I am going to be purchasing some Levi jeans, maybe even a couple of pairs. This week I was at a big discount store, after trying on some jeans I thought “These fit great and are only $20. But do they fit my value system?” Delaying my gratification for some new jeans, I came home to do some research. Here is what I found:
*In 1991 Levi Strauss was the first multinational company to develop a code of conduct for suppliers emphasizing labor and safety requirements. They have continued to update the code of conduct and now include worker’s rights to form unions and collective bargaining.
*Levi Stauss trains suppliers in their own language as to what they will be looking for when the factory is audited. Their goal is to have factories/suppliers take responsibility for being a responsible workplace. Full time auditors evaluate factories on a regular basis.
*Levi Strauss is working for the improvement of women, by partner with the Herproject, for a factory based health initiative. Of course healthy workers mean better business and productivity for Levi, but it also means better lives and more income for the women supporting their families.
*Levi Stauss prohibited the use of cotton from Uzbekistan in any of its lines since 2008 and continues to raise awareness about forced child labor in Uzbekistan. See Levi’s blog @ LS& Co Unzipped or Shop To Stop Slavery’s blog Cotton Pickin’ Child Labor to learn more about forced labor and cotton in Uzbekistan.
*Free2Work ranks Levi Strauss a “B”. Free2Work assess companies based on human rights. A grade of B is pretty decent, not perfect but good.
Levi Stauss is not an anti-human trafficking organization. But Levi Strauss is not contributing to slavery. They have taken a stand against child labor. They have set the example for developing responsible workplace environments in western and developing nations. Through their efforts they are reducing poverty. Now if Levi can raise the pay standard for factory workers across the world it may just score an “A”.
Thanks for posting. Much appreciated!
http://www.businessinsider.com/wikileaks-haiti-minimum-wage-the-nation-2011-6
Go here.
Read.
Learn
Levi Strauss has posted their supply chain factories at their website. They currently use one factory in Haiti. Paying a higher standard for supply chain laborers is something that Levi and many other brands definitely needs to address and act on. To learn more about Levi’s ratings on social impact and accountability, including labor standards, visit GoodGuide an independent rating company, http://www.goodguide.com/categories/278856-jeans##products
Robin,
I went to your website “GoodGuide” and it is a load of crap. It doesn’t rate companies on weather or not they are actually doing “Good” instead it rates them on bogus things like Global Warming or going green. It is all a load of crap. There are hundreds of companies that are still using child labor and under paid workers. Basically almost as bad as slavery for some.
GoodGuide does use additional criteria. But here are some other sources to check into http://www.free2work.org/corp/848/Levi_Strauss_North_America and http://www.chainstorereaction.com/home/companies/name=levi/ regarding Levi and its labor practices. Each of these companies work independently from each other and are not associated with Levi Strauss
Hi Robin! Jeans are such a difficult thing. I’m also not impressed with GoodGuide as a ranking system (not enough emphasis on worker empowerment and living wages), but interestingly Levi’s scored a “B” on the Free2Work guide as well (http://www.free2work.org/products?cat=8)
Free2Work emphasizes unions/collective bargaining and cooperatives as good models for worker empowerment, as well as a living wage. From their scorecard it looks like Levis is claiming a lot of good things, but there needs to be transparency to see if it’s all true.
I know Justice Clothing carries jeans and jean jackets, all union made in the US. Here’s the link: http://www.justiceclothing.com. I wish you the best in your new jean quest!
take care,
Aria
Hello!
Just a follow up on this- it appears several companies, including Levis, worked to prevent a living wage increase in Haiti recently. The Nation is reporting on it here: http://www.thenation.com/article/161057/wikileaks-haiti-let-them-live-3-day
Thoughts?
We should evaluate all sides of the story then make a decision of whether you support Levi’s based on your conscience. Here is a link to Levi’s response http://levistrauss.com/blogs/haiti-and-levi-strauss-co