sri /mia

"What is it about the abuse
 of third-world workers 
that engenders such an apathetic response
 on the part 
of 
the socially responsible 
     investment community(SRIs)?"

thats   JEFFREY BALLINGER
questioning  
the holy joe  profit stakeholders there 

he goes on with this 

 "Name-brand shoe and apparel companies
 merely had to announce 
that the companies 
had corporate codes of conduct
 and some form of compliance scheme 
 and the issue pretty much disappears "

How much scrutiny was directed at whether or not the

" objective conditions ..really changing"

" Were salaries raised "

 

"What does a  Nike say? "


"There's no point in  having 96 monitors 
on a factory floor day in and day out
 monitoring overtime,
 if overtime is being caused 
way up the supply chain"

. new tact ??

"... incentivize suppliers "
 







"if the brands were truly serious 
about improved working conditions
 they would pay enough
 to make it possible
 for those conditions to be achieved." 



"a  Nike manages
 to adroitly garner praise
 for ending sweatshop abuses
 while continuing to squeeze
 the contractors that must
 actually pay the workers"



"Nike's Phil Knight 
has pocketed over eight billion"

and

" enriched
  a host of the world top athletes
 beyond their wildest dreams"









 


"five classic stages on its path to corporate responsibility"



The company learns 
 realigning its strategy
 to address responsible business practices 
can provide a competitive edge 
and contribute to long-term success"

.The civil stage: 
"We need to make sure everybody else does it."

Companies promote collective action 
to address society's concerns






"The Transparency Report Card 
is based on research carried out
 over the past year 
by Maquila Solidarity Network (MSN),
 on behalf of the Ethical Trading Action Group.
 The rating system utilized 
in our research is based
 on the Gradient Index developed 
by AccountAbility"


 "the rating system 
favors companies 
that dedicate literally millions of dollars 
per year on "managing perceptions".

 
 the   corporate social responsibilty community (CSR)

bottom line:

    CSR 'S SRI schemes .... where rubber meets road ???
                               
           " like totally   MIA babe "


Jeffrey Ballinger is director of Press for Change. He can be reached at: Jeffreyd@mindspring.com