Why do anti-sweatshop groups target some companies, like Nike or Gap, if others are just as bad?
It is most effective to target the largest and most powerful companies for several reasons. First, their financial power often allows these companies to commit the most abusive labor and human rights violations without consequences. The major companies drive the industry at every level. Second, in order to communicate the possibility for change, anti-sweatshop groups have to target companies that can afford to improve labor conditions. In most cases, a small change in the expenditures of a major clothing company would vastly improve the wages paid to the workers making their product. These changes could be made without changing the retail price of a garment. Third, industry giants like Nike and Gap have both proclaimed to be leaders in the abolition of sweatshops. Many companies cite concern for human rights enforcement in their internal codes of conduct. Yet, their workers continue to tell a vastly different story.
