The board of directors at the Fair Labor Association have named Reebok as the first FLA company to have a program accredited. Reeboks footwear factories underwent an extensive review process which examined the companys independent factory monitoring practices, training programs, and auditing systems.
“FLAs independent review of Reeboks compliance program indicates that the company comprehensively monitored its footwear facilities and exceeded FLA requirements,” said Auret van Heerden, FLA President and CEO. “Reebok footwear has been a leader in providing opportunities to workers in China to participate in forms of worker representation We hope to see the experience gained in Reeboks initiatives extended to more factories in China and to other countries as well.”
When a company joins the FLA, it commits to establish a workplace standards program that complies with FLA requirements, opting to implement the program during a two- or three-year initial implementation period. At the end of that period the FLA carries out an in-depth evaluation of the companys performance, and reports its findings in the FLAs annual public report.
Reebok chose to focus on its footwear factories and selected a two-year implementation period. Since other companies in the FLA selected the three-year period, Reebok became the first FLA company to complete the process. Reebok chose a three-year implementation period for its apparel line.
The FLA Workplace Code of Conduct specifies compliance with several standards, including forced labor, child labor, harassment, abuse, nondiscrimination, health and safety, freedom of association and collective bargaining, wages and benefits, hours of work, and overtime compensation.
Next year the program for Reeboks apparel product line and the compliance programs of the other 12 participating companies will be considered for accreditation. The sporting goods companies participating in FLAs program include adidas-Salomon, Eddie Bauer, GEAR for Sports, Gildan Activewear, New Era Cap, Nike, Patagonia, and Puma. Accredited programs are reviewed for re-accreditation every two years.
In related news, Reebok gave UNICEF a grant of $250,000 at Reeboks annual human rights ceremony last week. The grant, which will be distributed over a period of three years, was given in memory of the late Iqbal Masih, who was put into debt bondage at the age of four, and later became an advocate for education as a powerful means of preventing child labor. Mahish was shot and killed in 1995 at the age of 13.
UNICEF will use the grant to fund education programs to help put child laborers in school in south Asia. The Asian and Pacific regions harbor the largest number of child workers in the five to 14 age group, 127.3 million
