By Emily Bruzzo, News Editor

In print April 15, 2015

The Carolinian reached out to Craig Hodges, VF’s director of corporate communications, and asked the corporation’s leading public relations expert to explain why VF feels it is being treated unfairly, and why the corporation argues student protestors and Accord proponents are spreading misinformation.

UNCG United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) members have asserted VF Corporation does not care about its workers; Hodges responded vehemently to this, declaring such an accusation absurd.

“We are a company full of people all around the globe who are absolutely committed to the safety of the people who work for this company and for the safety of the people who are making our products— period,” Hodges said.

“For anyone to say otherwise is completely false,” he contended.

Hodges went on to say about the situation in Bangladesh,”When you think about what is happening in Bangladesh, we— as I think about almost every single apparel company in Bangladesh— would admit that it’s a challenging situation. There are many many challenges in Bangladesh.”

“That is why groups like the Accord and the Alliance were formed,” he continued, “because others weren’t addressing those challenges, so our decision to join the Alliance… is part of our commitment to those workers.”

Many USAS activists aver that the Alliance is not to be trusted, and proponents of the Accord say the Alliance fails in comparison to its counterpart; Hodges and his VF colleagues say critics are missing the point.

“Anyone who is a critic of the Alliance, you would have to ask them why they are a critic,” Hodges stated.

He continued, saying, ” However, what continues to be perplexing, is that when you have groups such as the students or any other critics out there, their end goal, as they claim, is the safety of the people of Bangladesh.

“So, what is perplexing to us, is that we are a company that is leading the effort to improve working conditions in Bangladesh and to improve their safety. So, the people that have a goal that is shared with VF— that VF is actually making meaningful progress and working towards— are the same people that criticize us,” Hodges said.

“At the end of the day, one can only question their motives,” he concluded.

Accord proponents and USAS activists also critique the Alliance’s work with Bangladeshi unions, but Hodges argues there’s plenty of proof suggesting the Alliance has striven to include workers and promote unionization.

“As it pertains specifically to union activity, you don’t have to go much further than to look at several stories from The New York Times that demonstrate VF taking a very first-of-its-kind approach in Bangladesh,” Hodges said.

He continued, saying, “Once we became aware of issues in a factory where there was an assault on some workers who were attempting to unionize or who were already members of a union, we coordinated with labor organizations and others to conduct independent investigations, find out the details of the situation and take action so that the issue would be addressed at the factory level and the improvements would be made.”

“So, when you look at the Bangladesh issue from a VF perspective,” Hodges said, “we not only have a track record of success in terms of safety improvements in Bangladesh, we have a track record of meaningful action as it pertains to insuring that our workers have all rights, not just the right to safety, but the right to freedom of association to belong to a union.”

“And these are things that if you really spend time researching and looking at what we’re doing in Bangladesh, a lot of the things that our critics are vilifying us for are, in fact, things that we are doing to improve on a daily basis,” Hodges concluded.

Unions aren’t the only area about which Accord proponents judge the Alliance, another major issue of contention involves the legally binding element of the Alliance contract and the enforcement mechanisms in place.

Hodges cited the findings from a study conducted by New York University’s Stern Center for Business and Human Rights. The New York Times ran a piece on the conflict between the Accord and the Alliance in April 2014, and condensed some of the findings.

The study criticizes both organizations openly, with The New York Times reporting about the study, “It said that a major problem with the Accord and the Alliance was that while they will inspect 2,000 of Bangladesh’s more than 5,000 apparel factories, the more than 3,000 others generally have worse conditions — and middlemen often secretly send them orders from Western brands.”

However, the study does say the Alliance’s legally-binding provisions check off:

“If a member company leaves the Alliance, the member pays a financial penalty. If an Accord member is subject to a dispute, the issue is referred to the Steering Committee, whose decision either party can appeal to binding arbitration. Advocates of the Accord have emphasized that this constitutes a legally binding agreement, but it is not clear that the penalties associated with dispute resolution are significantly different from the more straightforward financial penalties contained in the Alliance.”

Hodges argues, however, the issue about which contract is more legally binding is becoming a thing of the past.

“Everyone wants to talk about the fact that there’s this legally binding element to both the Accord and the Alliance. The Alliance and the Accord are both only five-year agreements. There is a coming a time when both organizations will— there have to be decisions that are made. Either they dissolve or the perhaps become one, that’s not been determined yet,” Hodges said.

“The legally-binding element to those organizations is to insure that companies stay, and that they’re committed, and that they continue to place orders, and that everyone just doesn’t do a mass exodus from Bangladesh leaving the country in a very bad spot,” Hodges asserted.

Hodges says that whether the Alliance’s contract is legally binding or not, VF has been committed to enhancing the working conditions of those who work at the factories with which VF sources.

“Our philosophy, when it comes to global sourcing, even in countries that present difficulties, is that it’s always better to stay and improve instead of to cut and run,” Hodges said.

“We know that we don’t only have commitment to the workers that are making our products, but to the communities in which those workers live as well. So, our philosophy as a company is always stay where we are, try to figure out how we can make things better and make improvements to benefit many as opposed to saying ‘this is too difficult, let’s leave,'” Hodges stated.

He continued, arguing, “So that’s our philosophy, and that’s what we’re doing in Bangladesh, but I think eventually it’s going to get to a point where, what’s the argument going to be? If those organizations come to an end, then this legally-binding debate, it becomes irrelevant. It’s actually becoming more irrelevant anyway.”

A significant hit to VF Corporation has been the lose of 19 contracts with 16 U.S. universities.

Hodges said about the cuts, “These universities are making decisions that they feel are necessary. We do not agree with them. But, ultimately, they’re making the choice that they believe is correct.”

He continued, saying, “The unfortunate thing we see is that many times our JanSport brand is the brand at the center of this controversy on campus. Our JanSport brand has never been manufactured or sourced in the country of Bangladesh. There’s always punitive action against our JanSport brand because of the fact that VF does source other brands in Bangladesh.”

“What we always try to encourage every university to do,” Hodges said, “just as we do with any individual, is take an objective, rational view into the researching of this situation, which is very complicated.”

“I’ll say that many many many more organizations and universities have decided that both the Alliance and the Accord are worthy than those universities that have just sided with the Accord.

“Other organizations, such as the Bipartisan Policy Center in D.C., the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives and large university systems, such as the University of Southern California system and others all conducted objective reviews and said, ‘you know what, the Alliance is just as worthy as the Accord.’

“But not all universities are seeing it that way. So, that’s ultimately their decision. We respect it, but we don’t agree with it,” Hodges concluded.

Even with the growing battle between Accord proponents and Alliance defenders, Hodges says the two organizations still do find ways to work together.

“The Accord and the Alliance work together to create a uniform standard for all of the inspections that take place. The other thing is that the Accord and the Alliance really have to work together, because there are many factories that are covered by both. One factory might have three Accord members, one that also have four Alliance members all sourcing from the same factory,” Hodges explained.

“There’s a level of coordination, there’s a level of collaboration and, in many ways, there’s a level of trust there where inspection reports are being shared. It’s hard to completely separate those two efforts considering that everyone’s working towards the same goal and doing very similar work,” Hodges concluded.

An augmenting cynicism about the corporate world and American capitalism leaves many wondering about the motives driving multibillion dollar companies. Hodges argues, however, corporations aren’t devious and that they live through their employees and have the heart of their workers.

“It’s not to look at the organization as a physical structure that may have a sign on the outside,” Hodges said, “it’s to look at who’s making those decisions… you’ll very quickly learn that a corporation has the heart that essentially is an extension of the people who are a part of that organization.”

He continued, saying, “If people really do feel that all corporations are bad, then hold all corporations to the same stands and look at all corporations in the same way, and analyze what they’re owing or what they are not doing.”

“Why single out one or two organizations and let others slide,” Hodges asked.

Regardless of the flak Hodges and his colleagues receive from student protestors and Accord proponents, Hodges still had positive things to say about VF’s critics:

“They’re well-intentioned and their hearts are in the right place. We’re all working towards the same mission here.”