Kathie Lee Defends Herself

Kathie Lee Gifford used her talk show to defend herself against charges that Salvadoran women are laboring in brutal sweatshops to produce her clothing line.

"This is an issue that just doesn't go away because sweatshops, unfortunately, haven't gone away," Mrs. Gifford said on "Live with Regis and Kathie Lee" on Thursday.

Mrs. Gifford said it is extremely difficult to monitor all the subcontractors who manufacture her apparel line, which is sold at Wal-Mart.

After the issue was raised three years ago, Mrs. Gifford pledged to help end labor abuse in the apparel industry.

This week, the National Labor Committee said there are still problems with the manufacture of her clothing line. Mrs. Gifford's own inspectors are looking into the claims.

Mrs. Gifford said she has been the victim of "vicious personal attacks, which I think don't further the cause a bit. All it does is sell newspapers."

Two former factory employees said they were fired after speaking up for workers' rights. The women, who once worked at the factory in Santa Ana, El Salvador, described 11-hour, six-day work weeks in sweltering conditions for a base wage of 60 cents an hour.

"We would like to meet with Kathie Lee, to tell her about conditions under which we produce her clothing," 43-year-old Blanca Ruth Palacios said at a news conference Tuesday.

She was joined by Charles Kernaghan, head of the National Labor Committee, who criticized Gifford for not living up to her promise to end sweatshop conditions at factories that make her clothing.

Bob Adler, chairman of the Kellwood Co. division that licenses the Kathie Lee line, said monitors sent to the Caribbean Apparel factory in Santa Ana could not immediately substantiate allegations of major physical and psychological abuse.

Gifford released a statement expressing concern over the allegations. If they prove to be true, "we will not allow that facility to continue manufacturing goods bearing my name," she said.

Jiovanni Fuentes, who represents the Salvadoran effort to unionize the workers, said he received a death threat two weeks ago from a legal representative of the Korean-owned factory.