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Support Mexican Workers illegally fired for organizing!(Posted Oct 10, 2003) 1. Contact the Mexican Embassy in Washington. BACKGROUND:After workers at the U.S. owned Tarrant Mexico-Ajalpan factory in Puebla Mexico took action to demand improved working conditions, factory management fired seven worker leaders on July 16, 2003. The workers responded by forming a union, the Only Independent Union of Tarrant Mexico Company Workers (SUITTAR), and signing up over 700workers by the end of July. In August the company illegally fired more than 200 workers at the Ajalpan plant. Tarrant has fired hundreds of workers at its other plants in Mexico as well. They also have reportedly been fired illegally, denying them of their legally entitled severance pay. Tarrant has refused to allow Ajalpan client Levis to conduct an independent audit of the situation, blocking Levis from being able to enforce its code of conduct. In effect, Tarrant has told Levis to take their business elsewhere rather than respect worker rights and negotiate with the union. Levis will therefore terminated its production with Tarrant. A copy of Levis public communication on Tarrant is available at www.usleap.org/Maquilas/maquilatemp.html#Tarrant. A Levis representative met with the union and the Centro de Apoyo Al Trabajador (the CAT- the local NGO supporting the union) in Mexico and the company has talked with other Tarrant clients and the Mexican government officials about the situation. The CAT and the union are in discussions with Levis regarding other steps Levis might take. The Workers Rights Consortium's (WRC) September 15, 2003 interim report on the situation at the Tarrant Ajalpan factory is now available online at www.workersrights.org/tarrantrep.pdf On September 1, 2003 Tarrant Apparel Group leased their Mexican facilities to a third party, later identified as major Tarrant shareholder, Kamel Nacif Borge, Mexico's "denim king." They also changed the name of the Tarrant Ajalpan factory to United Apparel Ventures to reflects its merger with Azteca Productions International, which is owned by two brothers of Tarrant CEO, Gerard Guez. CAMPAIGN TARGETS:TOMMY HILFIGER has pulled out of Tarrant altogether, claiming that this reflects a previous business decision but there is no indication that the company has intervened with Tarrant about its anti-union activity. The company has been slow to discuss the situation and their decision to leave smells suspiciously like a classic cut-and-run response to a worker rights campaign. FEDERATED DEPARTMENT STORES and THE WET SEAL represent important Tarrant clients, although they are not sourcing from the Ajalpan plant specifically. Federated responded to US/LEAP stating that they do not intervene at factories where their product is not being produced and that their code of conduct does not include respect for freedom of association. The Wet Seal has yet to adequately address the situation at Tarrant's Ajalpan plant. Two other major Tarrant clients, THE LIMITED and CHARMING SHOPPES, are in the process of intervening with Tarrant and are not priority campaign targets at this time. MEXICAN LABOR BOARD REJECTS UNION RECOGNITIONThe local labor board of Puebla (JLCA) announced on Oct. 6, 2003 that
it had denied SUITTARs request for legal recognition. Workers are asking
for people to contact the Mexican government in protest of this They denied the registration based on flimsy, de minimus reasons: The JLCA has a legal responsibility to notify the union of any missing documentation (e.g. a second photocopy) but failed to do so. Their stated reasons are pretext and reflect the boards long-standing opposition to the establishment of democratic trade unions in the maquiladora sector. TAKE ACTION!1. CONTACT THE MEXICAN EMBASSY IN WASHINGTON. (b) ask that the embassy contact Mexican Secretary of Labor Carlos Abascal Carranza and ask that he intervene immediately with Puebla state authorities to ensure that the rights of the SUITTAR union are respected, that the Tarrant-Ajalpan workers get union recognition, and that illegally fired workers are promptly reinstated. Ambassador Juan José Bremer Embassy of Mexico in the United States, 1911 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W. Washington, D.C. 20006 Tel: (202)728-1600 Fax: (202)728-1615 E-mail: mexembusa@sre.gob.mx 2. CONTACT KEY TARRANT CLIENTS. Ask these companies to urge Tarrant and the Puebla State Government to comply with the brands codes of conduct and Mexican labor law. State that they should immediately contact Tarrant Apparel Group, as well as Azteca Productions International, calling on the apparel manufacturing companies to address the workers demands. Cite the WRC report that highlights worker rights abuses at the Tarrant Ajalpan factory. Tarrant Management must: Tarrant Clients:
Please cc copies to:
3. DONATE TO THE DISMISSED WORKERS FUND: SUITTAR workers are also asking for economic support for the families of unjustly fired workers. To donate to the SUITTAR workers see their fundraising request and/or donate online by visiting the Sweatshop Watch webpage (click on the "donate now" and place "Tarrant Mexico-Ajalpan" in the purpose field). Donations can also be sent to: Sweatshop Watch/CAT 310 Eighth Street, Suite 303 Oakland, CA 94607 Tel: (510)834-8990 Please send copies of your correspondence to Campaign for Labor Rights: clr@clrlabor.org FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE TARRANT CAMPAIGN PLEASE VISIT www.usleap.org/Maquilas/maquilatemp.html#Tarrant |
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