Date: Mon, 16 Sep 1996 12:11:57 -0700 From: mcunha-AT-highnet.com.br (mcunha) Subject: Re: Eat Disney John Young wrote: > > The New York Times, September 7, 1996, p. 23. > > > Taking a Stand Against Disney And Its World > > By David Gonzalez > > > Disney's blitz marches on, its beachheads surging into > shopping strips, playgrounds and schools filled with kiddie > troops wearing the uniforms of Pocahontas and Quasimodo. > Some days you have to wonder if we'll all wind up taking > orders from the Mouse. > > Facing this onslaught, Jim Geist took his counteroffensive > to Times Square recently, actually giving away copies of a > just-finished Disney video. It wasn't a plot to flood the > market with bootleg cartoons. His tape was live action, of > interviews with the Haitian workers who sew the happy-faced > T-shirts and pajamas and other items that contribute to the > estimated $1 billion the company earns licensing its > characters. > > The Haitian workers, he said, earn 30 cents an hour. They > live on credit. Their children go hungry. They make about > $11 a week, less than the retail price of a Pocahontas > shirt. > > First the Gap. Then Kathie Lee Gifford. Et tu, Pluto? > > The Disney Company is the latest target of a coalition of > religious and labor groups that seeks to highlight the > working conditions at the overseas factories that churn out > lucrative clothing lines. Disney was chosen on purpose, > they said, because of its high profile and jealously > guarded corporate image of wholesome family entertainment. > The coalition wants Disney to increase its hourly wage to > 58 cents and allow monitoring of its overseas factories. > > "Every group I've spoken to, their jaws hit the floor," > said Mr. Geist, an assistant at an evangelical Christian > church in Elmhurst, Queens. "They say, 'Please don't tell > me Walt Disney is doing this.' " > > The company's response is contained in a one-page statement > that says it requires all its overseas licensees to abide > by its code of conduct, which stipulates that factories > comply with local wage and workplace laws. It does not say > how much the Haitian workers earn. A Disney spokeswoman > said she would look into the matter. She did not call back. > > The Rev. David Dyson isn't surprised by that. Fifteen years > ago, he founded the National Labor Committee, the group > that took on the Gap and Kathie Lee Gifford and produced > the Haiti videotape. Now the pastor of Lafayette Avenue > Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn, he belongs to People of > Faith, a nationwide network whose members rally > congregations into speaking out on social and economic > issues. > > "Companies don't like to get attention from churches," he > said. "If it were just unions banging at them, they are > somewhat impervious. But they don't like it when rabbis and > priests unite and ask ethical and moral questions about > their practices." > > Mr. Dyson's congregation in Fort Greene is no stranger to > this. In the 1850's, it was a center of Abolitionist ardor > whose pulpit was graced by Frederick Douglass and Henry > Ward Beecher. A large wooden table, rebuilt years ago, > commands the center of the pastor's office. The > Emancipation Proclamation was drafted on it. > > Disney's minimal reaction, he said, echoed that of the Gap, > which first tried to play down the criticism by holding up > its corporate code of conduct like a shield before agreeing > to modify its business practices. The problem, Mr. Dyson > said, was that overseas manufacturers flout those codes. > And while the companies say they abide by local laws, he > said the minimum wage in the third world is often too low > to allow workers to buy food and medicine. The question of > a living wage becomes a moral issue that is a cornerstone > of their public appeal. > > "Instead of talking about the global economy and the > shattered social contract, let's go after the Gap when we > hear they're making clothes in El Salvador," he said. "It's > impossible to talk about capital flight without talking > about what's going on in Haiti." > > Or without talking about what Disney is doing in New York, > where it plans to stage a musical on the life of King > David. > > "He was a biblical figure of justice of enormous purpose," > Mr. Dyson said. "For Disney to be making more money off the > character of King David at a time when the working poor in > Haiti are starving is a perversion of history and > theology." > > The Disneyfication of a classic Bible tale has emboldened > Mr. Geist, who plans to continue his protests outside > Disney's stores. He admits it is daunting, but he offers a > parable for those who doubt they can change part of the > global economy. > > "The majority of people say it's so huge, what can you do > about it? " he said. " I say, "How do you eat an elephant? > One bite at a time." > > Dumbo, you're on notice. > > [End] > > > > > > > DO NOT SEND E-MAIL TO mcunha-AT-highnet.com.br SEND TO avc-AT-highnet.com.br --- from list avant-garde-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---
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