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CLR Newsletter #27Jan-Feb 2000 -- Web Edition In this issue:
CLR Forms Rapid Action NetworkCampaign for Labor Rights is rapidly assembling a Rapid Action Network, an initiative with important strategic implications for the entire anti-sweatshop movement. Many in the anti-sweatshop movement have voiced a desire for an over-arching strategy. At this point, no one national organization has either the resources or the authority to set an agenda for the whole movement, nor are the diverse players ready to create one jointly. The Rapid Action Network is not THE strategy for the movement. Rather, it is the centerpiece of a strategy which will be guiding us at Campaign for Labor Rights throughout this year. We developed it in consultation with local activists. To the extent that local groups choose to join us in this work, it can become part of your strategy. Please note that this is a strategy for action by local groups: solidarity, peace & justice, labor, student, faith-based and more. Our email action alerts provide many opportunities for individual action; those actions are important. However, our ability to challenge the global sweatshop multiplies when we act, not just as atomized individuals, but as organized groups in our own communities joining in coordinated actions with others throughout the country and even internationally.
How It WorksCampaign for Labor Rights has established the Rapid Action Network to apply more effective pressure in support of sweatshop worker struggles. Participating groups agree to mobilize in their communities with as little as 14 days notice (more notice whenever we can manage it) at least 6 out of 10 times when asked during the course of the year. The great majority of the mobilizations will be leafleting actions, usually at retail outlets. These mobilizations are intended to increase the leverage of sweatshop union activists when they press for demands such as: reinstatement of fired organizers, union recognition and good-faith contract bargaining. The goal of the mobilizations is worker empowerment through free trade unions and collective bargaining. We expect to have more than 100 local groups in the Network by March 1, our target date for readiness. The priority of our organizing staff is to support the work of participating local groups through regular communication. (Where local groups are mobilized via already-existing national networks, we will stay in touch with the national/ regional offices of those networks.) To speak with our organizing staff, see the contact information at the bottom of the Rapid Action Network sign-up form. We welcome innovations by local activists who come up with new ways to make mobilizations effective and a positive experience for participants. We will share your creative ideas with the rest of the Network.
Strategic ChoicesCampaign for Labor Rights will continue to serve as a clearinghouse providing information on all of the major anti-sweatshop campaigns. Rapid Action Network mobilizations will have more focus. Whenever possible, the Rapid Action Network will prioritize union struggles fitting into longer-term, larger-scale efforts so that local activists do not have to keep starting from scratch in educating their communities and their own membership. Examples:
Larger Movement, Bigger GoalsThe Rapid Action Network is designed to produce tangible results. Our movement is energized by success stories -- workers whose empowerment has been aided by international pressure on the corporations for which they produce. We cannot dismantle the entire global sweatshop one work site at a time, with each work site struggle requiring a separate international pressure campaign. The scale of our current goals reflects our strength at this time. As the Network contributes to work site victories and as those victories contribute to building the Network, we will continue to consult with our southern partners to develop broader, more ambitious goals.
IMF and World Bank Actions April 16, 17The IMF (International Monetary Fund), the World Bank and the WTO (World Trade Organization) form an "unholy trinity" to promote corporate domination. Organizers of the Seattle WTO protests -- such as Rainforest Action Network, Direct Action Network, Global Exchange, Public Citizen/Global Trade Watch, Ruckus Society, Art & Revolution and others -- are preparing for protest, education, training and direct action in April when the finance ministers of the world's governments gather in Washington, DC for the meetings of the IMF (April 16) and World Bank (April 17). BEGIN PLANNING NOW to come to Washington, DC in April. For more information, contact the 50 Years is Enough Network (Washington DC): (202) 463-2265, wb50years@igc.org or Global Exchange (San Francisco): (415) 558-9486, ext. 254. A powerful U.S. movement for economic and human rights had its birth at the WTO protests in Seattle. A wide range of constituencies who value human dignity and ecological survival over corporate profits challenged one of the most insidious institutions of unaccountable rule, the World Trade Organization, and scored important victories against daunting odds. In April, the struggle continues -- in Washington, DC, the heart of political and institutional control over the global economy. Like the WTO, the World Bank and the IMF have been quietly writing the rules that keep the world safe for multinational corporations. The finance ministers and international bureaucrats who shape the world economy will find out that Seattle was not just a bump on their road to global domination. Join us in Washington to assert that the fate of the planet and its peoples must not be decided behind closed doors.
Sign-Up for Rapid Action NetworkNote: The Rapid Action Network is intended for local groups which have a capacity to put together leafleting actions. To join, simply fill out the following: YES! We would like to join the Rapid Action Network! Name of organization: Complete postal address: Name of primary contact person: Name of back-up contact person: Daytime phone: Daytime phone: Evening/weekend phone: Evening/weekend phone: Fax (if this applies): Fax (if this applies): Email (if this applies): Email (if this applies): and send it to For more information, call: Campaign for Labor Rights
1470 Irving Street, NW Washington, DC 20010
Nike Union Organizer Reinstated!After an outpouring of international pressure and a 10-state speaking tour in the United States, Nike union organizer Haryanto has been reinstated at the PT Lintas shoe factory in Indonesia. Haryanto is an officer in the Perbupas union federation representing shoe and garment workers in a number of Nike factories in Indonesia. He remains committed to organizing support for Perbupas at the Lintas factory. Haryanto's reinstatement represents far more than a victory for one worker. It is the first step forward in a worker-empowerment strategy outlined last summer by Campaign for Labor Rights. The next step is to win reinstatement for four other organizers fired from their jobs at Lintas. Their names have been provided by Perbupas and by Sisbikum, an Indonesian non-governmental organization which works closely with Perbupas. International supporters are awaiting the case histories on their firing before gearing up for their reinstatement. Assuming that efforts to win reinstatement for the other four organizers bear fruit, the next steps with regard to the Lintas factory will be:
Sources close to Nike report that Nike representatives believe that respecting freedom of association (the right to engage in union activities -- a principle to which Nike is committed as a member of the Fair Labor Association) "doesn't mean that we have to deal with the union." It is likely that considerable international pressure will be needed in order to bring Nike to the bargaining table. Thanks to all of you who supported Haryanto's speaking tour and who put your names to the sign-on letter to Nike seeking his reinstatement. Your continuing efforts will be crucial in carrying out the rest of the strategy outlined above. One way that local groups can continue to exert pressure when needed is through joining the Rapid Action Network. (See article.) Philip H. Knight Chairman and CEO Nike Inc. One Bowerman Drive Beaverton, OR 97005
Dear Mr. Knight: Name:
News from Nicaragua1) Union-Busting at Jem III[Information provided by the Nicaragua Network: (202) 544-9355, nicanet@igc.org, Witness for Peace: (202) 588-1471, sdebolt@witnessforpeace.org and the National Labor Committee: (212) 242-3002, nlc@nlcnet.org] At least 65 workers at the Jem III garment factory in Managua's Las Mercedes free trade zone have been fired recently for participating in a strike which took place in late November/early December. The most recent firings are part of a wave of downsizing. Those fired include nearly the entire union leadership at the factory, almost every rank-and-file union member and a number of union sympathizers. There are rumors that management has prepared a blacklist of fired workers for circulation throughout the free trade zone. The strike was touched off when management switched workers from their usual assignments to lines where their income would decrease, in violation of Nicaragua's labor code. Management had sought to have the strike declared illegal but, in an historic first in Nicaragua's maquiladora sector, the Ministry of Labor ruled the strike legal. Management promised retaliation against workers who had participated in the strike. It has now made good on that threat. Reports vary as to whether 260 workers out of the factory's normal workforce of 400 already have been fired or whether 65 have been fired so far out of a total of 260 who are at risk. The firings are being spread out over several dates, leading labor organizers to suspect that the company divided up the firings so as to minimize worker resistance. The most recent round of firings included all of the remaining members of the union's board of directors, except for one woman who is pregnant. [Nicaragua's labor laws make firing pregnant women harder than firing other workers.] Jem III is part of the JEM Sportswear company, based in San Fernando, California. It produces clothing for Wal-Mart. There are rumors that JEM Sportswear owner Jeffrey Marine hopes to sell Jem III to the owner of another factory in the free trade zone and that he wants to eliminate the union to make the factory more attractive to the potential buyer. Pedro Ortega, General Secretary of the CST Garment Workers Federation, said that the union has submitted two appeals asking the Ministry of Labor to guarantee the re-hiring of the fired workers. Jem III owner Jeffrey Marine accuses workers of property destruction during the strike. He says that Jem III has a right to dismiss strikers who acted unlawfully. However, Marine has not substantiated his claims through the legal procedures mandated by Nicaraguan labor law for dismissing workers and the Ministry of Labor did not authorize the recent dismissals. [Note: Labor law in Nicaragua and many other countries is much stronger than in the U.S. but falls short in enforcement.] 2) Chih Hsing Outcome in DoubtAfter two union organizing drives were stopped through mass illegal firings, on the third attempt the workers won. Their union now has legal recognition and is affiliated with the Sandanista Worker Central (CST). However, in more recent news, Pedro Ortega of the CST reports that Chih Hsing management has gone to the Labor Ministry seeking to have the union organized by CST excluded from collective bargaining. 3) Investigation Backs Chentex WorkersAn investigation by Nicaragua's national police confirms that workers at the Chentex clothing factory in Managua's free trade zone were victims of industrial poisoning in an incident which took place in mid-November. After the workers fell ill -- choking, fainting and gasping for breath -- the Ministry of Labor declared that the union workers had released tear gas and poisoned themselves. This absurd claim was thrown out by the national police, who investigated the factory and condemned its serious overcrowding and lack of ventilation. It was not until later in the week that the Labor Ministry revealed that the workers had been poisoned by the mistaken combination of two substances used in fumigating for rats and mice. The local Red Cross received an emergency call from the factory but, when ambulances arrived, factory managers did not want to take the padlocks off the factory gates. "We had to threaten to force open the gates," said a Red Cross representative. Factory management did not allow a delegation of National Assembly members entry into the factory on the same day as the poisoning incident. The deputies returned to the National Assembly to prepare a request for a special investigative committee to look into safety conditions in the free trade zone. The day before the incident, the deputies had approved a bill that applied to the free trade zone the rights achieved by Nicaraguans under International Labor Organization (ILO) conventions. These include rights already in the Nicaraguan Constitution, such as freedom to organize a union and bargain collectively, adding the right to overtime pay and the imposition of sanctions for use of underage workers. Chentex is one of four factories owned by the Nien Shing consortium of Taiwan. Workers at these factories in recent years have protested arbitrary firings, substandard working conditions, low wages and mistreatment -- as well as accidents and one death because of unsafe equipment. Chentex produces garments for JC Penney. 4) Labor Leader Denied U.S. VisaIn November, the U.S. Embassy in Nicaragua rejected the application for an entry visa by Pedro Ortega, General Secretary of the Federation of Garment and Textile Workers. Ortega had been invited to attend an international meeting on labor rights hosted by Harvard University. The Federation of Garment Workers has organized unions in six factories (including Chentex) in Nicaragua's free trade zone which produce apparel for the U.S. market. In response to international pressure on Ortega's behalf, the U.S. Consulate justified the refusal of a visa with a claim that Ortega had been involved in an "illegal act" (later described as "inciting to riot") in a labor action that involved the Chentex factory. However, the Consulate has failed to produce any documentation to support its slanderous charge.
Del Monte Linked to Violence against Workers[Information provided by the U.S./Labor Education in the Americas Project: (773) 262-6502, usleapja@mindspring.com] In mid-October, 200 armed men raided a union hall where union leaders and members were planning a legal walkout to protest mass firings on the Del Monte plantations in Guatemala. These members were forced at gunpoint to resign, call off the walkout and leave their homes or risk death. The company has hired non-union replacement workers who are receiving 20% lower wages and none of the benefits the union gained such as housing, education for their children and health. An international campaign has been launched to support the right of the workers to reach a fair resolution with the company. New reports link Fresh Del Monte Produce to the violent intimidation of its banana workers in Guatemala. According to sworn testimony, the chief of security and the engineer for Del Monte's Guatemalan subsidiary, Bandegua, were both part of a group of 200 armed men who forced the resignation of Del Monte union leaders at gunpoint in October. Sources say the security chief has been working on Del Monte's Guatemalan plantations since October despite complaints made to Del Monte. Union leaders also report that the alleged commander of the 200 armed thugs, Mr. Obdulio Mendoza Matta, is now helping run one of Del Monte's plantations previously worked by the ousted union. Fresh Del Monte Produce (fresh fruit) is a separate company from Del Monte Foods (canned vegetables). Action Request: Get Del Monte off the shelves for two weeks. Please ask any stores in your community that carry Del Monte bananas to stop stocking them for two weeks as an act of solidarity with the workers in Guatemala. Let us know if you contact local stores and what the response is. You can make your report by email clr@clrlabor.org or phone (202) 232-5002. Note: Whether or not local stores agree to keep Del Monte bananas off the shelves for two weeks, once the national headquarters of the chains hear that consumers are raising concerns about Del Monte, they are almost certain to contact Del Monte and complain that its bananas are creating public relations problems. Talking points: In October, following the illegal firing of 900 Del Monte banana workers in Guatemala, banana union leaders were violently forced at gunpoint to renounce their union and to flee for their lives. Although Del Monte denies that its representatives had anything to do with this serious human rights violation, sworn testimony now links two Del Monte employees to the group of 200 armed men who forced the resignation of the union leaders. Moreover, the alleged leader of these armed thugs is now helping run one of Del Monte's plantations previously worked by the ousted union. Del Monte has profited from this violence in its drive to bust the banana worker union in Guatemala. In order to pressure Del Monte to deal fairly with its workers, we are asking stores which carry Del Monte not to stock those bananas for two weeks and to let Del Monte headquarters know why they are taking this action. Stores can contact Del Monte via phone (305) 520-8400 or fax (305) 442-1059. This action has the support of the banana workers.
Oregon Farmworker News1) Simultaneous Farmworker Speaking ToursMidwest tour Feb. 28-March 10 Mid-Atlantic tour Feb. 28-March 10 To bring a farmworker from the Oregon farmworker union PCUN (Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste -- Northwest Treeplanters and Farmworkers United) to your community or campus, call Campaign for Labor Rights Midwest regional organizer Emily LaBarbera-Twarog at (202) 232-5002 or our mid-Atlantic regional organizer Melinda St. Louis at (202) 232-5002. 2) Boycott Gets Growers' AttentionBringing together students from several universities in the state, the Oregon farmworker union organized a protest outside the NORPAC growers' annual meeting, held December 7 on the campus of Oregon State University. To avoid a recurrence of earlier protests, the growers had gone to great lengths not to disclose the time, date or location of the meeting -- to no avail. Meanwhile, calls, faxes and email flooded NORPAC headquarters -- so many that NORPAC eventually altered its web site in order to prevent email from "unauthorized sources." The boycott called by PCUN continues to successfully pressure NORPAC growers to improve conditions. Mark Dickman, the newest chair of the board of NORPAC, acknowledged the impact of the NORPAC boycott in his address to the NORPAC annual meeting. An article in the grower weekly, the Capital Press, quotes Dickman: "[T]he do-gooders, including labor activists, environmentalists and those who believe bigger and more intrusive government is the ultimate solution to all our problems, continue their pressure on us." He later added, in reference to the boycott; "we've been smeared plenty by do-gooders." Dickman then called on fellow NORPAC growers; "to be on our own best behavior." NORPAC wants to avoid public relations fiascoes such as those which tarnished the grower group this past summer. But these problems won't go away until farmworkers are allowed to have the union of their own choosing. Until then, we must continue the public scrutiny of NORPAC operations and continue to expand the scope of the boycott. 3. Students Activists To Gather in Oregon PCUN has finalized plans for its Summer 2000 Campaign July 8-15. Up to 150 students from across the United States and Canada are expected to come together to play an active role in supporting Oregon farmworkers. Students will be in the fields and go to the camps. They will organize actions to support farmworkers. There will be seminars to discuss the history of the farmworker movement, non-violence and other topics. Contact PCUN at (503) 982-0243 or eriknicholson@pcun.org to request an application. Include your mailing address. Participation will be decided on a first-come, first-served basis. The $325 cost covers food, lodging and transportation during the campaign. Scholarships are available. PCUN has a packet with suggestions on how to raise money to cover the tuition.
Mexico: Factory Still Refuses To Rehire[Information provided by the FAT (Frente Autentico de Trabajadores -- Authentic Workers Front) and the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE): (412) 471-8919, ueintl@igc.org] Congeladora del Rio, the U.S.-owned fruit packing plant in Irapuato, Guanajuato, Mexico, is flouting an explicit agreement it made to rehire approximately 200 workers. These workers, almost all women, were fired last summer for their efforts to organize an independent union affiliated with the Frente Autentico del Trabajo (FAT). Arthur Price, president of the Greenville, South Carolina company Global Trading instructed the manager at his Mexican plant not to rehire the workers, despite an agreement, brokered by the state government of Guanajuato, to do so. Although there is less fruit available than usual due to unseasonably cold weather in the state of Guanajuato last October, the failure to rehire is not because of lack of work. As of December 14, between 70 and 80 workers were employed at the packing plant, working reduced shifts of 3-5 hours each. Among those now on the clock are new employees who have been brought in to process strawberries, in place of the women who were fired. One of the FAT's representatives was informed last week by the plant manager Jaime Murillo, that he had received orders from Arthur Price that no striker be reinstated, alleging as justification that the FAT had failed to honor its agreement to withdraw the strike encampment outside company gates. Price said he considers Congeladora's agreement to rehire the striking workers null and void. The truth, as even Price's Mexican attorney confirms, is that the union's withdrawal of the strike encampment was never a precondition for reinstatement of the dismissed workers. It is clear that, now as before, Price intends to try to crush the movement for an independent union at the plant. In a meeting with representatives of the workers and the FAT, Congeladora's management had made a clear oral agreement to begin rehiring the fired workers when the strawberry season started on November 15. When the workers presented themselves that morning, they were told to return the following Wednesday. When they returned, the company again refused to hire them. Congeladora's failure to respect the agreement is also a slap in the face of the Guanajuato state government, whose officials arranged and presided over the meeting and subsequent agreement. Since that meeting, Lic. Gustavo Rodriguez, the Guanajuato official handling the matter, has been unsuccessful in urging Congeladora's managers to respect the agreement. People who have written to Arthur Price in response to alerts posted on the Internet typically receive answers from him which include remarks such as: "Are you going to be an a**hole all of your life?" [** substituted by Campaign for Labor Rights] It's easy to imagine how Mr. Price treats his workers!
Report from Irapuato, Mexicoby Shaw San Liu [This report was written after the agreement was made but before the company refused to honor it. The names of the women have been changed, as they all have legal cases pending in which they are seeking reinstatement. The author is from the United States. She spent several months in Mexico working with the FAT.] It's 8:45 a.m. Monday morning, the 15th of November. Some 50 women surround the plant manager at the gates of CRISA [Congeladora del Rio], demanding an explanation. He says there's no fruit, and therefore no work for them. They aren't satisfied. "Senor Murillo, we want to know why you are hiring new workers instead of employing us," asks Josefina Reyes. "Senor Murillo, why are these new workers being put in our place?" asks another. He tries to deny the charges and one companera says pointedly, "It's because you need people for your union." [the company-controlled union] The companeras know why the company does not want to put them back to work. "Tell us the truth, Don Murillo. Now it's not so convenient for you to hire us, is it? Why, because we have opened our eyes? We're just fighting for our rights," says Juana Ramirez, who with 5 years in CRISA is one of the strike leaders. "You just want people who are servile and bowed down, and now that we have stood up, we are no longer useful to you." Women and children as young as 11 have worked for CRISA for the past 12 years. While they process fruit year-round, the majority are employed as despatadoras during the strawberry season, roughly November through June. This means that they use a metal thimble-like tool to remove the green top of the strawberry. They are paid per box of strawberries, most recently at 2.28 pesos per box. The most able workers finish up to 40 boxes in a normal workday, but the average is closer to 25, and less when one lacks experience. "It's not right that they treat us the way they do," says Maria Silva. "They should provide us what we need, and more than anything they should pay us per box the way they tell us they will, and respect the work schedule."
Conditions Leading to the Formation of a Union"The real season, when there are overwhelming amounts of strawberries, is roughly from February through June," explains Juana Ramirez. "Until 1997, we started work at 7 a.m. to leave at 10 or 11 at night. Since the past season, we have entered at 8 a.m. We would come in, each worker to her place, and it was work, work, work, until we left at 1:00 for the comida. Some workers went without breakfast so that they wouldn't have to go to the bathroom, and of course we would be waiting for the hour of the comida so that we could rush to the bathroom. Others did take bathroom breaks, but this past year we've seen various changes. They wouldn't let us go to the bathroom without asking permission and even followed workers to the bathroom to hurry them up." During this season, workers faced tremendous pressure to meet deadlines and orders. "When we were already tired, they would put more boxes in our workspace, heaped full of berries," says Guadalupe Garcia, one of the leaders of the strike and mother of 12 (six of whom have worked at CRISA, including 11 year-old Anita). "And if we didn't want to do it, management always said, "The door is very wide. If you don't want to work, just say so. There are plenty of people waiting at the gates to take your place." "We had about 25-30 minutes for a dinner recess at 6 p.m., and we would be exhausted, but they would rush us, "Come on, let's go, back to work!" Management was always very aggressive, but we are human beings," says Patricia Ocampo, mother of 4 who has worked in CRISA for 5 years. It is a schedule that many cannot bear, and the strikers of FAT are the most hardy, experienced and permanent of the workers in CRISA, with 5 to 12 years experience. Given this, they are also the most fed-up. "Never, never did they pay us for overtime," Juana Ramirez says. "All of us who have worked here season after season know what the situation is inside the plant. We know what the work entails, how they make us work. We have always complained, 'Oh, they let us out so late' 'Oh, they pay us so little per box.' 'Oh, they pay us so late.' 'Oh, they have us like slaves here.'" "Every day we kept count of the boxes we finished, and at the end of the week we were missing 20, 25 boxes, because daily they were taking boxes off," says Guadalupe. "With my records of how many boxes I finished each day, I asked the accountant to show us the calculation of my salary with pencil and paper, not in the computer," relates Patricia. "He would sit behind his computer and say, "No ma'am, it's that your account is fine, it's fine." And this happened with the majority of workers, that I'm missing boxes, that my pay didn't come out the way it should have, that they robbed me again. In the list it says normal time, 100-odd pesos. But what is normal time if we workers paid piece rate? It should say, number of boxes. This way they put whatever they want, despensa en efectiva, x pesos, credito al salario, x pesos, premio de puntualidad, x pesos, for the various categories of benefits, and when you add it all up, it's not true, it's a lie. You barely get the number of boxes you did that week, maybe." Isabela Lopez, one of the strike leaders who worked as a supervisor, says that the cheating didn't just happen with despatadoras. "Even those of us who were paid per hour, it's not true. If you paid attention you'd see that they are paying per day, not per hour," she explains, and confirms that the supervisors are not paid overtime either. "The work is close, so it's over there, over there, over there, even though they pay badly," says Patricia. "Over there, over there, even though we leave work so late at night, totally worn out and even in pain. When they refused to pay the profit-sharing [mandated by Mexican law], that was the spark that erupted the bomb." Guadalupe tells about the eruption. They went to demand their share of the profits from management, formed their union and filed for their collective-bargaining contract through legal means. Suddenly, a phantom company union appeared out of nowhere. The company said there was no more fruit and the season came to an abrupt end. The "temporary" workers were expected to go home. "When we came out of the office [dialogue with management about the profit-sharing], they were loading up the trailer that was going to take the strawberry to El Nino [another fruit-processing plant]. How can it be that there isn't any fruit?" she asks. "I told the other workers, 'What do you think? Are we going to let them take the fruit so that they don't give us work, just because we are demanding our profit-sharing?' Everyone said 'no.'"
We Want Change, and That's Why We're Fighting"Then they put new workers in our place, when we have been working here for years and are always the first to be called when the season starts. Now they prefer to bring new workers," she says. The company bought a new bus to transport workers in from a different municipality. "How is it that they don't have any money to pay profit-sharing but they bought a new bus?" the companeras ask. These new workers with little or no experience are being paid per hour because they would have little incentive to stay if paid per box. The companeras understand this as a tactic to populate the infant company union and a violation of their rights. "For one who has been working in the plant for years, how is it that she is going to throw it all out the window? We don't want to go back to work and continue with everything the same as before. We want change, and that's why we're fighting." In the daily afternoon meetings they see that there are from 8 to12 extra security guards stationed outside the plant, from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. "They were looking to hire more in the Lazaro (one of the local colonias)," Esmeralda Sanchez tells the other companeras in the meeting. "They said they were hiring 25. When the men asked, and what is this for? They told them that it's to beat up the women when they try to take over the plant. Those in the Lazaro weren't interested, clearly, in participating in this."
Workers Face Hardship in Their Fight for Labor RightsThe companeras share the latest that the company is telling its workers in an effort to divide them. That they won't hire the strikers. That they are good-for-nothing trouble-makers. That if CRISA doesn't pay profit-sharing this year, it is because of all the expenses generated by the rebel strikers. "They say that they don't want people who cause problems. What problems?" Marta Gonzalez wants to know. She has worked in CRISA since she was 13, now ten years. "That we are asking for what we have rights to? We aren't begging for alms here. We're demanding our rights." While the company recently agreed to rehire all the workers, without obligation to join the company union, "They're not trustworthy. They don't keep their word," concur the workers. Says Ana Maria Saenz, mother of four, "They are very tricky and when they give their word it is not a word of honor." Right now there is very little work, because of the time of year, because of intense cold weather that destroyed strawberry crops and because the company is unwilling to risk another take-over of the plant. Thus despite the agreement with the government, the FAT companeras continue without work and what little work exists is being done by mostly new workers. The panorama is difficult but they persevere. "I don't regret having taken this path. I'm very glad that we have a real union that will work for us, that will defend us," says Patricia Ocampo, 12 years working in Congeladora and mother of 4. "This union is the FAT, it is us ... it's as if we were birds finally let loose of the cage, and we burst out flying. We are not afraid of any of the plant managers. Before, we used to feel good if Sr. Murillo even cracked a smile at us ... but today, he is another person like us." "We continue in the struggle, fighting for what we have yet to win," says Inez Montoya, a widow at 56 years old. "They don't want to give us our jobs, which we need. More than anything, we want to leave something for the young girls [who have gone to work in the plant] who don't understand why we're fighting. We want to help those who don't know how to fight for their rights." "They are not going to ridicule us. We are all women and they think that we can't do anything when they cheat us," says Elena Salgado firmly. We are showing them that yes, we can go forward. Yes, we can, and yes, we want to; and they are not going to walk all over us simply for the fact that we are women."
Gap Anniversary Brings ArrestsJanuary 13 marked the one-year anniversary of the lawsuit charging Gap and 17 other retailers with human rights abuses in sweatshops located on the U.S. territory of Saipan. Although several companies -- including J. Crew, Nordstrom, Polo/Ralph Lauren and Donna Karan have agreed to settle -- while Gap has refused. Fourteen activists marked the anniversary be sitting in at Gap headquarters in San Francisco. For information on the on-going Gap campaign, contact Global Exchange at (415) 255-7296, leila@globalexchange.org. The hard-copy issue of the Campaign for Labor Rights newsletter includes photos from a Gap protest organized by the LEPOCO Peace Center in Bethlehem, PA. LEPOCO works on a variety of Peace and Social Justice Issues, including labor rights and anti-sweatshop campaigns. Here are excerpts of a report from staffperson Todd Garcia: "We began our actions by staging an action inside our local mall (Lehigh Valley Mall in Whitehall, PA); over 35 students and citizens (Muhlenberg College, Lehigh University and LEPOCO Peace Center members/staff) occupied the Gap store for over 1 1/2 hours. Each one of us wore a hand-designed shirt with messages such as 'Stop GAP Sweatshops' and 'Close the wage GAP.' We spoke to customers about the labor conditions and wages of factories on Saipan and in other locations. We roamed the isles making certain that employees and customers could read and hear our message loud and clear. "After the occupation concluded, some of us started to leaflet outside the GAP entrance. We were immediately asked to leave and threatened with trespass if we returned. As we were escorted out of the mall, we informed mall patrons as to why we were being thrown out. A number of us returned a week later. We repeated the above action and hung a Gap sweatshop poster (provided by Global Exchange) on the inside of the storefront window in a highly visible location. The poster remained for quite awhile before the store manager discovered it. We plan to continue a weekly/semi-weekly presence."
Forum on Seattle and the WTOFor the second time in a row, Campaign for Labor Rights is publishing a special double issue. The previous issue included a forum on the International Labor Organization (ILO). This issue includes a forum on the protests in Seattle against the World Trade Organization (WTO). See also the article beginning on page 1 of this newsletter: "World Bank and IMF Actions April 16, 17," which talks about how to build on the momentum from the events in Seattle.
From Seattle, Washington to Washington, DC
by Trim Bissell, national coordinator, Campaign for Labor RightsA Remarkable Achievement The recent WTO (World Trade Organization) protests in Seattle represent a coming of age for the United States. For years, there have been massive mobilizations in the rest of the industrialized world and in much of the global south around the structural issues of debt, trade, privatization and deregulation. In this country, not since the 1930s has there been a mass movement to question the economic structures and institutions which control our lives. For more than a week, the mainstream media were obliged to make globalization a front-page story ... and to present our movement's perspective. It was the elites who were on the defensive. With the Seattle protests, issues which until recently were the purview of "experts" have become mainstream concerns. This is a remarkable achievement. The greatest victory to come out of Seattle is that the American public now knows that there are legitimate reasons to be concerned about the WTO and that there are responsible alternatives to corporate globalization.
Divisions within the WTOThe Seattle protest was one of those rare occasions when the popular opposition was united and the elites were divided. (Let's try for many sequels of that precedent!) The WTO meeting was an abject failure, neither producing new agreements nor initiating a new round of negotiations. In no way does the WTO represent true democracy. It is an assembly of elites. Those elites have a common purpose of keeping power and wealth in the hands of a few. They also have competing interests. As Kevin Danaher of Global Exchange put it: "We succeeded in driving a wedge between the world's elites." Some of the divisions at the WTO were between the major industrialized countries, who differed over food export policies, to cite one of the most bitter points of contention. Much greater divisions erupted between representatives from the major industrial powers and representatives from the global south. Nominally, the WTO operates on consensus, but in reality the processes of the WTO favor the elites of the wealthiest nations. Representatives from the most powerful economies hammer out agreements in closed-door "Green Room" sessions and then present them to their global southern counterparts on a take-it-or-leave-it basis. The northern countries use their considerable leverage of debt and aid to coerce agreement from their southern counterparts. This is just one of the ways that the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund work hand-in-glove with the WTO. While democracy is in short supply throughout the globe -- whether it is corrupted by money or suppressed by guns -- it is important to understand the power of organized social movements. Elites, from both north and south, live in fear of the majority whose labor makes them rich. The fact that tens of thousands of people from a great variety of constituencies could come to Seattle united in purpose was terrifying to the WTO delegates. As much as the media sensationalized their coverage, there was no way that the mass of protesters could be written off as a bunch of kooks. And those activists who physically delayed and prevented some of the proceedings also clearly were informed, articulate, level-headed and committed to using non-violent civil disobedience. The marchers and those who participated in non-violent direct action are the true mainstream. The presence of the marchers and the actions of those who practiced non-violent resistance reminded all of the delegates that, after the meetings and the ornate receptions, they still have to go back to face their irate citizenries. Even without the protests, the Seattle talks might have broken down. Because of the protests, the whole agenda of those elites has been put on the defensive.
Face-to-FaceEven the largest national mobilizations run the risk of disempowering participants. Flooding the vast stretches of the Washington Mall with people does not necessarily make us feel that we have successfully reached the decision makers. In Seattle, we were literally face-to-face with those whose decisions ruin lives, destroy cultures and trash the planet. WTO delegates who dared venture from their hotel suites to try to attend the sessions had to breathe the same tear gas being sprayed at demonstrators. They had to try to crawl over the lines of protesters. And, in many cases, they had to look them in the eye. Those who chained themselves together to block intersections gained immeasurable credibility because of the marchers, especially those from organized labor. And everyone who marched on November 30 was exhilarated by the announcement that civil disobedience had prevented the opening session. It was a perfect symbiosis. The Bastille was not stormed on November 30. The plutocracy has not fallen. But it is important for all of us, from time to time, to see that we can stop the gears of the machine. Nor was that lesson lost on the power brokers. It is historically fitting that the WTO protests took place in the home of the 1919 Seattle General Strike.
The Violence of Wealth and the Violence of PovertyEvery new generation of U.S. activists has to see and learn for itself the reality of police repression against social movements. And for every new generation it is a shock. On any number of occasions, police easily could have arrested the handful of people responsible for most of the vandalism. Instead, police inaction gave those few a blank check, which they then proceeded to cash. As for police violence against those engaged in peaceful disobedience, many instances were excessive, as well as often being without any apparent objective of clearing access. Use of gas, clubs, boots, rubber bullets and other projectiles against peaceful demonstrators frequently seemed provocative in intent. With no obvious crowd control objectives, police sometimes used heavy-handed tactics in parts of the city which not only were outside the no-protest zone but also were not the scenes of protest. In many cases, such tactics were directed against shoppers, residents of the immediate neighborhood and people on their way to or from work. Some of these victims were elderly and in frail health. Mike Dolan, the most visible coordinator of the WTO protests, repeatedly announced that the intention was to produce gridlock in the streets of Seattle and thereby to obstruct the WTO sessions. Dolan also explicitly informed the Seattle police that there would be some people coming to Seattle whose actions the protest organizers would not be able to control. Seattle police had a multi-million dollar budget for equipment and training. They had months for preparation. Although, as an article of faith one should never doubt stupidity in high places, it strains belief that Seattle officialdom was taken by surprise. It is hard not to suspect that high-level decisions were made to use police inappropriately for the purpose of discrediting the protests. Well before any vandalism took place, for a solid week, the upcoming WTO protests were the lead story in the U.S. media. Our message clearly was getting across to the people of the United States. The credibility was all on our side. We had won the so-called Battle of Seattle before the opposing forces had even met each other on contested terrain. Then, overnight, the media focus switched from the tens of thousands of protestors not engaged in vandalism to the few tens who were. Police attacks on bystanders and uninvolved neighborhoods had every appearance of being for the purpose of inciting local resentment against the protests. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have found evidence of police use of excessive and inappropriate force sufficiently credible as to call for the mayor and the governor to appoint a panel to investigate the police response to the protests. Finally, we must never forget the violence perpetrated on a daily basis in the name of free trade. To give but a few examples:
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