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CMHR takes look at T-shirt maker's human rights record

By: Bruce Owen

Posted: 10/25/2012 12:47 PM | Comments: 0 | Last Modified: 10/25/2012 2:36 PM | Updates

The Canadian Museum for Human Rights is reviewing a human rights issue for some of its T-shirts. (KEN GIGLIOTTI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ARCHIVES) Photo Store

The Canadian Museum for Human Rights is reviewing a claim some of the T-shirts it's selling were made in a Honduran factory with a questionable human rights record.

Museum spokeswoman Angela Cassie said Thursday the T-shirts in question were obtained through a local supplier/wholesaler about two years ago.

Cassie said the T-shirts were made by Gildan, a Canadian company that owns the Star, S.A., factory in El Progreso, Honduras.

She said at the time the museum obtained the shirts it was satisfied that Gildan was providing safe, fair and legal working conditions according to the Fair Labor Association and World Responsible Accredited Production standards.

"They were certified," she said. "They were also working with a company called Verité, which is a non-profit social auditing and research organization with a mission to ensure people are working under safe, fair and legal working conditions. So based on that accreditation, we felt at that point that those particular T-shirts, there was about 380 that we purchased, that purchasing them was based on sound information."

The T-shirts, with an image of the $351-million Canadian Museum for Human Rights -- silk-screened in Winnipeg -- are being sold at the museum’s kiosk in the Forks. About 50 remain.

However, Cassie said museum officials are now reviewing new information about the factory; that the Workers Rights Consortium (WRC) has issued a recent report alleging union members are being threatened at Gildan’s facility in Honduras. It does not mention working conditions.

"The WRC’s investigation found that Star managers have failed to take any action against employees who have repeatedly harassed and sought to intimidate leaders and members of the factory’s union, including making threats of violence and that Star managers have actively colluded with these employees in their anti-union actions," WRC report says.

She added the T-shirts from Honduras remain for sale as the Fair Labor Association has not unaccredited Gildan.

"We are trying to get advice from them in terms of the most appropriate action moving forward," she said.

More importantly, she also said the museum is also trying to nail down whether the T-shirts in question actually came from the Honduran factory, as Gildan only purchased it in May 2012, two years after the museum ordered and received the shirts.

"For us to say we will never buy anything from Honduras as a statement I think would be irresponsible," Cassie said. "Our initial investigation demonstrated that the materials in question are not affiliated with where this complaint comes from."

Criticism over the source of the T-shirts didn’t escape Premier Greg Selinger.

"They do have to set an example," Selinger told a local TV station Wednesday on the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. "They know that because otherwise it can come back and put a stark contrast on the symbol of human rights in terms of practices in terms of products that they sell."

Cassie said the issue is part of the museum’s learning process as it heads towards opening its own retail centre in 2014.

"It isn’t just throwing out a bid and getting the lowest quote and going for it. We’re balancing all of these different needs as a museum," she said.

For example, Cassie said the museum is now carrying T-shirts from Just Shirts.

"This is part of our learning process as well," she added. "Hopefully we can pass on that education to others and strengthen our processes. Are there things we can do more of? Are there things we can do differently?"

History

Updated on Thursday, October 25, 2012 at 2:08 PM CDT: adds missing word

2:36 PM: corrects that Selinger spoke to TV station, adds Gildan website

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