By Derek Walter
Independent Staff Writer
About 30 people waved signs at traffic and chanted anti-Gap
slogans outside of the Clovis Old Navy store on Shaw Avenue June 3 protesting
overseas, operations of Gap Inc.
The demonstrators gathered to protest "slave labor" that Gap Inc. — which owns Old Navy, Gap, and Banana Republic stores — allegedly does nothing about where the company buys its clothes.
Mark Stout, Central Valley coordinator for Green Party U.S. Senate candidate Medea Benjamin, said the protesters were trying to raise the public’s awareness of the issue.
"We’re not asking for a boycott. We want customers to tell Gap they're ashamed of what Gap is doing and they should change their purchasing practices to include a code of conduct and pay a living wage," he said.
Some of the demonstrators were part of a group arrested May 6 for a demonstration at Fashion Fair mall in Fresno. Stout said the group, composed of various activist organizations, will demonstrate about once a month at stores owned by Gap Inc.
Gap Inc. is one of 18 companies named in a class-action lawsuit filed in January 1999 regarding alleged conditions at Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan), factories. Gap Inc. has denied any wrongdoing, and insists it maintains a rigorous "Vendor Code of Conduct," which outlines policies banning child labor, forced overtime and mandating adherence to the country’s labor laws.
Gap Inc. spokesman Alan Marks said the company has severed ties with some factories because of poor conditions.
"It does happen. This year we have terminated business. We’ve had instances where factories have not continued to do business with us because of our monitoring and standards," he said. "In general our goal is not to terminate business. Walking away doesn’t improve conditions, so we try to extend the opportunity to work with the factory and get that company in compliance with the code."
Clovis resident Debby Schmidt said a class at California State University, Fresno, opened her eyes to working conditions around the world.
"Many people don’t have the right to organize. It wasn’t that long ago in this country when we didn’t have that right," she said. "My eyes have really been opened to what goes on."
The demonstrators spent about two hours waving large banners and chanting various anti-Gap slogans to motorists along Shaw Avenue.
The protesters got varied reactions, some honking their horns in support or giving a thumbs-up gesture. Other drivers simply looked perplexed, while one was less than cordial, shouting, "Losers!" to the group.
Some protesters were "wearing" small plastic wading pools to protest a $3.4 million plan by the city of Fresno to move a flood control basin to expand The Gap’s Pacific Distribution Center.
Old Navy shoppers were unfazed by the protest.
"I still like the clothes," Clovis East student Jason Wise said.
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