posted January 21, 2000

In this alert:

• Mobilize for April in DC!
• Resource for April 16: "Deadly Embrace" video updated
• Resource for April 16: mobilization planning list serve
• Midwest and East Coast farmworker tours
• Oregon farmworker Summer 2000 campaign
• Sign-on letter: LA sweatshop workers
• Join the Rapid Action Network
• Sign-on letter to Nike (reposted)

MOBILIZE FOR APRIL IN DC!

Organizers of the Seattle WTO protests are preparing for protest, education, training and direct action when the finance ministers of the world's governments gather in Washington, DC for the meetings of the IMF (April 16) and World Bank (April 17). The international bureaucrats who shape the world economy will find out that Seattle was not just a bump on their road to global domination. BEGIN PLANNING NOW to come to Washington, DC in April. Contact 50 Years Is Enough (Washington DC): (202) 463-2265, wb50years@igc.org or Global Exchange (San Francisco): (415) 558-9486, ext. 254.

RESOURCE FOR APRIL 16: "DEADLY EMBRACE" VIDEO UPDATED

Now available: an updated version of the acclaimed video "Deadly Embrace: Nicaragua, the World Bank and the IMF." This documentary provides first-hand accounts from Nicaraguan farmers and citizens of how structural adjustment policies have shattered the Nicaraguan economy and impoverished its citizens. Available in both English and Spanish: $30 for the video; shipping and handling $3; 51-page informational and educational guide $6. Contact Marisa Vitale: (617) 666-5122, marisav1@hotmail.com.

RESOURCE FOR APRIL 16: MOBILIZATION PLANNING LIST SERVE

A new list serve has been set up to facilitate national and international communication about plans for protests and other events in connection with the April 16/17 meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Washington, DC. Join by sending a blank email to a16-international-planning-subscribe@egroups.com.

MIDWEST AND EAST COAST FARMWORKER TOURS

Midwest tour Feb. 28-March 10
Mid-Atlantic tour Feb. 28-March 10

To bring an Oregon farmworker from PCUN (Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste - Northwest Treeplanters and Farmworkers United) to your community or campus, call the Campaign for Labor Rights Midwest regional organizer Emily LaBarbera-Twarog at (202) 232-5002 or our mid-Atlantic regional organizer Melinda St. Louis at (202) 232-5002.

OREGON FARMWORKER SUMMER 2000 CAMPAIGN

PCUN has finalized plans for its Summer 2000 Campaign July 8-15. Up to 150 students from across the United States and Canada are expected to come together to play an active role in supporting Oregon farmworkers. Students will be in the fields and go to the camps. They will organize actions to support farmworkers. There will be seminars to discuss the history of the farmworker movement, non-violence and other topics.

Contact PCUN at (503) 982-0243 or eriknicholson@pcun.org to request an application. Include your mailing address. The $325 registration covers food, lodging and transportation during the campaign. Scholarships are available. PCUN has a packet with suggestions on how to raise money to cover the tuition.

SIGN-ON LETTER: LA SWEATSHOP WORKERS

Please sign this letter to these universities and companies: Florida * Indiana * Kentucky * Michigan * Nebraska * Notre Dame * Ohio State * Tennessee * UCLA * USC * Wisconsin * Nike * Reebok * Disney * NASCAR * NBA * NFL * NHL * MLB:

Dear __________:

We are writing to express our concern for the eight garment workers who sewed clothing for you while employed by J.H. Design Group in Los Angeles. Their labor rights were routinely violated. They were:

• paid less than minimum wage, as low as $3.00 per hour,
• worked long hours, and were often not paid overtime,
• forced to take work home,
• subjected to harassment and intimidation, and
• illegally fired for speaking out about sweatshop conditions.

As you undoubtedly know, garment workers too often are denied basic rights such as minimum wage, overtime pay and safe working conditions. Manufacturers, retailers and universities who license the use of their logos must take responsibility for these conditions by ensuring that the workers sewing for their labels and logos work under fair and humane conditions. We urge you to stand behind your code of conduct and workers' rights:

1. Guarantee these workers are paid the wages they are owed, plus damages for the abuses they endured.
2. Investigate how workers are treated and how they are paid before you source or produce your products to ensure fair and humane conditions. While codes of conduct are not a substitute for enforcement of strong labor laws and worker organizing, they can be useful when they are independently monitored. We also urge you to:
3. Adopt an independent verification plan for your code of conduct, such as the Workers Rights Consortium, so that workers themselves are involved in verifying compliance with codes of conduct.

Please do your part to help end sweatshops, so that workers such as these can obtain the basic dignity that they deserve. Thank you for your attention to this important matter.

Sincerely,

TO SIGN THE LETTER, please reply to sweatwatch@igc.org with your:

Name: Affiliation, if applicable (organization, school/state if student, faculty, staff, alumni) - for identification purposes only:
City, State:

Background Information: On November 16, eight garment workers - all Latino immigrants - employed by J.H. Design Group in Los Angeles came forward to file a lawsuit against their employer, alleging illegal working conditions. Between 1991 and 1999, they labored under sweatshop conditions, sewing jackets with logos of brand-name companies and top universities. The workers are demanding the wages owed them and damages for the abuses they endured. This is the first opportunity to see whether workers can use university codes of conduct as a tool to win justice.

JOIN THE RAPID ACTION NETWORK

Campaign for Labor Rights has established a Rapid Action Network to apply more effective pressure in support of sweatshop worker struggles. Participating groups agree to mobilize in their communities with as little as 14 days notice (more notice whenever we can manage it) at least 6 out of 10 times when asked during the course of the year. The great majority of the mobilizations will be leafleting actions, usually at retail outlets.

These mobilizations are intended to increase the leverage of sweatshop union activists when they press for demands such as: reinstatement of fired organizers, union recognition and good-faith contract bargaining. The goal of the mobilizations is worker empowerment through free trade unions and collective bargaining.

The Rapid Action Network is intended for local groups which have a capacity to put together leafleting actions. To join, simply fill out the following and send it to Campaign for Labor Rights, 1470 Irving Street, NW, Washington, DC 20010, email: clr@clrlabor.org

YES! We would like to join the Rapid Action Network!
Name of organization:
Complete postal address:
Name of primary contact person:
      Daytime phone:
      Evening/weekend phone:
      Fax (if this applies):
      Email (if this applies):
Name of back-up contact person:
      Daytime phone:
      Evening/weekend phone:
      Fax (if this applies):
      Email (if this applies):

SIGN-ON LETTER TO NIKE (REPOSTED)

IF YOU HAVE NOT ALREADY DONE SO, please copy, sign and send the following letter to Nike. Please also send the following information (not this entire alert!) to Campaign for Labor Rights at clr@clrlabor.org:

I have sent a letter to Nike (original