NorthFace, CAFTA, and Eddie Bauer under attack

By Kelsey

The headline of the National Labor Committee’s Press Release:

Salvadoran Women Sewing $165 Jackets for The North Face and $54 Shirts for Eddie Bauer Cannot Afford Milk for their Children

The jacket in question is NorthFace’s uber-popular Denali jacket. I own one. Here’s me modeling next to my friend Sange in Nepal…

The NLC is calling for a 50% wage increase that would allow “The workers and their families (to climb) out of misery and at least into poverty.” Companies in Central America and Mexico are already having trouble competing with their Asian counterparts. It would be great if they could increase the worker’s wage and still compete, but it’s not likely. I’m guessing the end of the industry in El Salvador is nearing. Rumor is that the industry might jump to Bangladesh where instead of paying workers 94-cents an hour the workers get paid about that much in a day.