Act Now - Email

Many people over at the P.I.'s Soundoff discussion board have asked what they can do to help. Union leaders from both SITRACIMA and SITRACHOI have asked for our help in pressuring the brands to send their own representatives to Guatemala:

"Please send an email to Lauren Cooke (lcooke@jjillgroup.com), LCI Customer Relations (Consumer_relations@liz.com), Daryl Brown (daryl_brown@liz.com), Frank Kelly (frank.kelly@liz.com), Roberta Karp (robbie_karp@liz.com), Holly Thomas (holly.thomas@macys.com), Fernando Pinsiri (pinsiri_fernando@pbms.com.gt), Betsy Thompson (betsy.thompson@talbots.com), and Julie Lorigan (julie.lorigan@talbots.com) asking them what they are going to do in response to this letter requesting their presence during negotiations. Factory management from Choishin has shown no interest in negotiating with our unions, complying with any past agreements they have signed, or responding to the FLA's independent investigation and the Coverco report. This makes the brands' presence here even more crucial.

Thank you for your support—your involvement is very important to us.

- SITRACIMA and SITRACHOI"

The letter referred to can be found here.

Protests!

Good work to everybody who participated in the actions over the past two weekends, and good luck to the unions in their protest today. If you haven't already, check out the coverage in today's P.I.

Update From Guatemala

I received a call from Doña Gloria this morning in which she was very angry and worried. For the last few days Choishin has re-contracted workers from OUTSIDE Cimatextiles/SITRACIMA, despite the fact that management promised on many occasions that if there were a need for personnel at Choishin they would give priority to the list of approximately 147 affiliated SITRACIMA members. The only thing I am aware of that can be done is Gloria is going to write up a small "nota" and take it to the management. We are awaiting communication from the attorneys at FESTRAS to see what else can be done.

You guys are such a CRUCIAL part of this fight! These women have not lost hope due to your international solidarity and support! You are on the right track and have done so much planning for the upcoming events and I have 100% faith in you all that we can get some people to turn out, draw attention to this fight in the press, and get the brands attention so they come to Guatemala to negotiate directly with the unions!!

HASTA LA VICTORIA SIEMPRE!
-meesh

FLA Report Released

The Fair Labr Association has released the results of the independent investigation it commissioned regarding Cimatextiles and Choshin. The complete report, press release, and executive summary of the report are all available on the FLA website, under Statements and Press Releases. It agrees with nearly everything we've been saying about violation's of workers' rights. It denies the gun incident due to lack of corroboration, which sucks but isn't unexpected. And it says that the 6/6 agreement doesn't legally bind the company to reopen the factory, but implies that while legally the factory doesn't have to reopen, it should in order to fulfil the spirit of the agreement. It's good to read, to realize nearly everything we've said about this case is verified by a neutral observer.

Updates

Here are some updates based on a phone conversation between Angelina and the Liz Claiborne reps:

The Future of Cimatextiles
The president of the company that operates the factories announced late last week that Cimatextiles is not going to reopen. Ever. It is going to be converted to a finishing, packing, and laundry facility for Choishin. Inasmuch as there are jobs in that facility, the president said preference would be given to people from Cimatextiles, but those jobs would not be for sewing operators, but for lower level jobs in finishing, packing and laundry. When asked what the implications of this for the union leadership who have remained on payroll during these three months might be, Daryl and George (of Liz Claiborne) said they were unsure. About the closure of Cimatextiles, Daryl said "this is downsizing; it could be worse."

Agreement to Re-Open
Daryl and George consulted their representative in Guatemala, Fernando Pinsiri, on the agreement signed between management and unions, and Pinsiri told them there is no specific commitment in the agreement to reopen on 9/1, so therefore if the factory doesn't reopen they are not reneging on any commitment.

Closure of Choisin?
George talked to Pinsiri about the closure of Choishin. Pinsiri says this is a false rumor. According to Pinsiri, management had been trying to explore the option of "proposing" some vacation time for Choishin but since then received more orders and now has enough orders that they don't need to do this. Choishin is operating (supposedly) at 90% capacity at this time.

Blacklisting
George asked Pinsiri about the blacklisting that union workers have encountered and Pinsiri said there is no blacklist. Rather, he said the problem was that there was such a large surplus of labor in Guatemala in general, and so workers have trouble getting jobs, and they might assume that the reason is because they're being blacklisted, but that's not true, "there is no specific list," it's just that jobs are scarce. Here Angelina insisted that that was not believable to us after having heard many workers' testimonies about being turned away specifically and explicitly because of their union affiliation, and in one case a worker being shown her name on a list on a computer screen. She insisted that there was more here than simply an excess of labor and a shortage of jobs, and that many workers had had the blacklisting experience specifically at Hansol, a factory from which Liz Claiborne also sources. They said they would "look into it."

Severance Pay Discrepancies
George talked to Pinsiri about the severance pay still owed to some workers, and Pinsiri said that the reason for the differences of opinion (about how much money is owed) was because management calculated the compensation on the basis of base pay, not incentives, and the workers wanted the calculations to be based on incentives. Pinsiri said that Guatemalan law supports the calculation that management did; Angelina responded saying that the workers had told us that the Guatemalan Minstry of Labor had issued a judgment siding with them in this matter, saying that the incentive pay had to be calculated into severance. They said they would "call the Guatemalan Minister of Labor" to see if he could get them "something in writing" about this.

- - -

To end the post with some uplifting news, Travis and Michelle stumbled upon a protest led by factory workers from 6 different factories. They will be attending another protest with these workers; hopefully more news to come from them soon.

Act Now - Phone Calls

We need to continue to call the brands! The following is an updated version of names, phone numbers, and talking points.

CALL U.S. BRANDS NOW TO DEMAND AN END TO UNION-BUSTING

Action is needed now to tell the U.S. brands Liz Claiborne, Talbots, and Macy's/Charter Club that these violations of workers' fundamental human and labor rights must stop.

Talbots: Betsy Thompson, (781) 741-4066, betsy.thompson@talbots.com

Liz Claiborne: Daryl Brown, VP of Human Rights Compliance (201) 295-7895

Macy's: Holly Thomas, PR Director, (646) 429-5250, holly.thomas@macys.com

Demand that the U.S. brands use their influence to:

1. Uphold the Cimatextiles factory's agreement with the union to reopen the factory on September 1st, and to rehire union workers immediately.

2. Ensure that the Choi Shin factory is reopened and union workers are rehired immediately.

3. Send high-level representatives to Guatemala to directly monitor the situation and meet with the unions.

4. Guarantee that any fired workers are paid their severance and back wages in the full and correct amount.

5. Continue monitoring Cimatextiles and Choi Shin factory's management to ensure that no more Guatemalan labor and human rights laws are violated.

Thank you for your solidarity

THE LETTER TO THE BRANDS AND LABOR ORGANIZATIONS IS OUT!

Hola Compañer@s!

We worked all day yesterday with FESTRAS (the union federation Sitracima and Sitrachoi are affiliated with) and union leadership to get the letter out to the brands and the international labor organizations and we are excited about the responses that should start flooding in!

As far as labor organizations:
- Rob from the Solidarity Center, STITCH, and USLeap have both sent out letters of concerns to the brands

And we are hoping for a prompt reply from the brands.

It seemed to be a great way to unite FESTRAS, union leadership as well as the UWGP, in a true display of collective action and solidarity!

Please see this google document to check out the English cover letter to the brands, as well a letter from FESTRAS (Spanish) and a full report on the unions´ cases (Spanish):

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=df2tqzbb_0cjxrrc

That´s all for now!
¡VIVA SITRACIMA! ¡VIVA SITRACHOI!

the fauxkawk trio

An open letter to the brands

21 August 2007

Dear Liz Claiborne Inc., The Talbots Inc., and Federated Department Stores,

We are University of Washington students and alumni, currently working in Guatemala in solidarity with the workers of factories Cimatextiles and Choi Shin. We aim to document their struggle to defend their rights in these factories by taking video and audio testimony. We are in collaboration with international labor organizations and with students who visited the workers of these factories over the past three years.

It has been nearly 3 months since the Cimatextiles factory in Villa Nueva, Guatemala temporarily suspended operations through a negotiated agreement with the legally recognized union, Sitracima. Yesterday, the legally recognized union of the Choi Shin factory, Sitrachoi, was informed by factory management that Choi Shin would also temporarily suspend operations.

We have attached a letter from union leadership and the FESTRAS federation with which they are affiliated. Regarding this letter, which was written shortly before the closure of Choi Shin, we inquire, what action your company is taking to:

1) Re-establish orders to Cimatextiles to ensure the re-opening of the factory on 1 September 2007, which was committed to in the 6 June 2007 agreement between the union and the company,
2) Re-establish orders to Choi Shin to ensure that the factory re-opens immediately,
3) Prioritize the rehire of union workers,
4) Communicate with the company, Sitracima, Sitrachoi, and FESTRAS unions regarding the details of the placement of your orders and the re-opening of the Cimatextiles and Choi Shin factories.

Ensuring the agreement reached between your supplier factory and the union representing its employees is no doubt necessary to uphold both your code of conduct and your image as a responsible corporate citizen. We have confidence that you will do what is necessary to maintain your commitment to workers’ rights in your source factories.

We ask that you immediately send appropriate-level representation to ensure the above points are met.

Sincerely,

The University of Washington Guatemala Project

Greetings from Guatemala!

The interviews have begun! A while ago, actually. We’ve been so busy and in such intimate contact with the workers that we haven’t had time to write up a blog entry. But here we are!

First of all, the black list is a HUGE concern of the workers. Not only have Cimatextiles workers and Sitracima members been turned away from employment at other factories, but they have told us of their spouses being turned away as well. The effect of the black list on worker morale is devastating, and they desperately want to work but will be unable to find it in any other maquila. Villa Nueva (the city where the factory is and where the workers live) is dominated by maquilas, therefore the black list is a large barrier for anyone from Cimatextiles looking for work elsewhere.

Also, some workers report that when they apply at other factories, they face gruelling and humiliating inspections in which they must strip naked to be searched for tattoos or other “undesirable traits”. At these non-unionized maquilas they face racial and sexual slurs, abuse, and other violations of their dignity.

Back to Cimatextiles: From the time of the formation of their union, Sitracima, management has used anti-union tactics to gain the support of unorganized workers who feared union affiliation. These non-unionized workers are now being given preference by management and are called upon to continue work at the supposedly closed factory. In addition, employees of Choi Shin, the neighboring sister factory, are secretly working in Cimatextiles. So much for “closed for remodelling!”

Cimatextiles has been undergoing renovation during this “closure.” By building a wall around the cafeteria where workers eat, and installing industrial washing machines, management is expanding operations at Cimatextiles. We fear Cimatextiles is making these changes with the intention to register with the Guatemalan government under a different name, thereby changing the legal status of the factory. This action could nullify the legally binding agreement which requires the rehire of union workers when the factory is scheduled to reopen on September 1. Bottom line: Cimatextiles is doing what it can to avoid hiring unionized workers.

This is in direct contradiction to information given to the workers by management, who state the reason for closure is that there is no work. There is some truth to this: Liz Claiborne is no longer producing at Cimatextiles. Instead, Liz Claiborne is now producing at a factory in Nicaragua owned by the same company. That’s right: Liz Claiborne ditched Cimatextiles in favor of non-union labor!

Despite these manipulations by management, the workers of Cimatextiles repeatedly say: we want this job. Work is better at a unionized Cimatextiles than at any of the other sweatshop in Villa Nueva!

¡Viva Sitracima! ¡Viva Sitrachoi!
fauxhawk trio

"Please do not leave us alone in Guatemala"

Listen to the workers of Cimatextiles and Choishin describe their experiences as union members, what they would like to say to us, and what they would like to say to Liz Claiborne, Macy's Charter Club, and Talbots.

This Monday

Take action to support Guatemalan union workers!

WHO: You, in solidarity with Guatemalan women workers whose unions are being busted by clothing brands Talbot's, Liz Claiborne, and Macy's/Charter Club

WHEN: Monday, August 20th, noon-3pm

WHERE: Westlake Park in downtown Seattle (on Pine St. between 4th & 5th Ave)

WHAT: Meet at Westlake Park at 11:30am to join is in a rally to demand that U.S.-based clothing brands Talbot's, Liz Claiborne, and Macy's/Charter Club stop union-busting in Guatemala.

The rally will consist of powerful visual representations of the women workers whose rights are being violated daily, informative testimony about their struggle, and creative street theatre action that will illustrate the plight facing courageous women who have been blacklisted for standing up for their legal and human rights as workers!

Please come to learn more and to sign letters of urgent concern, which will be delivered to the brands at the close of the event.

WHY: Despite their historic status as defenders of labor rights in Guatemala, the future of the unions SITRACIMA and SITRACHOI is in jeopardy. The unions, whose leadership and membership are formed entirely of female workers, produce clothing for the U.S.-based brands Talbot's, Liz Claiborne, and Macy's/Charter Club.

Workers at the Cimatextiles and Choi Shin factories in Guatemala are facing severe violations of their labor rights and collective bargaining agreement, with factory management having closed one factory illegally. Although factory management has pledged to reopen the factory and reinstate the jobs of union workers on September 1st, union leaders report that new non-union workers have already been hired and are working in the allegedly "closed" factory. Additionally, factory management still owes workers promised payment, union leaders have received death threats, and union members have been blacklisted from other employers in the garment industry. Workers have been spending nights in the factory for nearly two months to guard their livelihoods. U.S.-based brands have minimized the concerns of workers or have been unresponsive.

With your support we can show Talbot's, Liz Claiborne, and Macy's/Charter Club that they cannot remain silent while workers' rights are violated in their factories. Please come out to show your support!

On the Ground

Estimad@s Compañer@s!

We finally have the long awaited opportunity to sit down and hash out how everything that is going ¨on the ground¨. We are in contact with Doña Gloria and Doña Gilda. We have quickly learned the difficulties that come with a project like this, but are extremely optimistic and excited to begin.

Doña Gloria and her 10-year-old daughter are ill and as a result have been making frequent trips to the clinic. We have been extremely sympathetic to these health concerns which have made organizing a meeting with Gloria a bit difficult. However, we have arranged to pick up Gloria tomorrow after her doctor’s appointment and meet with her to discuss the details of arranging the interviews. We also hope to pick up the final draft of the letter which is written by the workers, addressed to the brands, and will be cc’d to USAS, Solidarity Center, Workers’ Rights Consortium, STITCH, and US-LEAP. This letter is important because the previous organizations will not take direct action on the brands until they receive it.

Gloria reported that she and Gladys are still sleeping in the factory and that there are now armed security guards which patrol the factory every 30 minutes. It has also been difficult to arrange a meeting with her since she needs to support both Gladys in the factory and her sick daughter. She is looking for a way to stop sleeping in the factory, but doesn’t know how to do so without looking like she’s giving up. She also reported that they have a meeting with the lawyer, this Friday at 10 am in the factory. She is very appreciative of our group’s collaborating with her and the other union workers, and it seems to be lifting her spirits.

Gilda has also been busy for obvious reasons but we are contacting her this afternoon to confirm a meeting for Friday. Gilda and Gloria have both reported on rumors that the factories were sold to another international company in order to change personnel and be able to renew the 10 year tax holiday. When a new factory opens they have “10 años de gracias de impuestos”, which allows them to operate for the first 10 years without paying export taxes. This period of time has expired for both factories, which leads the women to believe that they changed owners in order to renew this tax-free period.

Gilda also reported that the conditions are deteriorating at ChoiShin and mentioned specifically concerns about being paid on time, being able to eat breakfast outside the factory before opening the doors, and having adequate time to eat lunch.

--

We're transferring to the workers over $1300 raised by student activists in Seattle. The money should be in their hands by Thursday, and will be used by the union to support workers without income during the factory's closure.

Well, that´s all for now and we need to get back to work but we are really excited to begin and appreciate all the hard work from the Seattle side!

The Fauxhawk Trio

Greetings from Guatemala!

I just want to convey how utterly psyched I am after meeting the workers. We met them outside the factory gates. When we first pulled up, there were a few people standing outside, but then a bunch of them, probably 20 or 25, filed out of the gates. I was overwhelmed with how many workers came to meet with us. They were all inside the factory because they haven't received their severance pay, and have been showing up every day to demand it.

Our professor got on the phone with Fernando Pinsiri, the rat brand representative, and asked if she could come into the factory to meet with him. He said no, and suggested he would come outside to meet us. When a worker went into the factory to ask where he was, she saw him scurrying away as management told her that he was in a meeting. Oops.

After we were there for a while, the security barred the gates so the workers couldn't even go back inside to demand the severance package which management is legally obliged to pay under the agreement signed by management on June 6. When we realized we weren't getting anything from factory owners or management, we all decided to pile on the bus and head to one of the worker's house. Even when we squished everyone we could into the shuttle, we had to take two trips because there were so many students and workers together, talking about life and struggle. The shuttle made it in spite of the waterlogged and poorly maintained roads to the worker's house.

We talked in her courtyard under a leaking roof before moving into her kitchen. We had some really good conversation, and some really emotional testimony from the workers about the crisis. We took video, so look forward to seeing it soon!

The Toast

We would like to propose a toast to SITRACIMA, the Guatemalan union whose workers made the Liz Claiborne and Charter Club / Talbot's clothes hanging in this store. These workers made history in 2001 when they became the first union in Guatemala's apparel industry, one of only a handful of unionized clothing factories in the world. In three months, these women will have no union, no jobs, and no livelihood if Liz Claiborne and Macy's / Talbot's continue to tolerate violations of wokers' rights in their factories. To Liz Claiborne and Macy's / Talbot's we say: "Stand up for workers' rights! Support union factories, not sweatshops!" Here's to another six years for the courageous women of Sitracima!

Anniversary Action Photos

Reading the toast to the women of SITRACIMA inside Seattle's downtown Macy's store.


Telling people in Westlake about SITRACIMA's struggle.


Security guards from Westlake telling us to stand away from the Talbots entrance.


Continuing the protest outside Talbots.

Handing out fliers.

¡Feliz Cumpleaños!

Today SITRACIMA celebrates it's 6th anniversary! We will be celebrating downtown today with birthday cake and a sparkling cider toast. All are welcome.

Save Me From My Materialism Garage Sale!

That's right, we are holding another garage sale this weekend! This time it's at 6822 16th Ave N.E., one block east of Roosevelt High School. For directions or info on how you can help, call Stacey at 206-372-7893.

More Press!

See today's UW Daily for coverage of the protest (here). And, in case you missed it, the front page of yesterday's Seattle P.I. (here). Help keep this story in the news by sending letters to the editors of both papers!

Quick Ways To Continue Support

1. Call Macy's, Talbots, and Liz Claiborne.
2. Sign our online petition.
3. Come to the garage sale June 23rd an 24th [6822 16th Ave NE].
4. Email a U.S. senator or representative.

Talking points for calling the brands:

1. DEMAND that threats, intimidation, and attacks against union leaders immediately stop. [Say that a union leader was surrounded by a group of men and received death threats. This violates countless laws and basic human rights, and the lives of these women are literally in the brands' hands.]

2. DEMAND that Cimatextiles be immediately reopened and that enough business is redirected to the factory to ensure that it operates at full capacity. [Say that Cimatextiles and Choishin are two of the only unionized factories in these brands' supply chains, and that they are not following their company codes of conduct if they don't stand up for factories in which the right to freedom of association is actually respected.]

3. DEAMND that the union workers of Cimatextiles (SITRACIMA) be immediately reemployed and receive all the benefits they are entitled to under law and from past agreements. [Say that the companies should act to stand up for union workers and one of the few factories in which freedom of association and other priniciples in their codes of conduct are respected. Also, note the fact that the factory closed illegally, the workers haven't received the severance agreed to with management, and that company codes of conduct, and Guatemalan and international laws are being broken.]

4. DEMAND that new orders be immediately redirected to Choishin to ensure that the factory operates at full capacity. [Say that work orders have decreased and that the companies should stand up for unionized workers and factories in which their codes of conduct are actually respected.]

5. DEMAND that the union workers of Choishin (SITRACHOI) remain employed and that their rights are respected. [Say that the companies should stand up for unionized workers and factories in which their codes of conduct are actually respected.]

Contact information:

Liz Claiborne Inc: Dial 212-626-3442 and ask to speak to CEO Bill McComb.
Email: consumer_relations@liz.com

Talbots: Dial 781-749-7600, ask to speak with Consumer Relations.
Email: customer.service@talbots.com

Macy's: Dial 646-429-5255, ask to speak with Holly Thomas, PR Director
Email: holly.thomas@macys.com

Update From Union Leaders

We spoke with the union leaders on Friday; they had a crisis because the workers have still not been paid their severance pay as promised. The workers showed up to be paid and when the company started the procedures to pay them, they were calculating the amount owed the workers at a much lower rate than the workers believed they were due.

The workers have now gone two weeks without receiving any payment and the company keeps putting off paying them. People are desperate, were yelling, and there were moments when it seemed violence might break out. A union leader said the Jefe de Personal was making comments that were tantamount to incitement, saying things like "Aqui se va armar un gran relajo" (Hard to translate, something like 'major stuff is going to go down here') which instead of calming people down, made them more upset. Then the company said that workers could receive their payment right then (at the lesser amount that the company was offering according to its own calculations), or else nothing. Some workers (by one estimation about 80) agreed to receive the lesser amount because they needed the money and felt it was so uncertain that the company would ever come through on its promises that they should just take what they could get; others refused on principle. Then the company announced they wanted to suspend the entire payment process.

At some point then the workers went to the offices of the Labor Inpsectorate (we spoke with a union leader as she was on her way home from that meeting). She said the Labor Inspectors had interviewed them. In a meeting yesterday -- they have been having meetings because the company keeps putting off paying the workers, in violation of the deal they made with the union, and yesterday the workers held a public manifestation to demand payment -- one of the Labor Inspectors said that he, too, was receiving threats in conjunction with this case. So it's not only the workers, but now government officials investigating the case that have been threatened.

The head of the Sitracima union received a threatening text message on her cellphone the night of June 13. She did not want to repeat to us what the message said because she said it had extremely obscene words on it and she was riding on a bus. But she still had the message on her cell phone yesterday and another worker had seen it.

While workers from Choishin have not been under as much pressure as those at Cimatextiles, they believe they are headed down the same path because they have begun to see decreasing orders. A union leader told us that three lines in Choishin are currently producing clothes only for the local market (not for export), and that in the warehouse she has seen a lack of material waiting for production. So they know the orders aren't coming in, and they are very concerned that they are going to be next.

She also expressed her gratitude to us for all the actions we are taking on their behalf and her eagerness to keep in touch.