Current Anti-Sweatshop Campaigns and Initiatives

Guatemala
Last Union Factory Closed; Ordered to Reopen

In July 2008, company management announced the closing of the only remaining unionized maquila in Guatemala, Choishin.  Its sister plant Cimatextiles, also unionized, was closed in 2007.  Workers at both factories won union contracts in 2003.

The Choishin union is demanding a reopening of the plant.   A Guatemalan court in August ordered the factory reopened.  Management has refused to do so, and has also failed to provide legally-required severance and backpay to workers.  In September, the Fair Labor Association undertook an evaluation of the situation and shared its report with the union in early October.  Action suggestions will be posted soon.

Mexico
Key Victory in Jeopardy; Union Under Attack at Mexmode

One of the most significant victories of the anti-sweatshop movement is in jeopardy at the Mexmode (formerly Kuk Dong) factory in Mexcio due to collusion between the state government and an organization with paramilitary links. On June 17th, the Antorcha Campesina organization, linked to the PRI political party and paramilitary organizations, made another attack against the union at the factory in Atlixco,
Mexico and has now illegally taken over the union with the blessing of local labor authorities. Send a letter to the local government officials in Puebla,demanding an end to the violence and government intervention in union affairs!

Dominican Republic
Hanes Signs Contract; Workers Win Big Victory 

In a significant victory, maquila workers won a collective bargaining agreement on August 12 at a large textile manufacturing facility in the Dominican Republic owned by Hanesbrands, Inc. The workers overcame an intense anti-union campaign at the TOS Dominicana plant, documented extensively the Worker Rights Consortium whose intervention along with support from the Solidarity Center, United Students Against Sweatshops and others was vital to the union's success. The contract includes a 10% wage increase, increased funds for education and more. Click here for more information, or read the report from the Worker Rights Consortium. 

Olympics Play Fair 2008 Campaign

Play Fair 2008 is an international campaign taking place in the lead up to the 2008 Olympic Games to push for respect for workers’ rights in the global sporting goods industry. It is led by the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers Federation, the Clean Clothes Campaign in Europe, and the International Trade Union Confederation, and supported by a diverse coalition of organizations worldwide. For more background on the campaign and a list of suggested actions, see the Play Fair 2008 website.

Mexico

Victory Short-Lived

On January 23, 2008, one of Mexico’s largest jean makers closed one of its factories where workers had recently won an independent union. Workers in Mexico’s maquila sector have once again been denied the ability to exercise their basic rights. Brands that source from the jean maker, the Navarra Group, include Gap, Levi Strauss, American Eagle, Warncaco, Abercrombie & Fitch, The Limited, and Tommy Hilfiger.

The Vaquerras Navarra factory had extended the traditional Christmas break for “lack of orders” but when workers returned from their extra, and unpaid, vacation at the end of January, management announced the factory was permanently closed, claiming insufficient business. However, other Navarra factories in the area resumed operations after the traditional break for the holidays, and several U.S. clothing brands say that their efforts to direct their orders specifically to the Vaquerras factory in order to maintain production level were rebuffed

Workers, supported by the FAT (Authentic Labor Front) and the Human and Labor Rights Commission of the Tehuacan, won a break-through election in November 2007, defeating a corrupt protection contract union. International support has been led by the Maquila Solidarity Network.

The closing, coupled with the failure of the local labor board to certify the union’s election, exhibit once again the on-going collusion between government and business forces in Mexico that have combined to successfully resist most efforts by workers to form independent unions in the country’s maquila sector.

See the Maquila Solidarity Network for more information and suggested action.

El Salvador

Just Garments Workers Still Need Support

Workers formerly employed by Just Garments in El Salvador are still owed back pay and severance. Just Garments was forced to close in April 2007, ending a long struggle to survive as a unionized producer for the "sweatfree" market in the U.S.

USLEAP continues to accept donations designated for the Just Garments workers. Click here for a full story of the founding of Just Garments and its valiant experiment.