In 1996, Wal-Mart's Kathie Lee Gifford clothing line was exposed for using child labor and unsafe working conditions in their Honduran factory, Global Fashion. Kathie Lee went to the press, repented, and took all the heat for the production techniques. Interestingly enough, Wal-Mart's name was barely mentioned in the popular media.

This was not Wal-Mart's first offense. In a 1992 interview with Dateline, NBC, Brian Ross talked with the new CEO, David Glass. Not only was Wal-Mart putting clothing that was made in Bangladesh underneath "Made in the USA" signs, but they were using notorious child labor factories. Ross had visited the factory where a Wal-Mart brand t-shirt was made. This factory paid underage children five to eight cents an hour and locked them in the building until their daily quota was met-often well past midnight. This is the same factory that was infamous for children dying in a fire because they could not escape, locked in from the outside. The fire was two years before Wal-Mart decided to use this manufacturer. Transcripts of Dateline are available from NBC. Check out more of the Kathie Lee Tee in the Shopper's Index.

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