...only about 100 U.S. and European multinationals participate in...efforts to find and remedy [workplace] abuses...Perhaps the most troublesome absence has been that of the large retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Target Corp...Nike, Patagonia, Gap, and five other companies have joined forces with six leading anti-sweatshop groups to devise a single set of labor standards with a common factory-inspection system. The goal: to replace today's overlapping hodgepodge of approaches with something that's easier and cheaper to use -- and that might gain traction with more companies. [also refers to Toys R Us, Otto Versand, Reebok, Liz Claiborne, Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury, adidas-Salomon]