July 17, 2008
Mr. Greg Regaignon, Head of Research
Mr. Chris Avery, Director
Business & Human Rights Resource Centre
1-3 Charlotte Street, 3rd floor
London W1T 1RD, United Kingdom
Dear Sirs,
We appreciate the opportunity to respond to your questions and to share additional information about Cintas and our commitments to fair labor practices. Please be assured that we take seriously any and all allegations of this nature.
First and foremost, we believe Cintas has the most extensive responsible-supplier program in the uniform industry, which includes annual independent audits of suppliers. The last annual audit of the facility referenced in the report issued by the NGO SweatFree Communitieswas conducted in September of 2007, and documentation and other evidence indicate none of the conditions alleged in the report.
For example, our records indicate that all employees are properly enrolled in the government social security program, rather than “a few” as alleged in the report by two former employees. In contrast with evidence independently obtained through the formal audit process, SweatFree Communities offers no documentation for the various allegations against this facility.
Further, we found no evidence to support allegations of “forced and unpaid overtime,” or “illegal wages” as cited in the report. Recordsfrom the facility and interviews with employees by independent auditors indicate that proper wage systems are in place. While the facility’s annual audit is coming due soon, we are in the process of re-verifying through additional independent auditors that all necessary procedures are being followed.
Regarding allegations that the facility is “hot” and “unclean,” our inspections found adequate ventilation and cleanliness – as shown in the attached photograph taken during a past inspection. As you can see, the facility appears well-organized and -maintained.
Speaking of these allegations, it is important to note that the individual conducting SweatFree’s interviews in Honduras on June 19th was identified by local employees as a community “union recruiter” – not an “independent factory monitor” as described in the report. Given the fact that a union recruiter is the source of undocumented allegations in a report paid for by a union (as disclosed on Page 2 of the document) that has been the source of false claims against our company in the past, we hope that you will appreciate our caution as we closely investigate the content and the motives behind these allegations.
In summary, we have found no credible evidence in the reportto contradict the findings of multiple independent audits of this facility or to suggest a purposeful lack of compliance. Given the lack of evidence in the report regarding this facility, we cannot substantiate the allegations of the two former employees. Moreover, we remain confident in this supplier’s commitment to responsible manufacturing practices and compliance, based on our review of our documentation from prior independent audits and recent discussions with the facility owners since the release of the SweatFree report.
We are very proud of our Responsible Sourcing program, and continue to believe Cintas has the most robust responsible-supplier program in our industry, conducting strict audits of major suppliers each year.We were the first – and, to our knowledge, remain the only – uniform company that publishes an annual public report on our responsible-supplier program, including numbers of the facilities inspected, statistics on audit findings, and references to those facilities with which we cancelled contracts because of a lack of commitment to responsible-manufacturing and compliance issues. You can find the report at program has been well-established for more than a dozen years, and we continue to encourage other companies to embrace such practices.
Regards,
Pamela J. Lowe
Vice President of Corporate Communications
Cintas Corporation