Guatemalan Maquila Workers Need Our Support. Please Act Today!

Maquila Solidarity Network (MSN) / Ethical Trading Action Group (ETAG), 23 July 2001

Workers at two maquila factories in Guatemala producing apparel for Liz Claiborne have met with violent resistance to their efforts to organize a union.

Please write to Liz Claiborne and the Guatemalan Ambassador to Canada today, urging them to take appropriate action to ensure that the workers' right to freedom of association is protected.

Below you will find details about the organizing campaign and the harassment and violence workers are facing. This is a crucial struggle, which is testing the Guatemalan government's and Liz Claiborne's commitment to the rights of workers to organize and bargain collectively.

Despite the violence and intimidation, national and international solidarity has already achieved some small victories. The Guatemalan government has granted legal recognition to the union at one of the factories, and workers who were pressured to sign resignation letters will apparently be reinstated.

The workers have been working with FESTRAS, the well-respected union federation that arose from one of the most famous international labour solidarity struggles, that of the Coca-Cola workers twenty years ago who fought back against repression that included the murder of four general secretaries. The organizing in these two factories has been supported through a project of the International Textile, Garment, and Leather Workers Federation as well as the local office of the AFL-CIO. This alert is based on information from the US Labor Education in the Americas Project, US/LEAP.

We've included sample letters as well as fax and e-mail details for Liz Claiborne and the Ambassador. Please visit the MSN website for additional updates: www.maquilasolidarity.org.

Thanks for your support.

BACKGROUND

Worker Organizing Drive Threatened

After a year-long clandestine organizing drive, the two unions at the Choishin and Cimatextiles factories in Guatemala, owned by a Korean-based company called Choi & Shin's, went public on July 9, 2001. Both factories produce for Liz Claiborne and are located in Villa Nueva, just outside Guatemala City, Guatemala.

The larger of the two plants, Choishin, is being monitored by COVERCO, a trusted local independent monitoring group, as part of a pilot project in cooperation with Liz Claiborne. In June, Liz Claiborne won the MSN

Sweaties Transparency Award for its work with COVERCO. In our follow-up letter to Liz Claiborne, MSN pledged that we would be watching to see if the company's commitment to greater transparency results in greater respect for workers' rights. Liz Claiborne is also represented on the board of the Fair Labor Association, a US code of conduct monitoring initiative involving major US brand-name apparel companies.

When the workers first announced their intention to organize a union, there was little response from the factory management. But the situation soon deteriorated. Union supporters reportedly began to face death threats, threats to close the factory, blackmail, the calling of meetings during work hours to denounce the union, and the stoning of the workers' meeting place while meetings were taking place.

The situation escalated on Wednesday, July 18, when union supporters were attacked by a mob of non-union workers. The mob attacks seemed to be orchestrated by the factory management, which motivated the non-union workers with threats that the factory would close and that the workers would be blacklisted and never get work again.

Witnesses report that at 10:30 a.m. that morning, all the line and area supervisors of Choishin and Cimatextiles met in the offices of Cimatextiles (an uncommon occurance). After the meeting, these supervisors spoke to a few people on their production lines. One union leader overheard her supervisor say, Today we'll see who wins. It's either them or us. Shortly before the noon lunch break, news circulated that there would be a meeting on the field during the lunch hour.

About mid-way through lunch hour, a group of non-union workers headed toward where the union leaders were eating together, led by a top supervisor of Choishin and composed mostly of workers from Choishin. The mob surrounded the group of union leaders and threatened them verbally, saying they were going to kick them out, lynch them, kill them, and started throwing food, bottles and rocks. The Korean management and the personnel managers were on the field watching the event and reportedly told union leaders who asked them to intervene that they could not do anything.

Two and a half hours to three hours later, MINUGUA, the United Nations body to oversee the peace process in Guatemala, arrived. Also arriving that afternoon were inspectors from the Labour Ministry, union organizers from FESTRAS, two policemen, COVERCO monitors, local press, and representatives from US non-governmental organizations who have been supporting the organizing efforts. By 4:30 p.m., the union leaders were rescued from the plant and 21 of them went to the Public Ministry in Guatemala City to report the incident.

At the end of the day, it was discovered that ten union leaders had been forced to sign resignation letters and seven had already received their severance payments. Union leaders reported getting hit in the head with bottles and rocks. A few members were beaten.

Danger Still Present, Case Provides Key Test

The initial attack on the July 18 was followed by a second similar incident the following day, during which even COVERCO monitors were reportedly roughed up. As of July 21, the situation in the factory has not improved and mob intimidation of union leaders and members continues.

The unionists who were attacked have taken the appropriate action and given testimonies to both the Labour Minister of Guatemala and COVERCO monitors, so both the Guatemalan government and Liz Claiborne have been informed of the violence and blatant violations of Guatemalan labor law, the International Labour Organization's conventions, and the Liz Claiborne code of conduct. The question now is, will they act to ensure that these workers have a safe environment in which to work and a workplace that respects the right to organize?

Union Recognized

The Guatemalan government has taken some action by giving legal recognition to the union in the Cimatextiles factory and has stated that the factory management will receive notification of the suspension of its export license with a message that the company needs to take steps to ensure a safe environment for all of its workers. The Guatemalan government also noted that legal recognition for the union in the Choishin factory is expected to be granted today—Monday, July 23. Under pressure, the factory management agreed to reinstate the workers who were forced to resign while under mob attack on July 20.

While Liz Claiborne has expressed concern to Choi & Shin's, it has so far been unable or unwilling to exercise its influence effectively enough to stop the violent intimidation and the abrogation of the workers' right to organize.

This case is a key test for the Guatemalan government's enforcement of the rule of law. For Liz Claiborne, this case is a test of their pilot project on independent monitoring and what conditions are needed for worker rights to be respected in the factories that produce their clothing.

SUGGESTED ACTIONS

1) Write the Guatemalan Ambassador to Canada. His Excellency Mr. Carlos Jimenez, Embassy of Guatemala, 130 Albert St, Suite 1010, Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5G4. Fax: 613-233-0135. E-mail: embguate@webruler.com

Sample Letter (Please write your own and send a copy to MSN, fax: 416-532-7688.)

Dear Ambassador Jimenez:

We are writing to express our concern regarding disturbing reports of mob violence against workers attempting to organize a union at two garment maquiladora factories owned by the Korean company Choi & Shin. On July 18, union supporters at the Choishin factory in Guatemala City were reportedly attacked by mobs inside the factory, apparently at the instigation of factory management. There are also reports of death threats, illegal firings, threats that the factory will close, all of which appear to be an orchestrated attempt to destroy the union and deny workers their right to freedom of association.

We would strongly urge that the Guatemalan government take immediate action to ensure that these workers' safety is guaranteed, and that there is no further violence, intimidation or discrimination against union supporters at the two factories. We would further urge that the Government of Guatemala arrest and prosecute the perpetrators of these violent crimes against the union supporters.

Thank you for your prompt response on this important matter.

Yours truly,

2. Write the CEO of Liz Claiborne, Inc. Paul R. Charron, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Liz Claiborne, Inc., 1441 Broadway, New York, NY 10018. Tel: (212)-354-4900; Fax: (212)-626-3416. You can e-mail Liz Claiborne about this situation through their webpage by going to: http://www.lizclaiborne.com/lizinc/lizworks/workers/contact.asp.

Sample Letter (Please write your own and send a copy to MSN, fax: 416-532-7688.) Paul R. Charron Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Liz Claiborne, Inc.

Dear Mr. Charron:

We are writing to express our concern regarding disturbing reports of mob violence against workers attempting to organize a union at two garment maquiladora factories owned by the Korean company Choi & Shin, which produces apparel for your company. On July 18, union supporters at the Choishin factory in Guatemala City were reportedly attacked by mobs inside the factory, apparently at the instigation of factory management. There are also reports of death threats, illegal firings, threats that the factory will close, all of which appear to be an orchestrated attempt to destroy the union and deny workers their right to freedom of association.

Given your company's stated commitment to ensuring that the right of workers to freedom of association is respected at all factories producing Liz Claiborne products, we strongly urge that you take immediate action to ensure that all violence, intimidation and discrimination against union supporters at the two factories ceases immediately.

We would also strongly urge you to communicate to your Guatemalan supplier Choi & Shin that your company will only do business with companies that respect freedom of association, and call on them to (1) immediately suspend those who have been criminally charged and fire those who have been clearly identified as violent intimidators; (2) stop any further instigation of mob violence or other forms of intimidation and discrimination against union supporters; and (3) accept the union by allowing the workers who were pressured to sign resignation letters to be reinstated in their former jobs, and by agreeing to negotiate with the union in good faith.

Thank you for your prompt response on this important matter.

Yours truly,