To: Eva Sage-Gavin, EVP, Global Human Resources and Corporate Affairs, Gap Inc., Sonia Syngal, EVP, Global Supply Chain, Gap Inc., and Glenn K. Murphy, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Gap Inc.

Gap: Stop Sweatshop Labor and Human Rights Abuses

End the human rights abuses at the Next Collections factory and stop violating your code of conduct. We pledge to boycott your stores until you adopt labor practices that are fair and safe.

Why is this important?

Twenty-year old Morium Begum lost her baby in her seventh month because of the unsafe working conditions she was forced into by Next Collections, a company that gives 70 percent of its output to Gap and Old Navy. Begum was forced to work over 100 hours a week, even while pregnant and ill. Her wage? Twenty-four cents an hour or less.

The horror stories about the Next Collections factory are too numerous to count. According to a report released on 10/3/13 by the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights, physical punishment -- including beatings -- are standard practice, as is illegal firing. Workers are paid in cash so that they can be cheated out of hundreds of thousands of dollars each year. Women are denied maternity leave. By the third week in a month, most workers do not have any money left to pay for food.

Gap has allowed these abuses to continue, even though they are in violation of its official code of conduct. But Gap depends on our business to be successful. As a Gap customer, you have the power to stop this abuse. Tell Gap that you will boycott their stores until they adopt safe and fair labor practices. If enough people stop giving Gap business, the company will be forced to re-evaluate.

It’s time the public stopped accepting sweatshop labor. We cannot in good conscience buy cheap clothes at the expense of human lives. Please join me in boycotting Gap until they end the abuses and beatings at the Next Collections factory.

To learn more about Gap’s human rights abuses, please visit:
http://www.globallabourrights.org/reports?id=0658
http://www.greenamerica.org/programs/responsibleshopper/company.cfm?id=229
https://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/10/04-2