Stride Rite?

[mamajoan]

Someone talk to me about Stride Rite. I thought it was evil and to be avoided (anti-union maybe?) but I can't remember the details and Googling "Stride Rite boycott" isn't helping. Help?

Comments

I found this:

[nonethewiser.livejournal.com]

It's here: http://www.nrec.org/synapse38/porter.html

I googled Stride Rite and "evil" :)

A sad example of this occurred recentlywith the Stride Rite Corporation. Remember those quality shoes wehave been using for our children for many years? Stride Rite gavegenerously to social causes and became known for locating it's plantsand distribution facilities in some of America's most depressed innercities and rural communities. It provided secure and well paying jobsfor minorities. This was a strong personal commitment of it's chiefexecutive officer, Arnold Hiatt, who believed business shouldcontribute more to community life than simply profits to itsstockholders. This went well until 1984 when their profits showed thefirst major drop in thirteen years. A sizable one. The companydirectors were concerned that if they did not move their productionabroad they might not survive. Hiatt fought the board of directors onthis policy for as long as he could and ultimately resigned. It'sU.S. workers had averaged $1,200 to $1,400 a month for wages alone,plus fringe benefits. The skilled workers in China who now makeStride Rite shoes earn $100 to $150 a month, working fifty to sixtyhours a week. Stride Rite then moved it's national distributioncenter from Massachusetts to Louisville, Kentucky, to take advantageof lower-cost U.S. labor there and an offer of tax abatement from thestate valued at $24 million over ten years. In 1986 their stockincreased sixfold, making it a favorite on the New York stockexchange and particularly with the socially conscious investors whocontinued to be impressed by the company's corporate giving.

Also:

[nonethewiser.livejournal.com]

http://www.domini.com/dsi400/pop_dsi400.asp?slct=5&cn=Stride+Rite+Corporation

Stride Rite Corporation SRR Consumer Discretionary Textiles & Apparel

Business Description
Stride Rite markets footwear for children and adults. Its major brand names include Stride Rite, Sperry Top-Sider, Keds, Pro-Keds, Street Hot, Munchkin and Grasshoppers.

Strengths
In 2000 Working Mother magazine included Stride Rite on its list of the 100 best workplaces for working mothers. The company had been on the list six times in the past.
Family benefits include medical coverage for domestic partnership coverage (defined as an unmarried couple living together).

One woman (Sandy Hayakawa) and serves among the company's seven senior line executives. Ms. Hayakawa, an Asian American, is the president of Tommy Hilfiger Footwear. In FY 1999, women comprised 43% of the top paid 5th of the workforce at Stride Rite.


Concerns
In 2000 the National Labor Committee (NLC), a human rights advocacy group, issued a report entitled "Made in China" based on research conducted by the NLC and Chinese human rights groups and labor rights activists. One of the factories included in the report is the Kunshan Sun Hwa Footwear factory that manufactures Stride Rite's Keds brand of shoes. According to the report the factory had no special ventilation systems, workers were not provided with gloves or masks, and the only equipment provided for the application of glue to the shoes was a toothbrush.
Profile updated April 2003.

Re: Also:

[munoz.livejournal.com]

the only equipment provided for the application of glue to the shoes was a toothbrush.

What other equipment would a person need? A special glue applicator which basically has the same function but costs a lot more? The rest of it is disturbing; this, however, is surprisingly silly.