Teamsters Launch 'Gap Hurts Kids' Campaign

Teamsters and allies are rolling out the “Gap Hurts Kids” campaign today highlighting the retailer’s role in prolonging a bitter labor dispute at Oak Harbor Freight Lines, an Auburn, Wash.-based freight company where workers have been on strike for more than four months. The campaign includes the launch of the web site www.gaphurtskids.com, as well as nationwide actions at Gap stores this weekend.

The “Gap Hurts Kids” campaign features children of Oak Harbor Teamsters who have been affected by Oak Harbor’s labor violations and elimination of employee health insurance and by the Gap’s continued support for the company. The campaign parodies Gap’s iconic advertisements replacing celebrities and hired children with the children of Oak Harbor Teamsters. Oak Harbor’s violations of labor standards have been documented in a report by the International Labor Rights Forum as well as the National Labor Relations Board.

Scott Amberson, an Oak Harbor Teamster driver and father of Marlies, age 9, and Christian, age 5, who are featured in the ad, said: "Due to the strike, the kids have missed out on educational opportunities that we can't afford, and their medical care has suffered. We hope that Gap will live up to its promise of social responsibility so that my coworkers and I can go back to a job that allows us to support our family."

“Though the Gap has a code of conduct, and a department of social responsibility, it seems that all their talk of doing good is just empty promises”, said Rod Palmquist, National Organizer with United Students Against Sweatshops. “We’re incensed considering the Gap’s public stance on upholding high labor standards in their supply chain. They’ve promised to take action numerous times but have not. We will be informing the public this weekend at Gap stores.”

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters was founded in 1903 and represents more than 1.4 million hardworking men and women in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.