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CLR February Index
Labor Alerts: a service of Campaign for Labor Rights
February 28, 2002
Table of Contents:
PCUN (Oregon)
PCUN is the farmworkers' union if Oregon. NORPAC
Foods, is a grower-owned food processor comprised of 250 growers in
western Oregon who own and control the $260 million a year company.
The NORPAC member growers have steadfastly refused to negotiate with
farmworkers employed on their farms, much less recognize the farmworkers'
union. To get NORPAC to come to the table, PCUN called for an international
boycott of all NORPAC products in 1992-over nine years ago!
CLR launched the "Stop Sweatshops in the Fields" Campaign in conjunction
with PCUN in 1999. Through this educational and organizing campaign,
we have completed several extensive speaking tours to campuses that
use(d) NORPAC products in their dining halls. The speaking tours not
only gotten the word out about the NORPAC boycott to student labor activists,
but also resulted in a number of companies cutting their contracts with
NORPAC. Among the companies now respecting the boycott are Gardenburger,
Bon Appetite, and ARAMARK. Student pressure also resulted in getting
Sodexho, the world's largest food-service provider, to pressure NORPAC
to meet with PCUN. The pressure from this company represents an historic
breakthrough. At the same time, we remain concerned about Sodexho's
response to efforts by its own workers to unionize, as well as the company's
continuing involvement in the private prison industry.
On February 15, PCUN suspended its 10-year boycott of NORPAC after
the union and the company reached an agreement to "create a framework
for managing farm labor relations." Then on Monday, February 25, in
a special legislative session, the Oregon Farm Bureau introduced a bill,
which calls for collective bargaining for farm workers but in actuality
severely undermines collective bargaining in agriculture. This is a
major blow to the recent agreement and to the negotiating process.
Take action now! To help DEFEND THE AGREEMENT between PCUN and NORPAC,
Email Oregon Governor Kitzhaber from his website to voice your opposition
to this legislation: www.governor.state.or.us/contact.htm.
~For more information, clr@clrlabor.org,
202-232-5002, or contact PCUN, www.pcun.org
Choishin and Cimatextiles (Guatemala)
The workers at the Cimatextiles and Choishin factories, both owned
by a Korean-based company called Choi & Shin's, went public with their
effort to form a union at each plant at the beginning of July, 2001.
Shortly afterwards, harassment and intimidation of the union supporters
escalated into mob attacks reportedly orchestrated by company supervisors.
Those who participated in the mob attacks against union supporters have
enjoyed impunity and have not faced appropriate disciplinary action
agreed to by the company and the Guatemalan government. The two factories
produce for Talbots Inc. and Liz Claiborne among other retailers. In
August and again in October, CLR asked you to write letters to Liz Claiborne
urging the company to pressure Choi and Shin's to respect workers' right
to freedom of association. Over 2,300 letters were sent in all (thanks
for sending us copies)! Liz Claiborne initially dismissed the reports
of violence in the factory, but then moved to intervene with its contractor.
After the mob violence, Liz Claiborne took the unusual step of sending
a letter directly to the workers that effectively disputed threats by
local management to close. The letter stated that Liz Claiborne supports
the right of workers to choose to join or to not join a union and, in
an effort to counter threats of the plant closing, that Liz Claiborne
will continue business at the Choishin and Cimatextiles factories as
long as this right is respected. On December 6th, as part of a national
effort, labor rights supporters across the US called Guatemalan Consulate
offices and the Embassy to protest the situation at Choi and Shin's.
COVERCO, a trusted, independent monitoring group based in Guatemala
has recently concluded their investigation of the factories. Since this
group's departure from the area, reports of anti-union intimidation
are increasing in the factories. Participants of the violent mobs that
attacked the unionists on July 18th and 19th still enjoy impunity. Talbots
is now posturing to cut production in these factories - cutting-and-running
is just another tactic used by companies to crush workers' efforts to
organize a union.
Take action now! Contact Talbots, Inc., and inform the company that
you understand Choi & Shin's factories in Guatemala are supplying it.
Ask Talbots to urge Choi & Shin's to respect worker rights and to sanction
the participants in the violent mob that attacked the union supporters
in July 2001. Tell Talbots not cut production at Choi & Shin's! Contact:
Arnold B. Zetcher, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer,
Talbots, Inc. One Talbots Drive, Hingham, Massachusetts 02043; Tel:
781-749-7600; Fax: 781-749-0865. Please send us copies of your letters:
clr@clrlabor.org
~For more information, contact Campaign for Labor Rights, clr@clrlabor.org,
202-232-5002, or check www.usleap.org.
Coalition of Immokalee Workers - Boycott
Taco Bell (Florida)
Campaign for Labor Rights has recently begun working with the Coalition
of Immokalee Workers (CIW), a farmworker organization based in Immokalee,
Florida, on their national boycott of Taco Bell. The members of CIW
pick tomatoes that restaurants like Taco Bell buy from fresh tomato
producers in south central Florida. For years, CIW has been attempting
to meet with Taco Bell executives who have steadfastly refused to talk
to the workers about their situation. For this reason, CIW has launched
a national boycott of Taco Bell. CIW members who pick for Six-L's Packing
Co., one of Taco Bell's principle partners for the year-round supply
of tomatoes, receive sub-poverty wages, stagnant piece rates, no right
to overtime pay, no health insurance, no sick leave, no holiday leave,
and no pension. Six-L's pays today what the industry paid as a standard
piece rate over 20 years ago-40 cents per 32-pounds of tomatoes. And
Taco Bell has the power and responsibility to change this situation
for the workers who plant, cultivate, and harvest the tomatoes from
which they profit. If Taco Bell were to pay JUST ONE PENNY MORE per
pound for the tomatoes it buys from Florida growers, and the growers
were to pass that extra penny on to the workers, the rate paid to workers
could nearly double!
This Thursday, February 28th, CIW will begin a cross-country caravan
from Florida to Taco Bell headquarters in Irvine, CA. The farmworkers
with their allies, including Campaign for Labor Rights, will hit fifteen
major US cities with the truth about how Taco Bell profits from farmworker
poverty. On March 10, during a day of workshops, music, and art in Los
Angeles, we will be launching the "Boot the Bell" campaign. "Boot the
Bell" is the student arm of this national boycott effort - as a part
of this campaign, students across the country will be working to get
Taco Bell and Taco Bell products booted from their campuses!
~For more information, contact Campaign for Labor Rights, clr@clrlabor.org,
202-232-5002, or check out CIW on the Internet at, www.ciw-online.org
Toward a National Network for Local Clean
Clothes Initiatives
Campaign for Labor Rights is working on an exciting, innovative new
project to build a national network of activists who are working in
their own communities to pass anti-sweatshop or clean clothes initiatives.
Local and statewide groups in Minnesota, Maine, New York, Ohio, and
Washington are the driving forces behind this new network. Many of them
have already had some success with anti-sweatshop work in their schools,
counties, cities, states, and more. These groups have asked CLR to help
coordinate this emerging network on a national level and to reach out
to activists who are doing (or are interested in doing) similar work
in their communities. ~If you would like to become involved in this
effort, or to find out more, please reply to Campaign for Labor Rights,
clr@clrlabor.org - send us an email
with your contact information including your mailing address. If you
have already launched a local campaign and you would like to be in touch
with others across the US doing similar work please include a brief
description of your efforts.
13,000 Home Care Workers Win Biggest Union
Victory in Oregon History
On December 4, 2001, Home Care workers in Oregon made history! In the
largest union victory in the country in 2001 and the largest victory
ever in Oregon, over 92% of Oregon Home Care workers voted to become
a part of Oregon Public Employees Union, SEIU Local 503. Jobs with Justice
members in all three Oregon chapters, Portland, Mid-Willamette Valley
and ESSN/JwJ helped in different phases of the campaign. The campaign
included a statewide ballot measure, Measure 99, which passed in Nov.
2000. The ballot measure established the right of Home Care workers
to belong to a union.
~For more information, visit www.jwj.org,
www.seiu.org.
FLOC Week of Action against Mt. Olive,
March 17-24
Over 3000 workers have signed cards authorizing FLOC to help them negotiate
a reasonable three-way contract between Mt. Olive, its contracted farmers,
and the workers. Mt. Olive provides its farmers with the seeds they
use and sets strict standards for the growing process; unfortunately,
adequate work conditions are not in their regimen. Mt. Olive refuses
to be accountable for the farm workers' conditions; farmers tell us
they can't provide adequate work conditions when they aren't getting
peanuts for their pickles. Since the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA)
excludes farmworkers from the right to secret-ballot union elections
and other labor representation protections, we have no choice but to
boycott companies like Mt. Olive when they refuse to negotiate. Farmworkers
depend on your solidarity to win labor rights! Celebrate the third anniversary
by dumping Mt. Olive pickles!
~For more information, contact FLOC, mguyton@floc.com
CUT Office Attacked
On February 2nd, the night security officer at the CUT, Brazil's largest
and most progressive trade union, was ordered to open the door by men
dressed in civil police uniforms. He was then locked in a room while
a truck without license plates was driven into the CUT's parking area.
The men armed with machine guns and other weapons stole thirty computers,
a safe, and numerous documents from the building, which houses the CUT's
national headquarters in Sao Paulo. The robbery is the latest in a series
of crimes affecting the CUT, including the murder of dozens of CUT trade
unionists. Although six of the computers have been recovered and some
arrests have occurred, the CUT does not view this as a simple case of
robbery, stating that it, "has the characteristics of an act that has
been planned and directed. It is hardly a coincidence that this has
occurred during the World Social Forum, of which the CUT is one of the
organizing bodies." Please demonstrate your concern and solidarity with
the brothers and sisters of the CUT by sending emails of protest demanding
a rigorous and prompt investigation to: President of Brazil, Fernando
Henrique Cardoso (governo@brasil.gov.br).U.S.
Secretary of State, Colin Powell < secretary@state.gov
>Director-general of the ILO, Juan Somavia < cabinet@ilo.org
>
~For more information and a sample letter and more info contact: Robin
Alexander, UE Director of International Labor Affairs, 412-471-8919,
international@ranknfile-ue.
Workers' Struggle at Grand Marnier and
Cointreau Orange, Haiti
The workers' unions at the Guacimal Company in northern Haiti have been
trying for over one year to negotiate a reasonable agreement on improved
pay and conditions. But the Guacimal management has refused to agree
a settlement, and instead has either made derisory offers or sent hired
thugs and police to harass union leaders. In a recent dramatic development
in the dispute, Remy Cointreau has informed the Haitian workers' organization,
Batay Ouvriye, that it has decided to stop purchasing orange extract
from the Haitian Guacimal company. As a result, it apparently no longer
feels it has any responsibilities with regard to the Haitian workers
who have been organizing for improved pay and conditions for almost
eighteen months.
~For information and action go to: < http://haitisupport.gn.apc.org/fea_campaign_index.html
>
UC Students Push for Statewide University
Divestment from Burma
On January 16th and 17th, UCLA students, faculty, and other community
members joined together to present the issue of divestment from Burma
to the UC Regents. In the Regents' portfolio (the latest released report
is dated June 30th, 2001), direct holdings were found in Procter & Gamble,
Emerson Electric, Johnson & Johnson, and Halliburton. The week before
the Regents' meeting, stock in UNOCAL was also found in the Russell
3000 index of the Regents, and the French-oil company Total was found
in their direct holdings. Students have set a calendar for the rest
of the quarter, and are getting ready for the next Regent meeting, which
will be in March in San Francisco.
~For information on rights violations in Burma and what you can do
about it, www.freeburmacoaltion.org
Summer Research/Organizing Internship:
World Bank Bonds Boycott Campaign
The Center for Economic Justice seeks interns to work in its Washington,
D.C. office for Summer 2002 on a growing campaign through which activists,
students, working people, and others are building pressure on the World
Bank using grassroots economic and political power. No stipend is available
though college credit is. The deadline for applications is April 1,
2002.
~To apply contact: Center for Economic Justice, 733 15th St. N.W.,
Suite 928 Washington, DC 20009 tanya@econjustice, (202) 393-6665, www.worldbankboycott.org
Midwest Academy Summer 2002 Internship
Program
The Midwest Academy, a 28-year-old national training institute for direct
action organizing, will be hiring 50 college students as summer interns
in 2002. Interns will work from Monday, June 3, through Friday, August
9 (ten weeks). Interns will be placed with statewide organizations affiliated
with USAction, < www.usaction.org
>working in clusters of three and will receive a stipend of $2,500.
Summer 2002 interns will work on healthcare issues with statewide organizations,
and other issues.
~For more information, Contact midwestacademy5@aol.com
or 312/427-2304. To apply: Fill out an application at www.midwestacademy.com
Milwaukee Jobs with Justice Seeks Organizer
Milwaukee Jobs With Justice is a labor, community, religious and student
coalition dedicated to fighting for the rights of working people. JwJ
works in partnership with member organizations and allies in building
solidarity and mobilizing direct actions for secure living-wage jobs,
health care, and workplace and civil rights for all. JWJ also sponsors
a Worker's Rights Board made up of prominent community leaders, which
conducts hearings and investigations on matters of concern to working
people, consistent with the mission statement of the coalition. Milwaukee
Jobs with Justice is an equal opportunity employer; women and People
of Color are encouraged to apply. Applications accepted until position
is filled.
~To apply contact: Organizer Search Committee, C/o Milwaukee County
Labor Council 633 S. Hawley Road #110, Milwaukee WI 53214; or e-mail
aflciojg@execpc.com
Migrant Health Promotion Seeks Program
Associate
Migrant Health Promotion, a national nonprofit agency dedicated to health
education and advocacy for farmworkers, is hiring a Program Associate.
The starting salary range for the position is $30,000-$35,000 plus generous
benefits. The Program Associate works in Migrant Health Promotion's
office in Saline, Michigan. This is a full-time, grant-funded position
with some evening and weekend hours expected. Migrant Health Promotion
is an equal opportunity employer and offers a fun and supportive work
environment. Application deadline is February 28.
~To apply contact: Associate Director Migrant Health Promotion, 224
W. Michigan Ave. Saline, MI 48176, (734) 944-0244, E-mail: tbooker@tdi.net
Boston Mobilization Seeks Co-Director
Boston Mobilization seeks a motivated full time Co-Director to help
run a progressive, grassroots organization and direct our outreach,
education, and organizing efforts. Applications accepted until position
is filled. Women and people of color are strongly encouraged to apply.
~To apply request info at: mobilizationjob@hotmail.com;
Co-Director Search, Boston Mobilization, 971 Commonwealth Ave., Suite
#20, Boston, MA 02215; 617-782-2313
American Friends Service Committee Seeks
Youth Peace Fellow
The fellowship is a full-time position (35 hours) of approximately 9
months located in the AFSC National Office in Philadelphia, PA. A $21,000
stipend and health/medical insurance will be provided. The American
Friends Service Committee is a Quaker organization, which includes people
of various faiths who are committed to social justice, peace, and humanitarian
service. The Youth Peace Fellowship is a National Office Peacebuilding
Fellowship that provides a young person the opportunity to deepen their
understanding of peace and justice issues and use their skills to make
a concrete contribution to the peace and justice work of the American
Friends Service Committee. This work is accomplished through public
education, networking and policy impact work. The American Friends Service
Committee is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. Qualified
persons are encouraged to apply regardless of their religious affiliation,
race, sex, sexual orientation or nature of disability. AFSC is a smoke-free
workplace.
~To apply contact: Human Resources Department, PBU Youth Peace Fellow
- January 2002 1501 Cherry Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102-1479. Phone:
(215) 241-7107. WebPage: www.afsc.org
World Economic Forum Site Goes Down
The website of the World Economic Forum crashed from an apparent denial-of-service
attack Thursday, just as the collection of business and corporate leaders
began its meeting here. Internet demonstrators may have been the cause
of the collapse. Encouraged by the Electronic Disturbance Theater (EDT),
RTMark, Federation of Random Action, and other groups, online activists
have been downloading software tools that continuously reload the websites
of the World Economic Forum (WEF) and of a few of its corporate members.
The protest --- called a "virtual sit-in" by organizers - began Thursday
morning to coincide with the start of the WEF's meeting. By 10 a.m.,
the WEF website was offline.
~For more info about Electronic Disturbance Theater visist: www.thing.net/~rdom/ecd/ecd.html
Summer Course: Strategic Corporate Research
The U.S. labor movement today is facing a critical shortage of trained
organizing and bargaining staff with strategic research training who
understand both corporate structure and finance and union campaign strategies.
To help meet this need the AFL-CIO asked the Cornell School of Industrial
and Labor Relations to develop a one week intensive credit course on
strategic corporate research for graduate students and upper level undergraduates
interested in working with the labor movement upon completion of their
degrees. New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell
University. Special Summer School Session, June 16-21, 2002 Ithaca,
NY.
~ For more info: Contact Anne Sieverding (607) 254-4749 or e-mail at
acs5@cornell.edu mailto:acs5@cornell.edu
Colombia Mobilization--Washington DC from
April 19 - 22, 2002.
Converge for a weekend of demonstrations, skill sharing, street theatre,
lobbying, workshops and rallies. Demand an end to US sponsored state
terrorism in Colombia and the closing of the School of the Americas
(SOA). Force effective change of oppressive US foreign policy that has
caused and is still causing death and devastation.
~For more information visit: www.colombiamobilization.org/,
WWW.SOAW.ORG
National Youth and Student Peace Coalition
Call to Action - April 20th,
Washington DC It's time for all those who believe in and still cherish
democracy, freedom and equality to demand accountability from government
officials and Stop the War, at Home and Abroad! The National Youth and
Student Peace Coalition, National Coalition for Peace and Justice, the
9-11 Emergency National Network and Labor Against War have issued a
call for a March on Washington for Saturday, April 20, 2000. The coalition
includes national groups like Black Radical Congress-Youth Division,
Student Environmental Action Coalition, Student Peace Action Network,
United Students Against Sweatshops, American Friends Service Committee,
Fellowship of Reconciliation, Black Radical Congress, Global Exchange,
Pax Christi, Peace Action, School of the Americas Watch, Veterans for
Peace, War Resisters League and many more. A massive nonviolent civil
resistance action will take place on Monday, April 22, 2002.
~For more information, www.soaw.org
National Student Labor Day of Action April
4th, 2002
For the third year in a row, students will take action for workers'
rights and economic justice on April 4th, the 34th anniversary of the
assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr while he was in Memphis,
TN supporting striking sanitation workers. The Student Labor Action
Project (SLAP) of Jobs with Justice and the United States Student Association
(USSA) along with United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) and the
Not With Our Money Campaign of the Prison Moratorium Project (PMP) are
again co-sponsoring a nationwide student labor day of action for social
and economic justice on this important day in our country's history.
Students will demand to stop sweatshops, private prisons, and the post-September
11th attack on workers and immigrants; Students will also demand living
wage jobs and the right to organize - on campus, in our communities,
and throughout the world! ~Contact Laura McSpedon, Jobs with Justice,
Phone: 202-434-1106. E-mail: laura@jwj.org.
Beyond Headlines Wants to Know about Your
Organizing
"Beyond Headlines" is interested to know what kind of organizing is
going on in your community that is specifically related to the so-called
war on terrorism and post 9-11US policies. Please write to laura@radioproject.
with '911 Responses' in the subject of your email and provide a brief
paragraph or two how you've been organizing and why. Be sure to include
your contact information. Beyond Headlines is a production of the National
Radio Project (NRP) & the Live Wire Independent News crew. The program
provides in-depth investigative reports and breaking news on U.S. budgetary
priorities, economic and military interests, social policy and the impacts
upon society in the period since the terrorist attacks.
~For more information, 510-251-1332 x10, www.radioproject.org.
Courage and Tenacity: A Women's Delegation
to Afghanistan, March 5-17,
2002. To Celebrate International Women's Week, Global Exchange is sponsoring
a special tour by and for women to Afghanistan to develop awareness
of the concerns and issues the Afghan women are facing as well as to
witness the changing political, economic and social conditions, which
have created new opportunities for the women of Afghanistan.
~For more info visit: www.globalexchange.org/tours/afghan.html
Volunteer Project: Semilleros de Futuros,
Mexico. Summer 2002
The American Friends Service Committee is pleased to announce the 2002
Summer Volunteer Project in Mexico: Semilleros de Futuros (Sowing Futures).
The aim is to provide a place for youth from different countries of
the Americas, Europe, and the indigenous communities of Xilitla to work
together on community projects, share from their diverse cultures and
experiences, and learn ways to address the political, ecological and
economic challenges of their present and their future.
~For more information contact: Linda Oh, Mexico Summer Programs, AFSC,
(215)241-7295; mexsummer@afsc.org
May Day Delegation to Mexico City and
Puebla April 28 to May 5
International Worker's Day, or Mayday, is a major event around the world,
and Mexico is no exception. Every year hundreds of thousands of union
members and supporters march in a boisterous expression of worker militancy.
It's not hard to understand why--NAFTA has displaced thousands of farming
families into Mexican cities--forcing rural poor people to compete with
urban poor folks for the few jobs that exist. In addition, tens of thousands
of manufacturing workers have been laid off from maquila factories in
the past year. Thousands more workers in the embattled electric and
petroleum sectors of the economy are threatened with privatization by
the Fox government.
~For more info contact: Mexico Solidarity Network at 773-583-7728 or
msn@mexicosolidarity.org
Global March Against Child Labour, World
Cup Campaign
With only 5 months left until the 2002 FIFA World Cup kicks off in Japan
and Korea, activists from around the world are putting increasing pressure
on FIFA and national football teams to make this championship the first
international sporting event free of child labour and in compliance
with fair labour standards. ~For information about Global March Against
Child Labour's 'World Cup Campaign 2002' go to: < www.globalmarch.org
"Why I Rejected the Reebok Human Rights
Award" By Dita Sari
"The driving forces of globalisation are the movement and expansion
of capital and technology, through multinational companies. Globalisation,
some people argue, has contributed a lot to the creation of a New World,
with a global welfare and justice for all. But in practice, globalisation
is producing neither universal welfare nor global peace." ~For full
article: www.counterpunch.org/ditasari.html
"Industrial Unrest in China - A Labour
Movement in the Making?"
"Almost every week in Hong Kong and mainland China, newspapers bring
reports of some kind of labour action: a demonstration demanding pensions;
a railway line being blocked by angry, unpaid workers; or collective
legal action against illegal employer behaviour such as body searches
or forced overtime.
The mere fact that the Chinese media is reporting selected cases of
worker action is testament to how widespread the phenomenon has become."
~For more information, check, http://iso.china-labour.org.hk/iso/
"Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only
Superpower" by William Blum.
"Why did September 11 happen? Why do people hate the good old US of
A, land of the free and the home of the brave; champion of democracy
and human rights for all? William Blum, who left the State Department
over Vietnam, in 1969, outed over 200 CIA operatives, and has worked
as a journalist and screenwriter, puts it all in perspective in Rogue
State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower.
~For more information or to order this book write to: info@commoncouragepress.com
[Common Courage Press, 2000]
"Wearing Thin: the State of Pay in the
Fashion Industry"
Workers in the garment industry must work excessive overtime in order
to survive. Workers' rights to form and join independent trade unions
are commonly denied, suppressed or undermined by an increase in the
use of casual or home workers, which severely affects workers' ability
to negotiate living wages. This report includes an overview of different
living wage methodologies and wage information on garment producing
countries Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Lesotho, Philippines, Mexico, Indonesia,
China, Bangladesh, Bulgaria and India. ~To see the report: www.cleanclothes.org
"Consultation with Footwear Workers: Report
of a Pilot Study" by Juliet
Edington. This report details the process and resulting lessons from
a pilot survey in a footwear factory carried out by ActionAid as part
of the Vietnam Business Links Initiative (VBLI). The overall aim of
the VBLI is to improve conditions in footwear factories, providing a
healthier and safer environment for workers. ~To see this report: www.cleanclothes.org
Please send entries for next month's edition of Campaign for Labor
Rights'
Monthly Index to: clr@clrlabor.org
In Solidarity,
Campaign for Labor Rights Staff
202-232-5002
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