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Put a cap on it!

Vladivostok , Russia and the Zephyr Graph-X Hat Company

Map of Russia from http://www.russia-travel.com/map/

Figure 1: Map of Russia from http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/rs.html

 

Additional Image 1  

Figure 2:  A picture of my Miami Z-Hat

Introduction

The following web page will trace the production of college apparel by the Zephyr Company in Vladivostok , Russia . The city of Vladivostok is becoming a basis of foreign factories including that of the Zephyr Graph-X Corporation (Zhats 2005). Because of its location, it has great advantages over other parts of Russia (Fig 1). The port city serves as the connection between Far-East Russia and China , Korea , and Japan (Wikipedia 2005). Zephyr Graph-X produces hats such as the one above. They currently have one of their factories in Vladivostok. The ultimate goal of this project, therefore, is to study the city of Vladivostok , including its people, and to describe how its excellent locality has lead to the infusion of many cultures and businesses such as Zephyr Graph-X.

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Context of Russia

The name Vladivostok means “controlling the East” in Russian, and as one would thus expect, it is the largest city in Far-East Russia (Farlex, Inc. 2005). It is the capital city of the Maritime region also known as Primorsky Kari (Wikipedia 2005). Because of its location, it serves as an important connection between Russia and eastern Asia (Fig. 1). Currently, Vladivostok is the “most rapidly developing economic region of the world” (Patsiorkovsky et all 1995). It is only 465 miles to Seoul and 651 miles from Tokyo thus making it vital to the importing and exporting of products in Russia (Farlex, Inc. 2005). As one would assume, knowing that it shares latitude with cities such as Chicago and New York , Vladivostok 's climate is fairly cold (Farlex, Inc. 2005). The average temperature for the year is 40°F while the average precipitation is 28.4 inches (Farlex, Inc. 2005).

Vladivostok was founded in the year 1860 after being part of the Qing dynasty of ancient China (Wikipedia 2005). In 1891, construction on the Trans-Siberian Railroad began thus creating a much more interconnected Russia (Wikipedia 2005). This prompted the growth of the city, with the population increasing exponentially. When Port Arthur fell in 1905, Vladivostok became the main port city of Russia , connecting to the Pacific, Arctic , and Indian oceans (Wikipedia 2005). The city became extremely useful during World War I, as the Allies used the port as a base of operations. After the war, many of the Allies remained in Vladivostok causing a large population and great diversity (Wikipedia 2005). A different result occurred after World War II, however. The Soviet Union decided in 1930 to close Vladivostok to foreign citizens. The city was not reopened to visitation until after the USSR collapsed in 1992 (Wikipedia 2005). Currently China is planning a major railway operation that would create a railroad stretching from Dalian , China to Vladivostok (Gale Group 2004).

Because of the city's location, fishing and shipping are the typical occupations of the people in Vladivostok . Almost 80% of commercial production today is fishing. After opening the city to foreign interests in the early 90's, the Vladivostok economy boomed. Many companies, including Zephyr Graph-X, hurried to the city because of its access to all of the Eastern markets as well as its convenient shipping. Still, however, most products other than food stuffs must be imported because of the lack of such businesses until the last decade (Farlex, Inc. 2005).

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Brand: Zephyr Graph-X

Zephyr Graph-X was established in 1993 by David Gormley, his brother Wes, his brother-in-law Jim Seilbach, and his nephew James Seilbach. To this day it is still a privately owned company, with these four men having full ownership. They began only by producing collegiate hats, but have since expanded to the National Hockey League (NHL) and have received an official collegiate license from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Originally the head offices were located in San Diego , California but soon after the establishment of Zephyr, they were moved to Stillwater , Minnesota . In 1997, Zephyr officially opened a new office of design and distribution in Colorado , leaving financial offices in Minnesota . Today Zephyr has six factories around the world: three in Korea , two in the US , and its one in Vladivostok , Russia (Zhats 2005). Zephyr is now the fourth largest manufacturer of collegiate apparel behind Nike USA Inc., Top of the World, and Champion Custom Products (SGMA 2002).

In March of 1998, Zephyr decided that they would lead the way in the establishment of labor rights in college apparel production (Zhats 2005). They entered into an agreement with the Fair Labor Association (FLA) and the Worker's Rights Consortium (WRC). These two agencies monitor the working conditions in Zephyr's overseas factories and establish a code of ethics that the factories are to abide by (FLA 2005, WRC 2005). The effects of these two organizations on labor rights in Zephyr factories will be described in more detail in the next section.

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People

Because Vladivostok had been closed to foreign citizens from after World War II until after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1992, the population is just again beginning to become diverse. Before the city was sealed off, there were many Japanese and Chinese residents, and today they are starting to immigrate once again. Americans have also moved into Vladivostok mainly in the same way as Zephyr. The city's prime location has drawn interest from American companies and thus the demographics are becoming more and more diverse (Wikipedia 2005). The estimated cost of living in Vladivostok is $4800 US/ year (ITPS 2005). There are therefore great amounts of poverty in the city, and this has led to many issues with pollution and organized crime. Many people cannot even afford to travel out of the city, and are therefore isolated from all of amazing cities around them (Satter 1997).

The major religion in Vladivostok is Russian Orthodox Catholicism. Almost all churches were destroyed or used for other means during the Communist rule of Vladivostok , and only in 1992 was the Most Holy Mother of God Catholic Church returned to church use (Mary Mother of God Mission Society 2004). Another religion in Vladivostok is Islam (CIA 2005).

Today there are an estimated 614,000 people living in Vladivostok (SRAS 2005). This is a small number compared to say the two million people living in Cincinnati , Ohio (Cityrating 2002). The largest reason for this is probably the closing of the city during most of the twentieth century. Even Soviet citizens were forced to show identification to get in and out of the city, thus making it difficult for travel. Movement in and out of the city even today has not improved greatly. One used to be able to take a plane directly from San Francisco to Vladivostok , but recently this company shut down. Now one must go to Seoul and fly in and out of there. Another problem people have encountered in Vladivostok is the lack of medical care. Just to get one's teeth cleaned, it may be necessary to travel all the way to Seoul (Harris 2001).

Another problem the people of Vladivostok face is pollution. “Two thirds of Vladivostok 's suburbs are so polluted that living in them is classified as a health hazard, according to the local ecological specialists, Ecocenter ” (Wikipedia 2005). Especially around high traffic situations the air can be extremely unhealthy (Harris 2001). There are two main reasons for the contamination of the Vladivostok environment: the pacific fleets have leaked nuclear waste from their submarines, and the industries in Vladivostok such as shipbuilding lend themselves towards heavy pollution. According to Kudrik and Nilsen (1997), tanks of radioactive waste were stored in the bay 40 years ago and have begun to release waste into the water.

Organized crime has become a major issue in Vladivostok . Even a past mayor, Viktor Cherepkov, had accepted that there is a "grudging acceptance of the status quo behind which is terror". Every day he feared for his life because he was at war with Evgeny Nazdratenko, a boss crime lord (Satter 1997). It has only gotten worse in Vladivostok since this time. A new mayor has been recently elected, and his name scares many of the city's people. He is “Winnie the Pooh”, a convicted felon and head of organized crime. The reason that he was elected, however, is what is even more disturbing. Cherepkov had been running for reelection when he “tripped” on a grenade suffering great trauma and is now in hospital care. It is widely believed that “Winnie the Pooh” was behind the attack on Cherepkov (Osborn 2004). This is just one example of how crime has taken control of politics in Vladivostok.

Despite all of these problems, Zephyr Graph-X Corporation makes many of their college hats at the Sung Jin Russia factory located in Aptem, a small region just outside of Vladivostok , thus taking advantage of the regions great location (WRC 2005). In 1998, Zephyr entered into agreements with both the WRC and FLA to monitor and improve the conditions in its factories, including the one in Russia . As part of the agreement, the factories accepted a code of conduct to be understood by all workers in the factory and to be followed strictly (Zhats 2005).

The FLA code represents what the organization stands for. First, no forced labor of any kind shall be used. This includes child labor of children under at least age 14. The code also protects the rights of the workers, helping them avoid discrimination against sex, race, and religion. Workers must be allowed to associate in unions without prejudice as well. Health and safety are also an important area of interest in the FLA code. All employees are to be protected from injury or harm on the job site. Finally, all workers are to be paid at least minimum wage, and are to work a maximum of 48 hours per week with 12 hours of overtime (FLA 2005). The WRC establishes a similar code however this organization differs slightly in its role. Colleges who license companies to make their apparel affiliate with the WRC, who then monitors the standards of practices by the company for the college (WRC 2005).

In 2004, the FLA released their report on the first year of Zephyr's compliance with their code of operations. Zephyr's factories were grouped together in the data, but a breakdown in noncompliance complaints was presented. Almost one half (43%) of claims were simply because of a lack of code awareness. In other words, a large part of the problems Zephyr encountered was simply not letting the workers know of the new code of conduct established by the FLA. 29% of complaints were about health and safety, 14% freedom of association, and 14% overtime compensation. It is important to note that no complaints were filed about such things as forced labor or child labor (FLA 2005).

Zephyr is a part of a three year program: every year for three years a report is published by the FLA giving a description of the state of affairs in their factories. If Zephyr wishes to keep the FLA accreditation it now has, it must comply with the FLA rules that they have laid out, and also they must take it upon themselves to correct any problems that come up in their annual report.

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Process

Overall, this research project has been both interesting and frustrating. The Zephyr Company did finally respond to my original e-mail about where their product was made, but it took them over two weeks to do so. It was apparent by the forwarding addresses on the return e-mail I received that my request had been passed down from person to person until it got to someone with the time to answer. I continued e-mailing the person who helped me, asking for further information about contacting their factory in Russia , but I was never able to get a response. I understand that it is not one of their priorities to help a college student doing a research paper, but it was frustrating trying to perform my research without their help. The “People” section of the paper was especially difficult without being able to contact the people of Vladivostok directly.

I feel that my location was unique to this project. Unlike regions such as Malaysia or Losothos, Vladivostok is not a city with an indigenous population. In fact, after doing research, it seems to be very similar to most other developed cities in the world. It has, however, been traditionally secluded from foreign interest and thus I could find little on the people of Vladivostok written for Americans.

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Conclusion

Zephyr Graph-X Company, established in 1993, has grown quickly as a private company and today has factories all over the world (Zhats 2005). One of these factories, in Vladivostok , Russia , produced the hat I bought from Miami University two summers ago (Fig 2). Zephyr has taken advantage of the location of Vladivostok to access the East Asian market, connecting to Russia , China , and Japan (Wikipedia 2005).

We often take for granted how easily we come by the products we use in every day life. I, for example, never gave a second thought to where my hat had been produced before beginning this project. It has been amazing, however, to discover the path such a small piece of clothing has taken to get to me, and the history behind the city where it was produced. Vladivostok is a fascinating and still somewhat mysterious place that I now know more about than I ever dreamed. Never again will I take for granted the history behind just another piece of clothing, and I hope neither will you.

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Internet References Cited

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Peer-Reviewed References Cited

  • Gale Group

    2004 “ China is reportedly planning a new, 840-mile railroad linking the port of Dalian in its northeastern region with a point near the port of Vladivostok in Russia.” Railway Age. March, 2004.

     

    Osborn, Andrew

    2004 “Winnie the Pooh is elected mayor of Vladivostok after rival ‘trips'.” The Independent. July, 2004

     

    Patsiorkovsky, Valeri et all

    1995 “Asians in Small Business in the Russian Far East : A Historical Overview and Comparison with Asians on the American West Coast.” International Migration Review. 1995

     

    Satter, David

    1997 “The wild east- organized crime in Vladivostok , Russia .” The National Interest. Summer, 1997

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