American
Eagle Outfitters: AKA “American Vulture”
daily
disrespect – no raises – no voice on the job
American
Eagle Outfitters says it cares about workers; its Code of Conduct
requires contractors to respect the right of employees to form a
union. Yet, according to workers in Canada, workers at the warehouse
contracted to ship AEO clothing across Canada faced harassment and
intimidation when they tried to improve conditions by forming a
union.
A
majority of workers at National Logistics Services (NLS) applied to
join a union in April 2007. American Eagle is NLS’ largest client
and up until early 2006, owned and operated the NLS distribution
center. Workers wanted a union because they faced daily
disrespect from
management; could not move into permanent employment positions; didn’t
get pay raises in three years; and had no voice on the job.
So
far, American Eagle hasn't lifted a finger to enforce its Code of
Conduct. Only after students at dozens of schools joined the boycott
and American Eagle started feeling the heat from investors did the
company agree to meet with UNITE HERE. Negotiations are ongoing, but
pressure is still needed in order to achieve a settlement and ensure
workers’ rights are protected.
Act
NOW!
Visit www.AmericanVulture.org to learn more about the campaign and get involved.
Cintas'
Dirty Laundry
death in 300 degree dryer
According
to the Uniform Justice campaign, Cintas is the most profitable
uniform and laundry company in North America – posting profits of
$330 million in 2007 alone. For Cintas workers, however, it’s a
whole other story.
Few
people know about the poverty
wages, backbreaking
work,
and hazardous
conditions that Cintas employees endure in laundries across the United States.
Since 2003, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration
(OSHA) found nearly 250 violations of health and safety
standards at Cintas. OSHA assessed more than $3.1
million in initial penalties since August for deadly
conditions at six separate facilities, including one that led to a
worker's death in a 300 degree dryer. Just weeks before this tragedy,
a worker in another facility's arm was shattered.
Act
NOW!
Currently
workers and their allies are taking action on behalf of a fired
health and safety
activist at action.unitehere.org.
Go to www.UniformJustice.org or www.CintasExposed.org for news, updates, and action alerts.
Dickies, Guess, and Tommy Hilfiger: No Justice, No Jeans
illegal firings – harassment of union supporters
At
the Vaqueros Navarra jean factory in Tehuacan, Mexico, over 100
workers have been illegally
fired and many more have been harassed
and pressured to resign for supporting an independent union, according to the
Maquila Solidarity Network and an independent
investigation carried out by Verité.
Vaqueros
Navarra is owned by the Navarra Group, which owns several garment and
laundry facilities in the Tehuacan area and is one of the largest
employers in the region. Some brands that buy from the Navarra
Group, including American Eagle Outfitters, Gap and Warnaco, have
responded to the workers’ call for action. But three brands with
the most production in those factories – Dickies, Guess, and Tommy
Hilfiger – have failed to act. It's time for them to step up to
the plate and stop the illegal firings of Mexican jean workers.
Act
NOW!
Send
a letter to the three, hold-out brands today urging them to reinstate
all unjustly dismissed workers and to ensure a free and fair union
representation vote. Visit www.LabourStart.org for a sample letter.
Disney: Should Workers Wish Upon A Star for Basic Rights?
exposure to deadly toxins – poverty wages – 15 hour shifts
This
year marks Disney’s “Year of a Million Dreams” celebration.
But for workers in China who make children’s books and toys for the
entertainment giant, it’s been a year of a zillion labor law
violations.
In
detailed reports, Hong Kong-based NGO Students
and Scholars against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) has documented
widespread violations of China’s labor laws as well as Disney’s
Code of Conduct at Disney’s supplier factories in China. According
to SACOM, the roughly 800 workers who produce Mickey Mouse, Minnie
Mouse, Donald Duck, and Winnie the Pooh plastic toys for Disney at
the Haowei Toys factory in Shenzhen have been: forced
to work up to 15-hour shifts; paid
poverty wages,
far below the legal minimum wage; and exposed
to deadly toxins.
So
far, Disney has refused to address these serious allegations of
worker abuse and exploitation.
Act
NOW!
For
more information about Disney and to sign an on-line petition, please
visit www.PetitionOnline.com.
Hanes
and Wal-Mart: Look Who They’ve Got Sweating Profits for Hanes Now
verbal abuse – forced, unpaid overtime – no rights
Kevin
Bacon, Jennifer Love Hewitt, and Michael Jordan are just some of the
celebrities who love to sport Hanes’ ComfortSoft products on TV.
But how comfortable do you think these celebrity endorsers would be
if they knew about serious and persistent worker rights violations at
one of Hanes’ factories?
TOS
Dominicana, a textile plant in the Dominican Republic owned and
operated by Hanesbrands Inc., employs about 1,100 workers who
manufacture fabrics primarily for t-shirts. Wal-Mart is the largest
client of TOS Dominicana. A report released by the Worker Rights
Consortium (WRC) provides alarming evidence of violations of both
domestic law and university codes of conduct at TOS Dominicana.
These violations include: forced
and unpaid overtime; verbal
harassment and abuse of workers; unlawful
coercion of workers to sign new employment contracts and relinquish their
rights; and the use of illegal
tactics to thwart workers’ freedom to exercise their associational rights. Although Hanesbrands has
been notified of these findings, Hanesbrands refuses to even
acknowledge that these violations occurred.
Act
NOW!
For
more information about TOS Dominicana and to deliver a letter to the
Wal-Mart nearest you, go to www.laborrights.org.
New
Era Cap: 19th Century Working Conditions
racial
discrimination – illegal firings – poverty wages
In
response to low
wages, unsafe
working conditions,
and racial
discrimination,
workers at the New Era plant in Mobile, Alabama attempted to organize
a union, according to United Students Against Sweatshops. New
Era Cap operates two garment shops plus a distribution center in
Alabama. Management
responded with an intense anti-union campaign that culminated in the
firing of more than 20 workers. As if this weren't enough, New Era
announced that they plan to permanently lay off 20 more workers right
before the holiday season.
Act
NOW!
Tell
New Era Cap to stop laying off workers! Take action by visiting: www.unionvoice.org.
Speedo,
Toys “R” Us, and Carrefour: What’s underneath your swimwear?
dangerous
working conditions – exhaustion – 100 hour work week
Speedo
may be the
top-selling and best-known swimwear brand in the world, and an
official sponsor of the upcoming 2008 Olympic Games in China. But
workers in China producing Speedo sporting goods are drowning in
abuse. Toys ‘R’ Us and Carrefour are also implicated in this
sweatshop scandal.
According
to the National Labor Committee, Guangzhou Vanguard Water Sport
Products Company Ltd in Guangzhou, China produces swim gear and
sporting goods for its major clients Speedo, Toys ‘R’ Us, and the
giant French retailer Carrefour. Workers’ routine shift is 14
½ hours a day,
from 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., seven
days a week.
Workers report going for months at a time without
a single day off.
One worker, forced to toil a 23-hour shift at a compression molding
machine, shed tears as he described how exhausted he was, and
terrified that his hands would be crushed by the relentless motion of
the machine if he slowed down for even a second. Production line
workers are allowed just one-and-a-half minutes to assemble each
Speedo “Condor” swim mask for which they are paid less than two
cents. On average, the workers are earning just
49 cents an hour—including
all the grueling overtime hours—while the legal minimum wage is 60
cents an hour.
Act
Now!
For
more information and specific contact information for each brand,
visit www.nlcnet.org.
