Leaflet Levi's to Support Lajat Workers!

Leafleting Guidelines

Please find below:

Goals & Demands
When & Where
Materials & Tactics
Background Information

• Levi’s must live up to their claims of corporate responsibility and require Lajat to bring work back to the Gomez Palacio plant.
• Levi’s and Lajat must insure that the union election takes place and that Mexican law, Levi’s Code of Conduct, and workers’ rights are respected
• Levi must insure that workers are not put on a blacklist or otherwise retaliated against.
• Lajat must make all contributions to the social security (IMSS) and housing fund (INFONAVIT). Lajat is in arrears on its legally required payments to these funds for healthcare and housing.
• If the Gomez Placio plant is not reopened, then the workers must be reinstated at the Torreon plant with fully paid transportation.

Why:

We are doing this activity

a. To educate consumers about the working conditions of the people who make Levi's jeans and ask them to support ending sweatshop conditions by signing the coupon to send to Levis, and;

b. To get store managers to send the message up the chain of command so that it reaches Levi Strauss & Co. corporate headquarters.

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When to leaflet:

During the holiday season preferably beginning on Saturday, December 17th.

Where:

In front of or in stores where Levis are sold. Here are some major outlets for Levis jeans:

JC Penney
Kohl
Nordstrom
Macy
Urban Outfitter
Robinson-May

We recommend that you pick several stores that are close and pass out coupons and deliver the manager letter at all of them.

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What to pass out:

1. The coupon which is addressed to Levi's. (The coupon is best copied on card stock front and back and cut out. We’d recommend that you make a lot – 300-500.) Bring pens and ask people to sign them right there and you’ll mail them. If they can’t sign there and are willing to take the card, ask them to mail it in.
2. If they want more information, give them a copy of the Peace & Jeans with Justice for the Holidays sheet. Be sure to make copies. Also refer people to www.coalitionforjustice.net for more information and to make a donation.
3. Make a copy of the letter to store management and be sure to deliver it to the manager of each store you leaflet. Make extras if any customers want a copy.
   

Tactics:

Obviously there are different tactics to do this. We’d recommend that in large stores you find the jeans section(s) where Levis are sold (men’s, women’s, boy’s, junior girl’s, and girl’s departments) and talk to customers who are shopping there. If possible, put coupons in pants pockets. If you have enough people, divide up. Assign one person to deliver the manager’s letter after you have been in the store for awhile or when you get stopped by security. In small stores, stand out front and talk to customers who are entering. Do not block anyone’s way. Be polite and respectful. Unless you have a legal right to be there, leave if asked to. Go to another store or outside. Don’t cause littering.

Exchange cell phone numbers in case you get separated.

What to say to people
Here are some suggested approaches:

"Hi, may I talk to you about how you can help workers who make Levi's jeans in Mexico end sweatshop conditions?"

"Hi, would you be willing to sign a postcard to Levi Strauss & Company about a factory in Mexico where their jeans are made?"

"Hi, would you take a minute to read and consider signing this note to Levi’s asking them to take a stand for justice for the workers who make Levi's in Mexico?"

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The Law (US*):

Public space. Stand on a public sidewalk where possible. You have a Constitutional right to stand in a public place, such as a public sidewalk in front of a Levi's store, and hand people leaflets and speak to them. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Security guards may try to intimidate you. The police in general understand your right to be there. (There are always exceptions.) The police may ask you not to block the sidewalk (if you are a group), and not to block people's passage in and out of the store, and on the sidewalk. If you are a group and block the sidewalk (by your sheer numbers)--and the police ask you to move--remember that you have a right to PICKET, that is, to move around in a picket line on the sidewalk in front of the store.

Private space. Most stores are in malls and not on public sidewalks. Therefore your first amendment rights to leaflet and talk to people on private property are restricted.

“The federal Court shifted this recurring legal debate to the state-level in a 1980 ruling (PruneYard Shopping Center vs. Robbins) which said any state could extend its free speech protections beyond the federal standards. Since then, many state rulings have been in favor of property rights, but some states — e.g. California, Oregon, Massachusetts, Colorado, Washington, and New Jersey — have ruled in favor of more extensive free speech activities and validated the concept of malls as public spaces.” (www.rutgers.edu/mallspace.htm)

See: www.empowermentzone.com/leaflet.txt for a more extensive discussion of the Pruneyard case.

We suggest you call the mall(s) and ask what their policy is or call the local ACLU or National Lawyers Guild. We do not want anyone to get arrested for trespassing or soliciting in a mall, so if you are asked to leave, do so.

*(Canadians, please research law there)

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Some background information:

• Since NAFTA jeans production in Mexico has increased significantly. Since 1999 Mexico-made jeans enter the US duty free. Increasingly producers are providing “the whole package.” Every aspect of a garment is made by a chain of suppliers or just one, even the denim. Since January 2005, however, world trade rules changed and Mexico no longer has a unique position. The expiration of the Multifiber Agreement has brought increased pressure on Mexico to hold down labor costs or face loss of investment to China and Central America.
• Levi Strauss ended its US production and shut down all its plants in 2003. It doesn’t manufacture clothing any more. It designs, brands and markets clothes. All its clothing is made by subcontractors in 50 countries around the world. In Mexico, Levi's products are produced in over thirty plants. They use over 100 plants in China.
• The Levi Terms of Engagement (TOE) set guidelines for subcontractors. On paper they are wonderful and provide for safe, healthy workplaces where workers are supposed to have rights to organize. Enforcement of the code is done by Levi's employees who perform inspections. If a plant violates the TOE then Levi comes up with a CAP – Corrective Action Plan. They say that only extreme and repeated violations may cause them to cancel their contract. The problem with this is that there is no independent monitoring or accountability. Levi's sets the rules and has all the power. In our experience their inspectors are not neutral and have been disrespectful toward the workers. Also Levi's recommends corrective actions which are meaningless, and they are unwilling to use their substantial influence to force Lajat to respect the workers’ rights.
• When we began this campaign, Lajat was also producing for Mudd Jeans and later for Aeropostale. Mudd has no code of conduct, but was pulled in by Levi's and was somewhat responsibe. Then they cancelled their contract and left, cutting and running. Aeropostale didn’t even know about Lajat. It was a sub-subcontractor. They pulled the contract. While we deplore their unethical conduct and tell people what they did, it is Levi's that still has influence with Lajat to fix the problem.
• While CJM knows that a big part of the problem is the Mexican government and its failure to enforce its own laws, we focus on the corporations which drive the process and have the power to fix it. Also, U.S. and Canadian citizens have far more leverage as consumers with corporations than they do with the Mexican government. We have had delegations visit Mexican consulates and encourage you to do that.
• See the previous alerts regarding Lajat and the chronology for more information.