nmah sweatshop exhibition -- curbing sweatshop production

Disney shareholder resolution, September 12, 1996

Activists and concerned citizens seeking to curb sweatshop production have copied some of the tactics pioneered in the fight against racism in South Africa. Beginning in the late 1970s, many institutional and individual investors battled apartheid by divesting the stock they owned in companies doing business in South Africa. Today, several mutual fund companies offer "socially responsible" investment portfolios that do not include companies involved in sweatshop production.

At the Walt Disney Company 's 1997 annual meeting, Progressive Asset Management, Inc., brought to a vote a shareholder resolution governing suppliers' labor practices. Although the resolution did not pass, it received surprisingly strong shareholder support (39 million shares or 8.3 percent). Subsequently, Disney pledged to issue and post a contractor code of conduct and authorize audits and inspections of all contract facilities. Disney garment contractor H. H. Cutler then pulled out of production in Haiti.

101 Dalmatians pajamas made in Haiti by H. H. Cutler, a division of VF Corporation, 1996

According to the National Labor Committee, Haitian workers were paid seven cents (or 42 cents per hour) for every $19.99 pair of 101 Dalmatians pajamas sold.

Original layout for National Labor Committee brochure, 1996
Designer: Sarah Sills

Return to 1940-1997, part 5