SF Protest At GAP Shareholder's Meeting

A protest will be held at the GAP Shareholder's meeting at 9:30 AM on Tuesday to demand justice for Bangladesh garment workers

5/21 SF Protest At GAP Shareholder's Meeting

MEDIA ADVISORY FOR MAY 21, 2013

Contacts:
Garrett Strain, United Students Against Sweatshops, garrett [at] usas.org, 817-964-9836
Liana Foxvog, International Labor Rights Forum, liana [at] ilrf.org, 413-320-7276

Workers’ Rights Groups to Protest at Gap Shareholder Meeting
Campaigners Escalate Pressure Calling on Company to Sign
Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh

Washington DC – United Students Against Sweatshops and the International Labor Rights Forum, working together with consumers, students, and local labor rights and human rights groups, will hold a demonstration in front of the Gap shareholder meeting on May 21, to call on the company to sign onto the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh.

Eighteen companies have signed onto the Accord, including some of the largest buyers of clothing from Bangladesh. However, only one of these companies is a U.S. company, PVH Corp., the owner of the Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein brands. Other signatories are European companies: Aldi, Benetton, C&A, Carrefour, El Corte Inglés, G-Star, H&M, Helly Hansen, Inditex (Zara), KIK, M&S, Mango, N. Brown group, Primark, Stockmann, Tesco, and Tchibo.

The Gap demonstration is part of an escalating series of protest activities. During the past month, over one million people have signed petitions calling on Gap and other global corporations to adopt meaningful factory safety in Bangladesh, and hundreds of consumers have held demonstrations at Gap and Walmart stores in major cities around the United States. Last week, United Students Against Sweatshops and International Labor Rights Forum launched a new website, titled gapdeathtraps.com, with store manager letters, flyers, chants, and petitions, for consumers to take action at Gap stores across the country.

“Too many workers have died in Bangladesh, and Gap has blocked real reform at every turn – ever since 29 workers were killed during a fire at their supplier factory in 2010. These workers were trapped inside; some were burned alive and others died jumping from the upper floors to escape the flames,” said Garrett Strain, International Campaigns Coordinator with United Students Against Sweatshops. “These protests are the next stage in a growing international campaign for Gap to take real responsibility for the safety of their workers – and we won’t stop until they do.”

“Instead of continuing to develop more elaborate voluntary, self-regulatory approaches in the same vein as the ones that they and other brands have used for two decades in Bangladesh, Gap needs to join with other companies in the legally-binding Bangladesh safety accord in order to save lives,” said Judy Gearhart, Executive Director of the International Labor Rights Forum.

WHAT: Demonstration to demand that Gap sign onto the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh to prevent the next deadly disaster in the Bangladesh garment industry

WHEN: Tuesday, May 21, 2013, 9:30am PT

WHERE: GAP Headquarters, 2 Folsom Street, San Francisco, CA 94105

SUPPORTERS INCLUDE: Friends of South Asia, Global Exchange, International Labor Rights Forum, San Francisco Jobs with Justice, and United Students Against Sweatshops

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United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) is North America’s largest student-run campaign organization, with affiliated organizations on over 150 college campuses advocating for the rights of workers on our campuses, in our communities and making our college apparel.

International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF), based in Washington, DC, is an advocacy organization dedicated to achieving just and humane treatment for workers worldwide.