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Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
For more information call: (202) 219-8211
Secretary of Labor Alexis M.Herman, at the first-ever conference of
Central American labor ministers with their U.S. counterpart, agreed on the
importance of implementing international labor standards in the global economy.
This meeting is a follow-up to President Clinton's meeting with Central
American Presidents in Costa Rica in May.
As another step in the administration's commitment to eliminating child
labor around the world, Secretary Herman announced a $1 million dollar grant to
the International Program for the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC) to be
targeted for use in Central America. The grant will permit IPEC to work with
the countries in Central America to develop programs that address exploitative
child labor. Herman also advanced a presentation to the Central American labor
ministers on the U.S. Apparel Industry Partnership, an initiative supported by
the Administration to establish labor standards and monitoring principles to
prevent exploitative working conditions. The Secretary recently held
discussions on this topic with the European Union. These voluntary codes of
conduct are now on the U.S. agenda with the European Union in 1998 as the
result of Herman's advocacy.
"As our individual national economies grow and become more integrated,
we must see to it that all our workers, all our people reap the benefits of
this economic expansion." said Herman. "The Clinton Administration has brought
these issues to the table. We are most eager to work with all our partners in
expanding international trade while, at the same time, promoting labor
standards."
Labor ministers from Belize, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El
Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama attended the Washington
conference. They agreed to expand their efforts on labor issues. Herman, in
turn, announced that the Administration will provide an additional $3 million
to the Central American labor ministers to support their modernization efforts.
The session on voluntary codes of conduct featured the CEO of Liz
Claiborne, Paul Charron, the Labor President of UNITE, Jay Mazur, and the
President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, Lenore Miller --
all three active members of the U.S. Apparel Industry Partnership(AIP). The AIP
was started in 1996, after President Clinton brought together leaders of the
apparel and footwear industry, labor unions, consumer groups and
non-governmental human rights organizations to work together in the U.S. and
abroad to ensure that products are manufactured under decent and humane working
conditions and to communicate with consumers. The partnership recently adopted
a code of conduct defining what constitutes such positive conditions. The
partnership also announced it would establish a not-for-profit association to
develop an independent external monitoring system and appropriate consumer
education mechanisms.
Businesses can voluntarily adopt the standards into a code of conduct
to assure that their production operations are run with respect for the rights
of workers. In addition, consumers have the confidence that the products they
buy have been made without exploiting workers.
Herman has consistently advanced the Apparel Industry Partnership in
particular and such voluntary partnership building in general. Last month she
met with European Union Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs Padraig
Flynn to promote this partnership concept. Herman and Flynn agreed to jointly
sponsor a symposium on the European garment industry, codes of conduct and the
Apparel Industry Partnership. That symposium will be held next February in
Europe. The labor secretary expressed her intention to generate similar support
of the AIP an codes in Central America.
"Whereas the U.S. Department of Labor will not shrink from or shirk its
responsibilities to working people, I believe it is through such partnering as
the AIP that the most groups in our societies will realize the benefits of
international trade. Through partnering efforts, employers, workers and
consumers will not only have a deeper stake in the process of trade but will
also enjoy the returns more quickly and more equitably," said Herman.
The discussion in the session on labor standards centered on an
expanded role for the International Labor Organization in assuring greater
compliance with core labor standards. Such ILO oversight is considered
necessary within the context of accelerated globalization and expanded growth
in international trade.
The $1 million dollar grant to IPEC is part of the Labor Department's
ongoing work on the international child labor front. In addition to the new
Central American effort, DOL has helped finance and overseen the development of
IPEC programs in Bangladesh, Thailand, Africa, Brazil, the Philippines, Nepal
and Pakistan. IPEC is a program of the International Labor Organization.
Congress has specifically earmarked funds for the IPEC program since fiscal
year 1995.
The labor ministers who joined Secretary Herman at this inaugural
conference included: Elodio Aragon, Belize; Farid Ayales Esna, Costa Rica;
Rafael Alburquerque, Dominican Republic; Jos‚ Eduardo Tomasino, El
Salvador; H‚ctor Cifuentes, Guatemala; Cecilio Zavala, Honduras; Carlos
Wilfredo Navarro, Nicaragua; and Mitchell Doens, Panama.
Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
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