FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, THURSDAY MARCH 11, 2010
CONTACT:  Rod Palmquist (206) 412-2014, email hidden; JavaScript is required

Wal-Mart, Macy’s, H&M Silent as Indian Suppliers Steal Millions from Workers Who Sew Their Apparel

Leading Anti-Sweatshop Group Calls on Retailers to Enforce Their “Social Responsibility” Codes to End Wage Theft in Indian Factories

Cites New Report Documenting Non-Payment of the Minimum Wage to 125,000 Workers Sewing Clothes for Hypocritical Retailers

Major US retailers were called out today for looking the other way while their suppliers in India steal a million dollars a month from some of the most poorly paid workers in the world.

The national federation of university-based labor rights organizations, United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS), cited a just-released study exposing the emptiness of the apparel industry’s “corporate social responsibility” pledges.   According to the report by the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC), a non-profit, university-based labor rights monitoring organization with 186 college and university affiliates, factories in Bangalore that make clothes for Wal-Mart, Macy’s, Gap, H&M and other industry leaders have refused to pay the legal minimum wage to roughly 125,000 workers since the minimum was increased one year ago. The report says the actions of the factories have cost the affected workers more than a month’s pay to date and have cost the city’s apparel workforce as a whole more than $10 million. The WRC reports that brands and retailers are fully aware of their suppliers’ actions.

USAS called on all of the implicated brands and retailers to ensure that the workers are immediately paid the money they are owed and circulated excerpts from the labor rights codes of the implicated brands and retailers – all demonstrating an unequivocal pledge to ensure supplier compliance with minimum wage laws.

“From Nike to Gap to Walmart, these companies endlessly tout their supposed commitment to ‘social responsibility’ and ‘sustainability.’  As this latest outrage amply demonstrates, the only thing these companies are ‘sustaining’ is sweatshop conditions” said USAS International Campaigns Coordinator Rod Palmquist.

“These companies have known for a year that their suppliers are violating the law and the companies’ own self-proclaimed labor codes. They’ve looked the other way while their business partners rob workers blind. Worse: the brands and retailers benefit from this thievery, in the form of lower labor costs and lower prices from the suppliers. It’s what they call in the business world a ‘win-win.’ You couldn’t ask for a clearer demonstration that the industry’s vaunted ‘social responsibility’ programs are a global public relations scam.” he added.

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The news comes as both Wal-Mart and Nike tout their “social responsibility” codes in an attempt to win over consumers concerned about these corporations’ terrible track record on worker rights.  Once again, the corporations have proven that they cannot be trusted ensure basic human rights in their supply chain.  Only workers’ unions, like the Bangalore-based Garment Apparel and Textile Workers Union (GATWU), and independent monitoring organizations, like the WRC, can keep companies accountable.

Over a year ago, the state Karnataka raised the legal minimum wage for garment workers, but workers never got the raise in factories across Bangalore — a major center of export production in India —  that supply Wal-Mart, Nike and other companies.  If these same multinational corporations insist they routinely monitor their suppliers’ labor rights standards, how could such a blatant violation of local minimum wage laws go unnoticed?  We have to conclude that Wal-Mart, Nike and others have no serious commitment to enforcing even the most basic rights of workers in their supply chains.

For Nike, these new violations are particularly embarassing.  USAS members around the country are already calling on Nike to “Just Pay It” — pay the more than $2.5 million legally owed to Honduran workers who made their apparel.

Ready to get involved in fighting together with garment workers to end sweatshops?  Contact Rod at email hidden; JavaScript is required

Read more: Press Release

Photo:  Wal-Mart protest during USAS Summer Conference 2007 in Detroit, Michigan (Credit: Isaac Steiner)

Across the country, USAS organizers are fighting alongside campus workers to stop budget cuts that hurt us the most, while on average university presidents got a raise last year and bank executives took home bonuses from their taxpayer bailout.   For 12 years, USAS has organized to build the power of the workers who make our campuses run, of the garment workers who sew our schools’ clothes, and of students ourselves.

In this spirit, we endorse the March 4 National Day of Action to Defend Education.   We will be taking action on our campuses and in our communities across the country on March 4, and we encourage all students and workers to do the same.

On the heels of USAS’ victory with the SITRAJERZEESH union in Honduras, who were told it was impossible to re-open their union factory during an economic crisis, we know we can win if we fight together!

Looking beyond March 4, local USAS groups are engaged in strategic campaigns to pressure college administrators and lawmakers to stop the cuts on students’ and workers’ backs.  USAS organizers have launched the national “Hands Off Higher Ed!” campaign in order to pool together the experience we have from years of local campaigning for economic justice at our schools.   We invite all student organizers to join with us to share resources and sharpen our strategies to win on the local level, as we continue fighting together with the countless national, regional and local organizations working to build a broad movement to defend higher education!

Contact email hidden; JavaScript is required to get involved and start a campaign on your campus.

Students join HEI hotel workers to picket in Arlington, Virginia, on July 30, 2009. (Photo by Mary Grant)

On Saturday, February 20, student members of the Campus Labor Action Project (CLAP) at the University of Notre Dame peacefully gathered to protest university endowment investment in HEI Hotels and Resorts, a company that has been accused of violating workers’ rights. Students planned to distribute leaflets to call attention to layoffs, heavy workloads and alleged anti-union intimidation against HEI workers to raise awareness that Notre Dame should not invest in companies that do not respect workers’ rights and dignity as defined by Catholic social teaching.

However, due to Notre Dame’s strict rules preventing freedom of speech Notre Dame police stopped the students and took down their names. They then confiscated their leaflets and did not allow them to continue their protest! Apparently, in order to pass out information of any kind, even factual information, students must get the flyers or leaflets approved through the Student Activities Organization, as well as have approved the date and location of the distribution.  This is gross violation of a students’ right to free speech.

In order to demonstrate to the university that student voices will not be silenced, United Students Against Sweatshops is asking all its supporters to express your feelings by emailing or calling Notre Dame’s President, John Jenkins.

CALL-IN TO NOTRE DAME PRESIDENT JOHN JENKINS:

Number to call: (574) 631-3903

Sample message:

“President Jenkins, I am deeply troubled with Notre Dame’s lack of concern for social justice in its investment policies, specifically with its relationship with HEI Hotels and Resorts. We demand that you listen to the voices of Notre Dame students and HEI hotel workers who are calling on the university to live up to its Catholic values!”

To learn more about the campaign by HEI hotel workers, see: HEI Workers Rising

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2010

Tabling open 8 am- 8 pm, All activities at UTK

7:30 am Registration begins
8-9 am Breakfast
9-9:30 am Welcome and Introduction
9:30-10:30 am Icebreaker (split into regions)
10:30-11:30 am Collective Liberation: Celebrating Our Victories
11:30 am -12:00 pm History of United Campus Workers and the Progressive Student Alliance at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville
12-3 pm Action with United Campus Workers featuring Larry Cohen, President of the Communication Workers of America (others TBA), then Lunch!
3-3:30 pm Intro to USAS Campaigns: Building and Supporting Strong Campus and Garment Worker Unions
3:30-6:30 pm Campaign strategy sessions (breakout into two different groups)

• Garment worker solidarity
  • Strategic organizing and campaigning
  • Current apparel campaigns- New Era, Nike, Designated Suppliers, etc
  • National messaging
• Campus worker solidarity
  • Strategic organizing and campaigning
  • Budget cuts struggles and national strategy based on local realities
  • National messaging

6:30 pm Dinner and optional people of color caucus

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2010

Tabling open 8 am- 8 pm, All activities at UTK unless noted otherwise

8-9:30 am Breakfast and optional women and trans/genderqueer caucuses
9:30-10 am How to plug into garment and campus worker solidarity campaigns
10-10:15 am Break
10:15-11:30 am Workshops Block 1 (More detailed descriptions of workshops will be up by February 12)

• Media & Dealing with the Press 101
• Solidarity with Haitian Labor Movement
• Public speaking 101
• How to start a group
• Coalition building as a Base-Building Strategy

11:30-11:45 am Break
11:45-1:00 pm Workshops Block 2

• Facilitation: How to Run Meetings and Events
• History of student leadership of anti-sweatshop movement
• Group Building and Structure: Different decision-making methods (consensus, etc)
• Base-Building Tactics
• Union Organizing and Labor Law 101
• Student Organizing in the Context of the Economic Crisis

1:00-2:30 pm Lunch and optional queer caucus
2:30-4:15 pm Southeast Worker Organizing Panel (Participants TBA)
4:15-5:15 pm Workshops Block 3

• Direct Action: Philosophy and Tactics (Part 1 of 2)
• Creative Tactics
• Collective Liberation and Leadership, USAS-Style
• Researching and creating an alternative budget
• History of Labor and Anti-Globalization Movements

5:15-5:30 pm Break
5:30-6:30 pm Workshops Block 4

• Direct Action: Philosophy and Tactics (Part 2 of 2)
• Technology/Social Networking/ New Media
• Dealing with Administrators and Campus Bureaucracy
• Cultural organizing and direct action crafts
• USAS Alumni breakout and strategy session

6:30 pm-8 pm Dinner and optional working class caucus

Separate event site TBA:
8:00-10:00 pm Celebrating Struggles and Victories: Keynote Speakers, Awards, and Celebration
Featuring: SITRAJERZEESH, United Campus Workers, Tim Waters (United Steelworkers Rapid Response Director), local musicians and performers TBA!

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2010

Tabling open 9 am to 1:30 pm, All activities at UTK unless noted otherwise

9-10:30 am Breakfast and optional differently abled caucus
10:30-11 am USAS Internal Campaigns: Individual Membership and Affiliation!
11:30-1:30 pm How to Plug into National USAS Organizing and Leadership Structure

• Growth and Sustainability
• Communications and Media
• Collective Liberation
• Political Education

1:30-2 pm Wrap-up: What are our responsibilities as organizers and leaders in the movement?
2 pm Closing, Goodbyes, and Lunch!

• The city you’re coming from
• If you need a ride, how many people are traveling with you?
• If you’re offering a ride, how many people can you take?
• Your name, e-mail and phone number

To keep things organized, please “Reply” to people coming from the same city as you, rather than starting a new thread.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/06/us/06cncpulse-003.html

http://www.miscellanynews.com/2.1578/working-group-variations-appear-across-campuses-1.2117640#5

Since the beginning of the school year, SOUL has been working to reverse the hour cuts of campus residence hall service and maintenance staff. The University cut these workers’ hours from 40 to 35 per week, claiming that budgetary concerns arising from the “financial crisis” left them no choice. Yet earlier this fall, the University’s president, Robert Zimmer, sent an email to members of the University community announcing that the crisis is over and a faculty expansion program will begin.

Still the crisis hasn’t ended for service and maintenance workers, whose hour cuts amount to an 8% cut in pay at a time when the cost of living in Chicago already creates serious financial challenges. SOUL demands that the University stop balancing its budget at the expense of the members of its community who are least able to deal with a greater strain.

A meeting with Kim Goff-Crews, vice-president/dean of students, and Nim Chinniah, chief financial officer, revealed that top administrators suffered no decreases in pay…

Throughout Autumn Quarter, SOUL has been attempting to educate University of Chicago community members about the issue as its places pressure upon the administration. Actions have included various student-worker rallies, the delivery of a letter to President Zimmer, a teach-in led by workers and a union representative, a call-in to President Zimmer’s office, and a meeting of students and workers. The events for this quarter concluded with the caroling rally described in the articles.

From the number of workers who were present at the caroling event, it is clear that the cuts are still very much hurting residence hall staff.

SOUL plans to continue its campaign with full force during Winter Quarter, joining the issue with efforts surrounding the contract renegotiation of campus union Teamsters Local 743.

As the situation at the University of Chicago is just one example of the abusive budget cuts occurring at colleges and universities across the nation, the campaign for the restoration of the 40-hour workweek at the University of Chicago has significance that goes beyond even its local impact. Please show your support by continuing to stay updated and spreading the word! Visit SOUL’s website at soul.uchicago.edu for more information.

On December 14, the Student Labor Action Coalition, a USAS affiliate at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, turned the tables on Chancellor Biddy Martin and delivered a giant report card grading her performance on sweatshop issues. The report card came after Chancellor Martin failed to turn in her take-home final exam in Labor Solidarity 101 on time. Undeterred, we decided to assign a grade based on her previous work, and to weight the final very lightly.

The exam and report card came after months of discussion about how to respond to Nike’s failure to pay over $2.1 million in severance pay to workers at two shuttered factories in Honduras, Vision Tex and Hugger de Honduras. An advisory committee to the Chancellor agreed that Nike is in violation of the UW’s code of conduct for apparel licensees, and subsequently recommended termination of Nike’s contract.

Despite this, the Chancellor decided instead to give Nike four months in which to make “satisfactory, demonstrable progress toward resolution” — a weak stance at best and a cop-out at worst. Giving Nike another four months after it’s already been 11 months since the factories closed is outrageous, especially since we haven’t seen any evidence whatsoever that Nike intends to pay its workers. Let’s be clear: Nike could have paid that money months ago — it simply doesn’t want to.

Eleven months is already far too long, and we will not allow this to stretch on for another eleven months. That’s why we call on universities to sever their contracts with Nike now, and that’s why we gave Chancellor Martin an “Incomplete” in the “results” category, and an “F” for the speed of her actions. Perhaps a few remedial courses in solidarity would help her do the right thing and bring up her grades next semester? We sure hope so!

• The factory will be reopened in Choloma and be renamed Jerzees Nuevo Dia (New Day).
• Russell will immediately recognize the union of Jerzees de Honduras workers, SITRAJERZEESH, and has committed to collectively bargaining in good faith.
• Russell will rehire all 1200 former Jerzees de Honduras workers, either at Jerzees Nuevo Dia or other Russell facilities.
• The company has also agreed to a policy of non-interference and union neutrality in all Russell and Fruit of the Loom facilities in Honduras and will work with the Honduran union federation the Centro General de Trabajadores to provide access to organizers and educate employees on their right to freedom of association.

You can read the announcement by the union and the company here.

UNITED STUDENTS AGAINST SWEATSHOPS
For Immediate Release: Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Contact: Rod Palmquist, 206-412-2014

Campus Labor Rights Watchdog Wins Breakthrough Victory
as Russell Athletic, Under Pressure from Universities, Recognizes Apparel Workers’ Union, Opens New Factory

Nearly 100 Major Universities & Colleges Severed Ties with U.S-Based Athletic Clothing Supplier Until Agreement Was Reached Putting All Employees Back to Work

Unprecedented Agreement Opens Door to Unionization of Apparel Workers in All Fruit of the Loom Factories in Honduras

A sustained national student campaign led by United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS), that enlisted university pressure on apparel supplier Russell Athletic to reopen a plant it owned in Honduras that it had closed in order to avoid recognizing a union of its employees, has ended in an unprecedented victory for labor rights.

Spurred on by student activists on campuses all over the U.S., Canada and the U.K., ninety-six American universities, including the entire University of California system, most of the Big Ten and Ivy League schools, Duke, North Carolina, Miami, Georgetown, suspended or severed ties with Russell Athletic, a major supplier of college logo t-shirts and sweatshirts.

The students and their universities based their stance on the conclusion of an in-depth, on-site investigation of the plant closing by the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC), the investigative labor rights watchdog with which 175 American universities and colleges are affiliated and which USAS helped found earlier this decade. The WRC concluded that Russell’s decision to close the plant was clearly intended as a measure to avoid allowing its workers to organize a union, a clear violation of the WRC’s and the universities’ codes of conduct for suppliers.

Russell Athletic, owned by Fruit of the Loom, a Berkshire-Hathaway portfolio company, closed its Jerzees de Honduras factory, January 30, 2009 after months of battling with a union that had organized its workers. Unlike other major apparel brands, Russell/Fruit of the Loom owns all eight of its factories in Honduras rather than subcontracting to outside manufacturers. The company is the largest private employer in Honduras.

Last Saturday, after nearly two years of student campaigning in coordination with the apparel workers, the Honduran workers’ union concluded an agreement with Russell that puts all of the workers back to work, provides compensation for lost wages, recognizes the union and agrees to collective bargaining, provides access for the union to all other Russell apparel plants in Honduras for union organizing drives in which the company will remain neutral.

“This is the first time we know of where a factory that was shut down to eliminate a union was later re-opened after a worker-activist campaign. This is also the first company-wide neutrality agreement in the history of the Central America apparel export industry – and it has been entered into by the largest private employer in Honduras, the largest exporter of t-shirts to the US market in the world. This is a breakthrough of enormous significance for the right to organize – and worker rights in general – in one of the harshest labor rights environments in the world,” said Rod Palmquist, USAS International Campaign Coordinator and University of Washington alumnus.

“Thanks to the rules we struggled to put in place at our universities, our Russell victory shows when workers fight for their rights and students take action on campus, we can achieve incredible results.” – Ella Torti, University of Montana, Senior (class of 2010), biology major

“We knew if we could convince enough universities to cut their contracts with Russell, the company would finally be forced to meet the union’s demands and reopen the factory. The 12-year history of sometimes quite militant student action around the country positioned us to successfully press our universities to use their purchasing leverage with Russell.” – Gautam Kumaraswamy, Purdue University, Junior (class of 2011), industrial engineering major

“Our historic victory has sparked more and more students to join USAS, and our newest members will strengthen the organization to move forward to make an even broader impact on the global garment industry.” – Mary Yanik, University of Maryland, Junior, chemistry major.

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