Confessions of a Sweatshop Inspector

T.A. Frank has a great piece in the Washington Monthly about his career as an international "compliance consultant" hired by big American companies to check up on wages, hours, and conditions in factories overseas.

Frank talks about how to distinguish companies that are serious about staying sweatshop free from those that merely want cover for their unethical business practices.

Companies that are serious about spurning sweatshop labor will ask for assessments before they enter into purchase agreements, request unannounced inspections, and make the results of these audits public.

Of course, as Frank makes clear, the inspectors are themselves private for-profit consultants who serve at the pleasure of the companies that retain them.

Comments

[Kathy G.]

Lindsay, it's a great article, and thanks for calling attention to it. But you should change your post to reflect the fact that it was written by "T.A. Frank," not "Thomas Frank." Thomas Frank is the "What's the Matter with Kansas?" dude. T.A. Frank is a Thomas, also, but he's a different writer altogether.

[Lindsay Beyerstein]

Thanks, Kathy. I didn't realize they were different people.

[Left_Wing_Fox]

Thanks you very much for linking to that Lindsay. I've always been fascinated by these sort of "in the trenches" analysis, people trying to make a difference, and revealing both the progress and the shortcomings.

[Lesley]

Great link, Lindsay but I have one question for T.A. Frank and that is, why didn't he hire and take his own translators with him on inspections? Relying on the foreign translators compromises the privacy of the person being interviewed.