report Friday on the conditions of factories in countries like El Salvador, Mexico and Korea.
The report outlined the methodology of their research and the conditions of the factories. In the report, PricewaterhouseCoopers based the conditions of the factories primarily on the health and safety of the worker, fair wages, benefits, and working hours.
The severity of the discovery varied for each factory, but some critics did not find the report accurate in its reporting of the true condition of the factories.
"Everything they said is true but the conditions are much worse than this," said Maureen Capillo, Saint Mary's student and member of United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS).
In a published critique of PricewaterhouseCoopers' findings, Professor Dara O'Rourke of MIT said the auditors found minor violations of labor laws and codes of conduct. However, they failed to include major labor practice issues.
Some feel that the firm did not pay enough attention to the worker and their rights. The intent of PricewaterhouseCoopers was to interview workers, look over factory records, and review timecards. The published report, however, appeared to send a different impression.
Some saw bias in the way PricewaterhouseCoopers carried out their factory inspections, especially in employee interviews where managers were present.
"Until they do off-site, confidential interviews with employees Pricewater-houseCoopers will not be getting the full story on how workers are being treated," said Capillo.
O'Rourke, who accompanied PricewaterhouseCoopers on some factory visits, points out in his critique that the Pricewater-houseCoopers failed to note workers in some Korean factories had no protective gear on when handling hot dye.
Some critics believe oversights like these cannot be dismissed.
"There are no checks and balances to monitor how well the monitors are doing their job," said Capillo.
Some Notre Dame students want the critiques of the Pricewater-houseCoopers to open the door for discussing a new system of monitoring factories that produce Notre Dame apparel. Since 1999, the University, a member of the Fair Labor Association (FLA), has employed the firm to do their monitoring.
Now with a public report, some students think it is time to reconsider monitoring options.
"[The firm] can be accused of not actually fixing the problem of sweatshops and slave labor. We want to use local non-government alliance," said Aaron Kreider of the Progressive Student Alliance (PSA).
All News Stories for Tuesday, October 10, 2000
