Graduate student group targets local Kohl's in sweatshop protest

It was, all in all, a far cry from the glory days of Princeton's anti-sweatshop movement. Where once there were terse confrontations with University administrators on the steps of Nassau Hall, now there are merely manufactured confrontations with bored suburban shoppers at a rain-soaked local mall.

After a year of virtual silence, Princeton's anti-sweatshop movement made its return yesterday, five miles from campus and with barely a whimper.

And, unlike two years ago, this round of protests — which were aimed at a local megastore on U.S. Route 1 — featured neither chanting nor dancing nor cheering throngs.

The protests were organized by the Democratic Left, a group composed mostly of Princeton graduate students. The two demonstrations — which took place at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. — were held outside Kohl's, a clothing retailer located on Nassau Park Boulevard, just off Route 1.

They were part of a nationwide movement against Kohl's, which anti-sweatshop activists claim sells products made under sub-standard working conditions by workers who are paid far below a living wage.

Chentex, a clothing manufacturer that supplies products to Kohl's stores, has been at the center of controversy recently for its alleged mistreatment of Nicaraguan workers.

Joanna Dyl, who helped organize the protests, said "the immediate goal is to get the word out to a few more people about the situation in Nicaragua."

Spreading awareness

Yet she was quick to point out that the movement is not calling for a boycott against Kohl's in particular, but aims merely to spread awareness among consumers, who can pressure the store and its associate companies to improve working conditions in Third World countries.

"The people are demanding $0.08 more for each jean that they make, which people at Princeton can certainly afford," she said.

At the 5 p.m. protest, a dozen members of the Democratic Left stood silently outside the Kohl's store with signs that read "Support Union Rights," "No Sweatshop Labor" and "Honk If You Oppose Sweatshops."

The protesters appeared to be making little headway with Kohl's shoppers, their target audience, however.

The vast majority of consumers moved away when approached by the protesters, and few drivers honked their horns in support.

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But Dyl and her compatriots were not deterred. The protest, she said, was forcing people to "think about the issues, when they are not ready to."

When asked to explain why she had joined the protest, Amy Hughes, who is not a Princeton student, said, "Primarily young, single women are forced to work at least 12 hours a day."

"They are yelled and cursed at to work faster," Hughes said. "[The factories] have armed guards and barbed wire."

Susan Henderson, a spokeswoman for Kohl's national office, affirmed the corporation's commitment to purchase clothing only from manufacturers that maintain safe working conditions overseas.

She explained that Kohl's places strict regulations on its vendors, and that the corporation recently led a private investigation into Chentex's working conditions in Nicaragua, which included interviews with 25 to 30 anonymous workers.

Henderson added that though the investigation did find some irregularities, most of the problems have been fixed by Chentex. Still, she added, certain problems "will need a longer period of time" to be adequately addressed.