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Newsletter #7June-July 1997 Newsletter -- Web EditionIn this issue:
A call to Action A call for an international Day of Conscience to end sweatshop abuses
has been put out by the National Labor Committee, the People of Faith
Network, the United Methodist Church Women's Division and the Union
of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE). On Saturday,
October 4, local groups all across the U.S., Canada and other participating
countries will organize support activities in their own communities.
Sweatshop BillOn January 7, Congressman Bill Clay and Congresswoman Nidia Velazquez introduced H.R. 23, the "Stop Sweatshops Act of 1997" into the House of Representatives. Promoted by the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE), the bill would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938 "to provide for legal accountability for sweatshop conditions in the garment industry."The bill would make garment manufacturers -- and retailers when they act as manufacturers -- liable for the violations of their contractors, including: wage and overtime violations, child labor and infractions involving homework. Ask your Representative to endorse this bill if she or he has not done so already. Capitol Switchboard: 1 (800) 962-3524. For more information, contact UNITE at (202) 347-7417 Bangor Clean Clothes UpdateAfter months of patient work in the community and thousands of petition signatures, the Bangor Clean Clothes initiative has reached the city council As we readied this newsletter for printing, the city council was set to vote on the initiative on June 9.The initiative represents a nonconfrontational way to promote a consumer-retailer partnership for social justice. By persuading participating retailers to agree to pull a limited amount of sweatshop products from their shelves, organizers of the campaign hope to promote international labor rights without putting leafleters in front of stores. Bjorn Klaeson of Bangor Clean Clothes says that the group wants their initiative to be a springboard for improving labor standards in the garment industry. Contact the Bangor Clean Clothes Campaign at 207-947-4203, pica1@hamtel.tds.net Look for the Rugmark Label"The Rugmark label on a carpet from India or Nepal assures you that the carpet was made without illegal child labor, and that former child workers are getting an education,"... Terry Collingsworth of the Rugmark Foundation.The number of child laborers in the hand-knotted carpet industry in India grew from an estimated 75,000 child workers in 1980 to approximately 300,000 in 1994. While children have historically worked the carpet looms of Kashmir and other regions, the majority until fairly recently were reportedly working for their own families as part of a traditional craft, their work a means of learning the family skills. However, in 1975, in response to a decision by the Shah of Iran to ban child labor from that country's carpet looms, the Indian government decided to replace Iran as the pre-eminent producer/exporter of oriental rugs. Recruitment of poor, lower caste and "untouchable" children began to fill the labor rolls of a growing industry. This lead to bondage and slave labor in which small children were forced to work under inhuman conditions hundreds of miles from their homes. When these conditions were exposed by the media in the mid-1980's, Indian child advocates and some carpet-industry leaders teamed up to try to find a solution that would help India avoid consumer boycotts which could devastate the industry. To be able to use the Rugmark label, carpet makers must sign a legally binding contract to: produce carpets without child labor; pay the legal minimum wages to adult workers, register all looms with the Rugmark Foundation and allow access to all looms for unannounced inspections. It has proved virtually impossible to include carpet manufacturers buying their carpets from entrepreneurs who arrange the weaving with many different loom owners. Manufacturers who contract directly or through brokers with loom owners and small family carpet makers are the ones which have joined Rugmark. To date only about fifteen percent of India's looms are in the Rugmark program. However, the mere existence of the campaign has raised awareness of the issue and thousands of children have left the looms to return to schools in the last two years. Carpetmakers who join Rugmark must contribute 0.25% of the cost of the carpet, and importers who participate must donate 1.5% to the Rugmark program for the establishment of schools and rehabilitation centers for former child workers. In the case of children who work on their families' looms, the parents must prove to inspectors that the children are attending school regularly. In December 1995, Rugmark Nepal was formally established and close to 70% of the carpet production in Nepal applied for Rugmark licenses. Because of the geographical concentration of carpet factories in the Kathmandu valley, monitoring is considerably easier than in India. If a store in your area does not carry Rugmark-labeled carpets, tell the store manager that you do not buy carpets made with child labor. Request rugs with the Rugmark label. Give the manager the brochure for carpet importers and retailers put out by the Rugmark campaign. For more information, contact the Rugmark Foundation-USA at (202) 544-7767, laborrights@igc.org Nike Tourby Max White, Justice: Do It NikeFormer Indonesian Nike factory worker Cicih Sukaesih climaxed a Canadian/U.S. speaking tour with a press conference in front of Nike Town in Portland, Oregon on May 21st. She was joined by human rights and labor representatives, including Irv Fletcher, president of the Oregon AFL-CIO. Ms. Sukaesih's visit came after recent exposes of conditions at Nike factories in Vietnam . In late April, 10,000 Indonesian workers walked out when a Nike contractor refused to pay a 20-cents-per-day increase in the minimum wage. Since February, Nike stock has plummeted 27 percent. One reason is consumer awareness of labor abuses. International pressure on Nike is leading to dramatic, measurable problems for the company. Cicih Sukaesih and Nike From 1989 to 1993, Cicih Sukaesih, now 32, worked at a Nike contracted factory in Serang, West Java, Indonesia. In September of 1992, nearly all 6,500 workers went on strike over wages, benefits and working conditions. Workers were squeezed by a high-pressure quota system. The basic work day was 7:30 am to 6 PM, with a break for lunch. A normal work week was Monday through Saturday. During times of high production, workers had to work Sundays and -- up to three times a week -- had to put in overtime until 9 PM. Supposedly voluntary, in fact overtime was forced. A worker who refused would receive three warnings and then could be fired. Also, overtime was financially coerced: When Sukaesih worked at the factory, pay was about $1.45 a day in US dollars. Only through working many hours of overtime could a worker hope to cover her basic living expenses. Jammed together, bodies adding to the heat from machines, workers were rationed drinking water and needed permission slips to use the bathroom. One doctor, available only two hours a day a few times a week, handled all illnesses and accidents for 6,500 workers,. A worker too ill to work needed a slip from the company doctor or she could expect to be intimidated and humiliated in front of other workers. One worker, a close friend of Ms. Sukaesih, died a few days after being subjected to such treatment when a supervisor refused to believe a note from the woman's own doctor. Nike factory workers are mostly female and young. A worker of 28 is considered past her prime. Female workers were subjected to unwanted touching and to daily "hands-on" searches for stolen shoe components. In 1993, Ms. Sukaesih and 23 others were fired as supposed leaders of the 1992 strike. "Justice: Do It Nike" recently learned details about treatment of these workers at the hands of Indonesian police. After the strike, Sukaesih was questioned at a police station for two days about her labor activities. Before questioning, she was kept waiting outside a room where someone was being tortured. She plainly heard his screams and then saw the man dragged away. Ms. Sukaesih then was led into the room and was told to sit in the victim's now-bloodied chair. The fired workers' case has made its way through the Indonesian courts. The most recent court decision (November, 1995) ordered that the workers be reinstated, with back pay. The contractor still refuses to re-hire or pay the workers. Their case is now pending before the Indonesian Supreme Court, which last year ruled on a grand total of 24 out of a backlog of some 2,000 cases. Nike has never intervened on behalf of these workers, despite the fact that factory conditions leading to the strike violated Nike's own "Code of Conduct." During Ms. Sukaesih's speaking tour, Nike Canada representatives issued a press release denying responsibility for these workers because they were employees of the contractor, not of Nike. Such statements are in stark contrast to the recent accord from the task force on sweatshop issues. At the heart of that accord is the explicit commitment that apparel companies are responsible for the actions of their contractors. A signatory to that accord, Nike has tried to portray itself as concerned and progressive. Labor Struggles in CanadaDuring the Canadian portion of Cicih Sukaesih's speaking tour, she frequently expressed surprise at discovering that North Americans needed to struggle against labor abuses in their own country.In Vancouver, she heard from Starbucks coffee house workers whose wages had been rolled back and she saw Canadians protesting cutbacks and privatization of government services: Privatization of bulk mail in Canada has cost 10,000 public sector union jobs. In Alberta, she met with striking Safeway workers. In Ontario, she learned about Canadian Nike workers who lost their jobs when production moved abroad. A Canadian skate company, Bauer (no connection with Eddie Bauer), has operations in Cambridge, Ontario. After Nike bought out Bauer recently, Nike announced that it would close the Cambridge plant, with a resulting loss of 400 jobs. Some of the high end work will be shifted to a Bauer plant in Quebec but the bulk of the production will move to the third world. Another Ontario company, York Manufacturing, had a long history of producing clothing in Canada. In 1984, Nike established contractual relations with York, pressuring the company to drop its other contracts. York's owners poured substantial sums into upgrading their infrastructure, to be able to do high tech clothing production. By 1994, 95 percent of York's production was for Nike. But then Nike abruptly announced that it was severing relations. Having become totally dependent on Nike, the factory soon went out of business, with a loss of 125 jobs. Some of the women had worked at York for as long as 30 years. After the plant closure was announced, the workers petitioned Nike. Nike's response was to threaten the workers with a lawsuit because their petition included the company's trademark swoosh. When asked to consider the needs of the workers it had abandoned, Nike representatives answered that the company makes a contribution to the community through its participation in sporting events. For Ms. Sukaesih, the most moving moment of her tour was when she joined hands with one of those displaced Canadian Nike workers. ResourcesGlobal Sweatshop Curriculum Packet For Teachers: teaching ideas, student activity suggestions, samples of student writing, fact sheets, list of resources and more. This packet also has information on several specific labor rights struggles, including the Nike campaign. (Requested donation for the print version: $10.00 -- free for paid subscribers to the Campaign for Labor Rights newsletter. A shorter version of this packet also is available free via email.) (202) 232-5002 or clr@clrlabor.orgNike Action Packet: action ideas, sample letter, leaflet master, fact sheet, sample press release, list of resources and more. (Requested donation for the print version: $5.00 -- free for paid subscribers to the Campaign for Labor Rights newsletter. A shorter version of this packet also is available free via email.) (202) 232-5002 or clr@clrlabor.org Nike Campaign Documents: Available only via email. To see a listing of current documents, send an email inquiry to clr@clrlabor.org Anti-Swoosh Buttons: Available from a member of Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) local 474 in Edmonton, Alberta.The image is the Nike logo in black, with a red circle and slash. Prices include Canadian tax, plus shipping and handling costs. Buttons can be shipped to anywhere in North America. 2500 buttons is the largest single order possible. 1000 or more: $0.50 each 800-999: $0.75 each 500-799: $0.80 each 499 or less: $1.00 each Made in a Union Shop with a union bug! To order: leave a message at (403) 439-3595 or send an email to ewplawiuk@geocities.com Toxic AgribusinessEric Nicholson, an organizer for the Oregon farm worker union PCUN, stated that collective bargaining is an important mechanism for dealing with the problem of pesticide misuse in agriculture. Farm workers face a daily assault of exposure to toxic chemicals in the field. When they stand up for their own health, they also are defending the environment.Excerpts from the Journal of Pesticide Reform, published by The Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides (NCAP): How many times have you heard that you don't need to be concerned about the pesticides used to produce, for example, the grapes on your supermarket shelves? "There are no significant residues", you've been told. "Less than a few parts per million. Like a teaspoon in thousands of gallons of water. Don't worry." There are about one and a half million people who work as employees on American farms. They handle every grape you eat, every strawberry, every cucumber, every apple, and every one of a multitude of fruits and vegetables that are grown using hand labor. They are the people who are most closely and heavily exposed to the pesticides that are required by the chemically-intensive agricultural system currently in use in the United States. Those few parts per million on the food you eat mean significant exposures for farmworkers in the fields where the food is produced. Of the 25 most heavily used agricultural pesticides, 5 are toxic to the nervous system; 18 are skin, eye, or lung irritants; 11 have been classified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as cancer-causing; 17 cause genetic damage; and 10 cause reproductive problems. Annual use of pesticides causing each of these types of health problems totals between one and four hundred million pounds. Farmworkers are on "the front lines" of exposure to these pesticides. Farmworkers [suffer] at above-average frequency from liver cancer, lung cancer, cancer of the pharynx, multiple myeloma, cancer of the stomach, cervical cancer, prostate cancer, and testicular cancer. To subscribe to the Journal of Pesticide Reform, contact NCAP at (541) 344-5044 Farm Worker Campaign Gains AlliesIn Oregon, farm workers continue to seek their rights via a campaign organized by the Northwest Union of Tree Planters and Farm Workers (PCUN). With participating stores in 15 states, the boycott is fast becoming a national campaign.The campaign seeks to pressure growers into negotiations over wages and working conditions. Union activists face discrimination and intimidation from the growers. Workers suffer substandard housing and facilities and inadequate wages. The PCUN campaign involves a primary boycott of the growers' own brand of frozen and canned foods, FLAV-R-PAC, and a secondary boycott of Wholesome and Hearty Foods, particularly their Gardenburger product. The Gardenburger boycott is in response to Wholesome and Hearty's refusal to stop selling their foods through the growers' NORPAC FOOD SALES operation, even though alternatives are readily available. A new feature of the PCUN campaign is reminiscent of Central America solidarity work. Organized delegations are providing accompaniment to organizers and farm worker communities. It is hoped that the presence of witnesses will deter grower intimidation of organizers and union supporters. Also, accompaniers bring back to their own communities the story of conditions which they have witnessed. For more information, contact PCUN at (503) 982-0243 MexicoHyundaiWorkers at the Han Young de Mexico maquiladora, which produces chassis and platforms for tractor-trailer trucks for Hyundai Precision America, refused to enter the plant in Tijuana on June 2 to demonstrate their demand for union recognition. A majority of the workers have expressed their support for an independent union. While the company's failure to pay utilidades, the 2 % profit-sharing bonus required under Mexican labor law, was the immediate impetus for the work stoppage, the workers' overriding concern is for the health and safety problems in the plant. Welders are often not provided with appropriate facial shields, gloves, coveralls or safety shoes. Some workers are losing their vision, and many experience a burning sensation in their eyes due to constant exposure to lead fumes. Workers exhibit burns on their hands, chests arms and clothing. While the workers assemble and weld at least 26 chassis daily, and the chassis sell for $1800 each, they make 280-360 pesos ($33-$46) weekly. Workers complain this is not enough for their basic necessities. Han Young employs 125 workers. Current production involves a large contract Hyundai has to produce trucks for the US Marines. The Han Young maquiladora, like most maquiladoras in Tijuana, pays a government-connected "union" known as the Confederacion Regional de Obreros Mexicanos (CROM). Workers do not participate in any meetings of the "union" and have never seen a copy of its contract with the company. It is a standard practice by the maquiladora industry to pay for "protection contracts" against independent organizing by workers. Please send faxes immediately to the Mexican Labor Board and Hyundai, demanding recognition of workers' right to organize their own union. Antonio Ortiz, Presidente, Junta de Conciliacion y Arbitraje, 011-52 (66) 86 33 00 If that number does not answer, call 011-52-66-86-32-14 and say you want to send a fax. Ted Chung, President, Hyundai Precision America, (619) 293-7264 For further information, contact the Support Committee for Maquiladora Workers at (619) 542-0826. Customtrim: On May 23, a three-day strike involving 240 workers was resolved at the Florida-based Customtrim maquiladora in Valle Hermoso, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Workers had sought wages and benefits level with workers at Customtrim's other maquiladora in nearby Matamoros. Presently, Customtrim workers take home an average of about $34 per 48-hour week. In Matamoros, most of Customtrim's workers make about $60 for a 4O-hour week, due to a strong union, which won them better wages and working conditions than most other border maquilas. In the end, workers won only part of their demands. The company will pay a total of $28,000 in increased benefits per year to its 240 workers in Valle Hermoso following the agreement. There was no gain in wages. Now that the strike is over, 26 returned strikers have been fired. Please contact: George Chuchman, President and CEO of Custom Trim Inc. phone: (519) 576-3000, fax: (519) 576-0204 to demand reinstatement of fired workers. For more information, contact Coalition for Justice Maquiladoras at (210) 732-89570 DisneyHaiti: The L.V. Myles Company, one of Disney's main sourcing agents in Haiti, arbitrarily fired four workers in May at one of its factories to intimidate workers who were circulating a flier in the factory. The flier protested wages and conditions and called on workers to organize to obtain their rights.The L.V. Myles factory, like the 13 other factories in Haiti producing garments for various Disney labels, pays its workers 28 to 39 cents per hour or $11.20 to $15.60 per week. Workers, mostly women, are forced to produce at an inhuman rate, under constant verbal abuse, sexual harassment and threats of being laid off or fired. Call the L.V. Miles Company in New York at (212) 735-0900 and demand: stop all intimidation; pay a living wage, which in Haiti should be at least US $5.00 per day; stop sexual harassment and improve working conditions in the factory; rehire the workers fired in May. Vietnam: Seventeen-year-old women work 9 to 10 hours a day, seven days a week, earning as little as six cents an hour at the Keyhinge factory in Vietnam making giveaway promotional toys, many of which are Disney characters, for McDonald's Happy Meals. Overcome by fatigue and poor ventilation, 200 women fell ill, 25 collapsed and three were hospitalized in late February as a result of exposure to acetone. Keyhinge refuses to improve the ventilation system or remedy other unsafe working conditions. Call or write Micheal Eisner, CEO, Walt Disney Company, 500 South Buena Vista Street, Burbank, CA 91521, (818) 560-1000. For more information, contact the National Labor Committee at (212)242-3002 El SalvadorCode Of Misconduct:Two days after release of the much-criticized U.S. accord on sweatshops, the Salvadoran clothing manufacturers' association (ASIC) announced its own "Code of Conduct" with terms similar to the U.S. agreement. They expect most of their 230 member companies to adopt the code, which according to one newspaper headline, will "eliminate the effects of international campaigns." ASIC's Code was designed by the factory owners and imposed unilaterally without apparent union or human rights participation. According to the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES), the factory owners' motivation is clear. El Salvador's maquila industry is not in good shape. El Salvador has relied on a low-wage strategy for attracting new foreign capital to its free trade zone. However, it is being underbid by other countries in the region. To attract new investment, El Salvador needs to offer a different competitive advantage. With sweatshops an increasing concern among consumers, many companies are beginning to take into consideration the damage that labor abuses can do to their reputation. If El Salvador could certify its free trade zone as "clean" without adding appreciable costs to production, that would indeed be a drawing card for foreign clothing companies. However, the ASIC code has all the signs of being form without substance. Harassment, pay levels, health and safety risks and anti-union pressures remain serious problems. CISPES suspects that the ASIC code is intended to paper over violations rather than to correct them. CISPES is looking for a way to challenge ASIC's false solution without harming the interests of Salvadoran workers. In El Salvador, another model of monitoring is in place. A commission with representatives from Salvadoran nongovernmental organizations was set up at the Mandarin factory after the 1995 GAP campaign. It is in the factory every week and it has gained the confidence of workers by registering their complaints and negotiating solutions with management. The bathrooms have been unlocked; there is no more abuse; and discussions have begun about health and safety upgrades. Management supports the commission because it depolarized an extremely tense workplace. The National Labor Committee has called for extending the Salvadoran model to other factories and other countries, but this has not yet happened. Phone Privatization:ANTEL is El Salvador's highly profitable telecommunications company, which generates some $80 million annually for rural health and education. Last fall the ruling ARENA Party rammed a privatization law through the Legislative Assembly which would have sold ANTEL to transnational companies and private investors for a mere $320 million. Behind the law were the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Inter-American Development Bank and the US Embassy.A privatized telecommunications company would have serious consequences for great numbers of unionized workers who would be laid off and lose their benefits and their union. Telephone workers reached out to consumers by stressing the loss of public service to rural areas and the rate hikes that have already begun. On May 29, all of the parties in opposition to President Armando Calderon Sol's ARENA Party in the Salvadoran Assembly (in the majority since the March 16 elections) united to repeal the law privatizing ANTEL. President Calderon admitted defeat and, rather than vetoing the repeal, proposed a multi-party commission to decide what to do with the company -- a proposal the opposition supports. Immediate international pressure is needed to win the best outcome for Salvadoran citizens, workers, and phone users. Please sign the following letter to the World Bank and to the legislative heads of El Salvador's political parties. Speed is essential. Fax your signed letters to CISPES at (617) 524-1165. For more information, contact CISPES at (212) 229-1290), cispesnatl@igc.apc.org Mr. Shahid Javed Burki, Vice-President for the Latin American and Caribbean Region, World Bank 1818 "H" Street NW Washington, DC 20433 & Sr. Sigifrido Ochoa Perez, PCN; Sr. Jorge Barrera, PDC; Dr. Abraham Rodriguez, PRSC; Ing. Walter Araujo, ARENA; Dr. Ruben Zamora, CD; Dr. Kirio Waldo Salgado, PLD; Sr. Shafick Handal, FMLN Dear Sirs: I am writing to urge you to reconsider the privatization of El Salvador's telephone company, ANTEL, and to urge a more inclusive process. ANTEL privatization was supposed to bring lower rates and better service to Salvadoran consumers. Workers' interests and voices were to be included in the process. The World Bank's "Country Assistance Strategy" called for transparency and for the proceeds of ANTEL's sale to be invested socially in human capital. It is becoming increasingly obvious to the world community that these conditions are not being satisfied in the present process. * A secret agreement between the Salvadoran government and the International Monetary Fund will divert almost half of ANTEL's sale price for short-term government debt. At the same time, the government will lose some $80 million a year in ANTEL profits, which currently support rural education and nutrition. * The government's latest plan contains absolutely no mechanism for regulating rates. The plan will convert a public monopoly into an unregulated private monopoly. * Workers and the public have been systematically excluded from the negotiation process, which has been conducted behind closed doors. Crucial information like the value of ANTEL has only been extracted by political pressure, and even that figure may have been grossly understated. * ANTEL workers' interests are not protected under the current proposal. Neither their job security, nor their benefits, nor their right to organize and bargain collectively, nor their access to shares in ANTEL, nor financing for purchasing shares is assured. It is no wonder that the Salvadoran legislature recently repealed ANTEL's privatization, nor that the constitutionality of the process is being challenged. I respectfully urge you to use your influence to help revise the repealed law, putting the interests of Salvadoran citizens, ANTEL customers and its workers first. Yours sincerely, From An Open Letter to GuessWe are filmmakers who have come to be associated with Guess?, Inc. through a college campus promotion called the "Guess Independent Film Tour." Through the association of our films with Guess in advertisements, promotions, web sites, and on the screen, it appears that we are giving tacit approval to both the concept of corporate sponsorship in general as well as the labor practices of this particular company. This impression is misleading.Our films, most of which were conceived of and created completely independent of outside/corporate influence or control, are now inextricably connected with Guess. We, the filmmakers, do not approve of the Guess sponsorship and we certainly don't approve of their shady business practices, which include contracting out sewing work to sweatshops, moving much of their operation to Mexico to escape further scrutiny and criticism, a history of ad campaigns that exploit and are demeaning to women, and the suing of a local women's group for statements made at a poetry reading in support of garment workers We call upon Guess to clean up its act and ensure the just treatment of the workers who produce its clothing. All workers deserve decent wages, fair treatment, safe working conditions, and dignity on the job. Jim McKay ad seven co-signers For information on the Guess campaign, contact the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE) at (212) 265-7000 x 821, gcough@uniteunion.org GuatemalaStarbucks Campaign on Hold:Starbucks recently informed the U.S./Guatemala Labor Education Project (US/GLEP) that it will explore the feasibility of a pilot project for implementing its code of conduct in Guatemala. This development marks a major change in direction from the company's earlier position that it did not intend to monitor whether growers of its coffee meet certain standards with respect to treatment of their workers. US/GLEP is therefore putting its Starbucks campaign on hold, pending further discussions with the company regarding the nature, scope and timeline for the feasibility study. US/GLEP will notify supporters of developments with Starbucks and whether and when it appears that a resumption of the campaign is needed. People who ordered campaign kits will get their money back if it becomes clear that there will be no campaign for at least the next few months. U.S. Trade Decision U.S. human rights and trade union organizations sharply criticized a recent decision by U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Charlene Barshefsky to end a probation on Guatemala's duty-free trade benefits provided under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP). The probation had been in place since 1992. In 1996, USTR developed a list of benchmarks to measure whether the Guatemalan government was making progress in respecting the basic rights of its workers. The benchmarks included progress on ending impunity, changes in the labor code to meet international standards, reducing the back-log of labor cases pending before the courts and increased fines for violators. Petitioners argue that there has been no progress on these benchmarks. With respect to impunity, no one has been prosecuted and convicted of violence against trade unionists despite dozens of current and hundreds of past cases. Petitioners also say that the only change to the labor code in the past year has been to restrict the rights of public employees, that the number of labor cases has increased and that the Tripartite Commission -- cited by USTR as a sign of progress -- is designed for international consumption and has failed to resolve a single labor dispute since it was formed over a year ago. Pharis Harvey of the International Labor Rights Fund added, "It's ironic that the Clinton Administration is withdrawing the most significant source of leverage it has to support basic worker rights in Guatemala, a country where violations in the maquiladora sector are routine and constant, while at the same time it is promoting its No Sweat code of conduct for the U.S. businesses operating in the apparel sector abroad. The Administration is giving up a legally-mandated means of applying leverage while actively promoting a consumer-oriented voluntary code of conduct for business. Voluntarism of this nature cannot be a substitute for a U.S. government committed to a trading system based on respect for the basic rights of workers." For more information, contact the U.S./Guatemala Labor Education Project (US/GLEP) at (773) 262-6502, usglep@igc.org LDN Works on Sweatshopsby Soren Ambrose, Labor Defense NetworkIn recent weeks, the Labor Defense Network has acted several times in four different Latin American countries to fight union-busting and illegal firings. The struggle against these abuses indicates the persistent spirit of resistance among workers organizing under tremendously difficult conditions in country after country and factory after factory. Selected incidents In Honduras, the LDN mobilized to defend a new union at the Kimi apparel factory in Lima. The workers, mostly young women, succeeded in gaining the Honduran Labor Ministry's legal certification of their union in late April. The company retaliated by firing members of the union's organizing committee and locking workers out until they agreed to be represented by a company union or signed blank pieces of paper that could later be made into affiliation forms for the company union. Working with Witness for Peace, the LDN acted on the firing of 18 workers for union organizing at Nicaragua's Nien Hsing International maquila. Management apparently fired the workers in between the Labor Ministry's official recognition of the union and its formal constitution through a workers' meeting, thus leaving the union leaderless before it ever had a chance to establish itself within the factory. The LDN has acted in Mexico at the request of UE (United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America) International Office to block the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche from busting legally-recognized unions at plants that its Mexican subsidiary recently acquired. The device used was a "protection contract" with a "ghost union," a shady legal maneuver used by some Mexican companies to subvert legitimate organizing. Contact the Labor Defense Network at ern@igc.org, (202) 232-5002 and ask how to become part of our emergency fax network. MAI -- NAFTA on Steroidsby Hubert Beyer[Editor's note: We have excerpted a recent article by Hubert Beyer, who provides a Canadian perspective on yet another devastating trade pact. In the U.S., the 50 Years Is Enough coalition is working to prevent passage of MAI.] Few Canadians have heard of the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI), even though, if adopted, it would strengthen the rights of multinational corporations immensely at the expense of the great unwashed, namely you and me. It's been referred to as NAFTA on steroids. In a nutshell, the agreement would force participating countries to treat foreign investors equal to domestic companies. It would remove governments' right to provide subsidies or other forms of financial assistance, including tax breaks, to domestic companies as part of job protection strategies. The agreement also would prohibit governments from introducing investments restrictions or requirements for domestic ownership, and prohibit the kind of "capital flight" legislation that has, to some degree, protected Canadian workers from corporate movement to low-wage areas such as Mexico. Premier Glen Clark says the agreement would tie the hands of any government in several key areas, including job creation, culture, health care, the environment and even the constitution. "If any semblance of democracy is to be salvaged in Canada, steps must be taken to forestall this surrender to corporate tyranny," he says. Clark's Jobs and Timber Accord, which will compel the forest industry to create jobs in return for receiving tree-cutting rights, would not be permissible, once the agreement is in effect. Canada is close to signing the agreement, which is still being negotiated behind closed doors at the headquarters of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris. The deadline for ratification of the agreement by the organization's 29 member states is scheduled for this fall. The fact that hardly any news leaked out during the talks leading up to preparations for final ratification of the agreement is scary in itself. But most of all, it is the assault on Canada's sovereignty that is alarming. With each new international trade agreement, our elected governments lose more power. And they lose them to business -- big, multi-national business -- which has no conscience other than looking out for the shareholders' interests. Hubert Beyer can be reached at hubert@coolcom.com |
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