Gildan Continues to Violate Labor Rights!

Gildan Continues to Violate Labor Rights!

Write today to Gildan to admonish it for such behavior! Gildan must comply with FLA requirements and meet responsibilities to its Honduran workers by November 30!

The information in this alert comes from Sweatfree Communities. For more information, see: www.sweatfree.org
Posted November 14, 2004

Update

The current situation is that the Fair Labor Association has given Gildan Activewear a deadline: Gildan must comply with FLA demands by November 30 or its FLA membership will be terminated December 10. Gildan's refusal to acknowledge its responsibility in this situation illustrates standard corporate behavior in the face of worker organizing.

The Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) and Fair Labor Association (FLA) investigations of Gildan's Honduras factories have demonstrated the existence a concerted anti-union attitude. You can access the FLA report at http://www.fairlabor.org/all/news/gildan.html. Gildan should make reparations or be sanctioned, especially in light of the fact that there are other Gildan factories in the Americas which could suffer the same consequence if Gildan is not stopped now. We can still win by ensuring that Gildan will not get away with worker rights violations with impunity!

Campaign for Labor Rights and SweatFree Communities support the FLA demands but we also continue to insist that the closure of El Progreso factory is unacceptable and demand that Gildan compensate all the laid-off workers from El Progreso factory.

Please take action by writing a letter to Gildan today and/or asking your school, religious organization or local government to do the same. Because Gildan's main market is supplying institutions with blank t-shirts, this is a good opportunity to join with local organizations to tell Gildan that they must comply with the FLA demands and meet the needs of the laid-off workers. Gildan is susceptible to our pressure!

ACTION REQUEST

Please contact Gildan immediately to insist it complies with FLA demands for continued Association membership and meets its responsibilities to El Progreso workers. See sample letter to Gildan below.

The letter can be sent to Gildan via:

E-mail: slemay@gildan.com

Fax: 514-735-6810

Mail:

Stephane Lemay, Vice-President, Public and Legal Affairs
Gildan Activewear
725 Montee de Liesse
Montreal, Quebec
H4T 1P5
CANADA

To call Stephane Lemay: 514-734-8394

SAMPLE LETTER

NOTE: This letter should be adapted for individuals or institutions; the options are in brackets below.

Stephane Lemay, Vice President, Public and Legal Affairs
Gildan Activewear
725 Montée de Liesse
Montréal, Québec H4T 1P5
Canada

Dear Mr. Lemay,

I am writing [on behalf of myself and (institution)] to urge your timely compliance with the Fair Labor Association demands for continued membership in the Association. [We will not make any further Gildan purchases until]/ [I insist] you satisfy the FLA requirements for continued membership and meet your responsibilities towards the laid-off El Progreso workers.

Cutting and running from your responsibilities to El Progreso workers in Honduras was unacceptable. Both the FLA and Worker Rights Consortium investigations have evidenced serious worker rights violations at El Progreso: violations of work hours, overtime and holiday pay laws, discrimination against pregnant workers, sexual harassment, and the systematic firing of workers who tried to organize a union in order to improve conditions. Faced with these findings, Gildan should have taken immediate corrective action rather than closing the El Progreso factory and sending 1,800 workers out on the streets. The plant closing has further victimized workers who toiled in dismal conditions, and has sent a clear message to other workers in Honduras and in Gildan factories elsewhere: Don't try to organize a union.

[We]/[I] urge you to fully comply with the conditions set by the Fair Labor Association for Gildan's continued membership in the Association without delay. [We]/[I] look for your corrective action to include full back pay to all unjustly fired union supporters from the date of their firings to the date of the factory closure; first-hire job opportunities for laid-off El Progreso workers; assistance to those workers to find employment at other factories in the free trade zones; and protection against blacklisting at those factories. In accordance with the FLA demands, we also look for your public acknowledgement of the violations of workers' associational rights in El Progreso, effective communication to your remaining Honduras workers of their freedom of association, and, worker rights training on freedom of association open to all workers (not just a selected group of workers).

If you want be recognized for quality garments made by a high-quality company, you will take these steps, proving you are serious about respecting workers' rights. [We]/[I] will continue to follow this case closely.

Sincerely,

[your name]

FLA AND WRC FINDINGS: SYSTEMATIC LEGAL AND WORKER RIGHTS VIOLATIONS

Two third-party independent monitors, the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) and the Fair Labor Association (FLA), found serious labor law and worker rights violations at a Gildan Activewear owned and operated sewing facility in El Progreso, Honduras. (See: www.workersrights.org/Gildan-El_Progreso_7-29-04.pdf. and www.fairlabor.org/all/transparency/reports.html). Violations include the deliberate and systematic firing of workers over a two-year period in order to prevent the formation of a union. Both the monitoring organizations have since denounced the factory closing as a clear code of conduct violation that will have a negative effect on the free exercise of associational rights by workers throughout Gildan's operations.

*Freedom of Association - Violations of Article 128 of Honduran Constitution and Article 469 of Honduran Labor Code

The WRC "identified overwhelming evidence... that Gildan Activewear El Progreso management deliberately targeted union supporters for dismissal in violation of Honduran laws protecting workers' right to associate freely and to form unions." Similarly, workers reported to the FLA that "they are not free to organize or participate in any kind of activities that would indicate a desire to form a union and if known by Gildan management would result in termination of employment." Furthermore, according to the WRC, the timing of Gildan's closure decision "constitute[s] a strong circumstantial case that a desire to avoid unionization was a significant factor in Gildan Activewear's decision to close the El Progreso facility." The FLA says that Gildan's decision to close the El Progreso factory "[raises] questions about its commitment to freedom of association." As a result, the FLA took the unprecedented step of placing Gildan, an FLA member, on a 90-day period of special review, and has now put a deadline for the termination of its membership in the FLA at December 10, 2004.

*Sexual Abuse - Violation of Article 60 of the Honduran Labor Law for Equal Opportunities for Women

The WRC concluded that, "the factory doctor has on repeated occasions subjected women workers to inappropriate and sexually intrusive contact in the course of medical examinations." The FLA reports workers testifying that, "the doctor at the factory has examined workers' personal areas without having ailments that would require him to do so."

*Wages and Working Hours - Violations of Articles 128, 300, 322, 326, 339, and 344 of the Honduran Labor Code

Both the FLA and the WRC found that: workers were not paid for their lunch breaks; workers were routinely required to work on statutory holidays and compensated at the normal wage rate rather than the legally mandated holiday wage; that work shifts exceeded the legally established workday; and that workers were paid at the normal wage rate rather than the legally required overtime rate.

*Women's Rights and Discrimination - Violations of Article 128 of Honduran Constitution and Articles 124, 135, 144, and 145 of the Honduran Labor Code, and Article 51 of the Law for Equal Employment of Women

The WRC found that pregnant women have been refused permission to leave their workstation to seek medical attention, even in instances of medical emergency. Furthermore, pregnant women have been illegally fired.