GAP ATTACK

gap attack | 30.11.2003 14:05 | Globalisation | Social Struggles | London

Buy Nothing Day of action...

29 Nov. 2003
As part of international day of action 'Buy Nothing Day' and due to the policies of
GAP and its owner's seven central London GAP clothing outlets will remain closed.
One for each shopping day of the week.
Their front doors have been glued shut.
These include the 3 in the Covent Garden area, Piccadilly Circus and the 208 Regent
St. store.
The stores are supposed to open for business at 10am.

gap attack
e-mail: thegapattack@yahoo.com

Comments

Hide the following 21 comments

what right have you ....

30.11.2003 14:19

to stuff your opinions down other people's throats?

sceptic

it's not a case of forcing opinions on people

30.11.2003 17:29

hi sceptic,

it isn't a case of forcing opinions on people. It is a case of GAP being a company that manufactures it's goods in sweatshops. Do you think you would like to work in such circumstances? They don't have that choice. We have a choice whether or not to annoy GAP, and we choose to do so.

non-sceptic

well, actually, it is ...

30.11.2003 19:56

... forcing your opinions on other people.

In your opinion, what GAP is doing is wrong. But that is your opinion.

They run 'sweatshops'. Presumably pay and conditions are better than local pay and conditions [otherwise people wouldn't work there] but less good than in say the UK. If they were to give UK pay and conditions, there would be no point in out sourcing them. They could close their 'sweatshops'and throw people out of work in another country. And you'd probably glue up more doors if they did so.

sceptic

Oh, yes, here we go - GAP etc are evil blah blah

30.11.2003 20:16

You say "They don't have that choice". Actually, they do. They could work in the GAP factory or else they could leave and work in, say, a brickworks or iron foundry or on a farm or one of those other jobs which were there before GAP arrived. They don't because working in those other jobs is much dirtier and more dangerous and the hours are longer and the pay is worse than it is in a GAP factory. Would I like to work in GAP factory conditions? Personally, no. But I would like the alternative even less - working longer hours in worse conditions for less pay. A LOT of people work in GAP (and nike and levi and other "demon brand") factories and queue up there looking for work in the developing world, and they don't do that because they're stupid (which they aren't) or because they're forced to (which they aren't). They do it because those factories offer the best paid work in the best conditions available.

chipper
mail e-mail: chip_perr@yahoo.com

And the same applies to your labour rights?

30.11.2003 22:25

It's a little hypocritical of you to argue that people don't need protection from exploitation by corporations, 'because they can just get another job', when you are protected by some of the strongest labour laws in the world.

If you are sacked, you have a right of appeal, you have a right to work in a place that is safe, your wife has a right to work without sexual harrasment, if she becomes pregnant, she can't be sacked 'for being less productive'.

Workers in sweatshops don't have any of these privileges, and we demand that the companies which use sweatshop labour, and then sell their products in our streets, improve conditions for their workers. If they don't we will use civil disobedience to campaign against these companies.

Mark

please read more carefully ...

30.11.2003 22:57

I never said they don't need protection. And I agree that the labout laws under which they operate are different from ours. In the UK we are lucky enough, and wealthy enough, to afford to put these safeguards in place. Other countries are not so well off. We could, of course, refuse to put jobs in those countries. What would that do for Third World poverty?

And why don't you campaign for better labour laws throughout the world rather than target one particular company? Your technique works only for companies that sell in the UK.

sceptic

Targetting GAP does help workers worldwide.

30.11.2003 23:31

Are you suggesting that GAP doesn't make enough money to treat it's employees fairly? The labour costs involved in producing their clothes are miniscule when compared to the sales price of the items.

We're not suggesting removing jobs from these countries, we're demanding that they treat their workers fairly. Some companies have responded to consumer pressure in recent years, but GAP is unfortunately still one of the biggest offenders.

Sweatshops operate throughout the world, in fact that is one of the ways that companies like GAP exploit their workers. They will play one government off against another, in order to reduce worker's rights.

Mark

did I suggest ...

01.12.2003 00:29

they hadn't enough money?

The trouble with 'direct action' is that it's double edged. If someone objected to the nasty circuit boards in Indymedia servers made in the Phillipines, would you be happy if someone glued the doors of Indymedia?

sceptic

Direct action

01.12.2003 08:42

Direct Action has a long tradition here in the UK, there's a nice article here on the BBC about it.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/733866.stm

If you don't like direct action maybe you should go and live somehwhere where it isn't part of the political process.

Mark

And another thing

01.12.2003 10:37

If you're so fucking "sceptical", why don't you try turning your sceptical powers on those who run the world and lie to and rip off its population (you included) instead of bitching about people who are trying to do something about it?

"Forcing opinions down other people's throats" indeed! Ever heard of advertising? Marketing? Laws? Religion? And the particularly insidious indoctrination that we have in the West where our unsustainable and inequitable way of life is "sold" to us as "the only way"?

We are sceptics- you, my friend, are a gullible stooge.

SickOfYou

Sceptic's a lefty

01.12.2003 15:49

Pops up like the proverbial Cadbury's parrot, doesn't he?

And doubtless this post will elicit a stream of pompous and verbose invective from the plucky troll himself.

Exposed for what you are, however, mate.

All those who have come to recognise and love your turgid rantings will be particularly impressed with your call to improve labour laws globally both in the developed as well as the developing worlds. Could it be that you are finally coming round to our way of thinking, or is it possibly that you've stretched out your scrawny neck too far this time? I can just picture the scene had somebody made an original post advocating a global overhaul of labour laws in favour of workers. It would have instantly provoked a negative response from yourself, and further negative responses to anyone who tried to gainsay you.

Could I be so bold as to request that you post, once again, your opinion that labour laws should be overhauled globally to strengthen the rights of workers and to make production and profit more equitable? Block capitals please, I intend to frame.

Bendeus

By your request , sir

01.12.2003 17:06

I would be very happy to see labour laws in other countries similar to those in the UK.
I would be very happy to see other countries as prosperous as the UK.
Could our prosperity be anything to do with our economic system?

sceptic

Prosperity

04.12.2003 13:43

> Could our prosperity be anything to do with our economic system?

Or, could it be that the prosperity of prosperous countries is a mix of historical theft (colonialism), educated populations, battles for social justice and socialised services? People like to credit capitalism with how great our lives are in the West - if it was up to capitalism, we'd all be working 7 days a week, 14 hours a day for pennies. The quality of our lives is due to constant agitation from the left - the Haymarket Martyrs to the post-WWII Labour government in the UK.

Donnacha

Did anybody notice

04.12.2003 16:00

For all the vandalism and self righteous bleating by "buy nothingers" I can assure you that nobody in particular noticed or cared. Lots was spent, lots of people made happy by their purchases (and the wages people were paid for fulfilling such purchases), and you know what, even the glue manufacturers were that bit happier.

Current approach isn't having your desired effect, thankfully I don't see you having the imagination to do anything different. Roll on next year, don't imagine anyone will notice then either.

Free Trader
mail e-mail: free_trader2002@yahoo.co.uk

Nike noticed

05.12.2003 02:05

Well Nike's sales fell dramatically when they were first exposed as using sweatshop labour, so I could guess you could say they noticed.

Mark

Fair Price Day

14.12.2003 13:17

I'm all in favour of Buy Nothing Day, but may I propose another course of action for those sad souls who need to shop to make themselves happy or who are drawn to GAP woollies.

Fair Price Day where we offer to pay retailers like GAP a fair price for their products based on the cost of the sweatshop labour + transport from across the world + few pennies for their UK staff + nothing for marketing and advertising because we all know what they are about anyway = about a quarter of what they currently charge and being the good capitalists that they are how can they refuse.

Then even those heartless souls who think sweatshops are preferable to the alternatives of growing your own crops, going to college, learning a craft etc. would jump on board because idiots like that love a bargain and deep down hate the thought of being ripped off and taken for a mug.

John
mail e-mail: soapbox_cabaret@hotmail.com

It’s all about the power of protest!

17.12.2003 15:10

Governments are becoming increasingly ineffectual when it comes controlling the practices of the big corporations. In many cases governments are well and truly in the back pocket of these corporations.

The sad truth is people can’t depend on their respective governments to behave in a way that provides protection from the abuses of big business. The end result is an increase protest, boycott and direct action.

If the power of protest, boycott and direct action force governments and the corporations to change their ways, then great. After all it’s one of the only powerful tools that the average person has left.

Jim
mail e-mail: scoob@disinformer.net

gap

03.01.2004 18:37

i work for Gap and they have changed there ways since the whole tv thing on the company.

jane

undecided

10.01.2004 01:32

The issue of whether direct action or boycotts against sweatshop companies such as GAP will have any
real effect is one that I am undecided on. On the one hand I am of course strongly against sweatshop labour, and I am quite aware that the workers sourcing materials for
places like GAP get a raw deal.

On the other hand, the points made by some of those opposing the direct action seem valid as well. If GAP stopped using sweatshop labour, would conditions for the workers be any better? I have personally always avoided buying goods made in China and opted to buy New Zealand where I can get it, or Australia or EEC where I can't. But am I really helping sweatshop workers by doing so? Would they not be better off working in sweatshops than
not working at all.

The issue seems to me far more complex, and is related to free trade, deals between governments and a host of other factors. In the long term, boycotts and direct action
may pay off, but what about the short term. Should we be sacrificing the short term welfare of Chinese workers for long term gain? Are there better ways of achieving fair working condtions for these people?

I am still undecided, and could be convinced either way by rational argument (though not by personal abuse directed either at me or others on the site).

Phil

the big problem is..

12.01.2004 16:46

The big problem with this globalisation and outsourcing of workers, even if they are under decent conditions, is that the workers will be leaving working on a farm, a family business, skilled craft or autonomous community. By working for a company like Gap they will be leaving their former occupation behind and become dependent on a capitalist system and its controllers for their survival. If they were to lose their job they might find themselves with nowhere to go, and even when working they are dependent on others for their food and basic living needs. This seems trivial but there is a shift from being independent and responsible for their own survival to dependency on others. It doesn't matter how rich you are, if you are dependent on others for your survival you are at their mercy. Even in the west, if somehow there was a problem with the food supply we would starve even though we might own expensive houses and earn £50,000 a year.

It is the same with fuel; alternative sources of fuel and electricity are suppressed so we are dependent on the large corporations. When there was the fuel blockades it almost brought the country to a standstill.

Dependency=Control.

Another way of thinking

15.01.2004 10:49

Capitalism's biggest flaw is that it does not provide for equality of oppertunity. It's the equivalent of a boxing match where one side is tied up and the other has a shotgun. (or one side has had an excellent education, good connections, useful skills and the other has had a life of poverty until it becomes time to compete for resources and employment.)

This doesn't mean we should tie everyone up to level the playing field - lets give everyone shotguns instead.

I feel the biggest problem with the left today is that they want to protect people from harm, by adding more and more laws and restrictions to what people can do. Capitalism is free and fair, *assuming* you have the power to say "no" to any deal and not starve to death or die of disease the next day or otherwise be massively harmed. New laws do not work.

What _does_ work is showing people how to achieve power for themselves. Instead of trying to protect people with a "we know best" mentality, teach them how to make themselves more powerful. Help people to understand the power of unions, but also to understand how the legal process works, how to communicate their ideas in the media, how to gain skills and learn things to improve their lives.

In short: help people rise up and become more powerful, so they no longer need protecting from opression because they simply do not allow themselves to be oppressed.

Exactly the same answer works for all causes of opression: Instead of "affirmative action" programs as the answer to racism, help people use the media to show the oppression to others and make it clear the individuals and corporations who propogate it. Help them understand the legal system better so they can prosecute more racists, show people that if they learn new skills they can increase their worth to an employer, and thus their power over that employer. And if an employer won't hire them, help them create their own businessess, with their own ideas.

With the exception of some groups of disabled people, children and some groups of elderly people, almost everyone can be helped in this way - they can take control over their own lives and become so self-empowered that people simply cannot exploit them. They also lead much better lives as a result.

_entropy_