Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 17:39:00 +0100 To: World-System Network From: dale.wimberley@vt.edu (Dale W Wimberley) Subject: Personal appeal for solidarity with Nicaraguan maquila workers Some of you know that I have been closely involved in cross-border solidarity supporting unionization efforts of garment workers in the Nicaraguan free trade zone. Over the past year and a half I've followed the Nicaraguan maquila situation closely. Last summer I was part of a Witness for Peace labor delegation to Nicaragua and stayed in the home of one of the union members. This is my personal plea for your solidarity with these workers. I urge you to send a letter to the JC Penney CEO as described at the end of this message. Also, please forward this message to other likely sympathizers. BACKGROUND: Since 1996 there have been several "urgent action" appeals from the Campaign for Labor Rights and related organizations to support these workers' efforts to organize - generally fax campaigns to corporate and government officials. The determination of the workers, spurred on by the empowerment they experienced during the revolutionary period of 1979-1990 and assisted by international solidarity, has paid off. There are now 5 legally recognized unions in the Nicaraguan maquilas (out of fewer than 20 maquilas), one of which has gotten a contract with its employer. Earlier this year nearly all the 1800 workers at Nicaragua's Chentex plant (a jeans-making maquila) held sitdown strikes (and they received cross-border solidarity) to get legal recognition. Their success prompted some activists to surmise that - with the lowest garment worker wages in the Western hemisphere - Nicaragua's maquila unionization could well become a foundation on which garment maquila workers elsewhere in the region could build their unions. Now comes a potentially pivotal point in the Nicaragua maquila struggle. for the first time, a company has threatened to move its plant out of the country due to union activity. Chentex has threatened to move operations to Mexico. Perhaps this is merely a bargaining ploy; perhaps not. Cross-border solidarity is urgently needed to put pressure on Chentex owners via their major customers - US retailers. See below for action to take. For more background information, see this website: http://www.montgomery-floyd.lib.va.us/pub/compages/cjca/sweat Thanks for your solidarity! Dale Wimberley >Date: Mon, 6 Apr 1998 09:29:26 -0700 (PDT) >X-Sender: clr@pop.igc.org >Mime-Version: 1.0 >To: clr@igc.org >From: Campaign for Labor Rights >Subject: Nicaragua factory threatens cut-and-run > >Labor Alerts: a service of Campaign for Labor Rights >To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to CLR@igc.apc.org >Phone: (541) 344-5410 Web site: http://www.compugraph.com/clr >Membership/newsletter. Send $35.00 to Campaign for Labor Rights, 1247 "E" >Street SE, Washington, DC 20003. Sample newsletter available on request. > >NICARAGUA FACTORY THREATENS CUT-AND-RUN >1,800 workers at recently unionized Chentex would lose jobs > >[This alert was prepared April 3, 1998 on behalf of a coalition which >for Peace (202) 544-0781 ; the National Labor Committee >(212) 242-3002 ; the U.S./Guatemala Labor Education >Solidarity Center of the AFL-CIO; and the International Textile Workers >Federation.] > >*********************************** >See ACTION REQUEST at end of alert! >*********************************** > >In recent months, we have posted alerts on the certification of a union at >the Chentex clothing factory in Nicaragua's Las Mercedes free trade zone. >This was the third union in the zone to receive official recognition from >the Nicaraguan Labor Ministry. > >Just when it seemed that the free trade zone in Nicaragua had been cracked >open to labor organizing, Chi Shing, the Taiwanese consortium which owns >Chentex and two other factories in the zone, announced that it will close >Chentex in June and shift production to Mexico. Management sought to justify >the planned move by references to unsubstantiated allegations of union >violence. > >Cut-and-run is the central strategy of transnationals. Threats to move >production are used regularly in union busting and rollback in both the >industrialized nations and the Global South. It is crucial that we mobilize >strongly in defense of the Chentex workers, to demonstrate to Chi Shing >management - and to all cut-and-run companies - that there is no place for >them to hide in the global economy. > >Two of the biggest labels produced at Chentex are Bugle Boy pants and >Arizona Jeans, both of which are sold in J.C. Penney stores. The coalition >working on Nicaraguan sweatshop issues is mounting a campaign to pressure >J.C. Penney into exerting its leverage on Chentex and Chi Shing. > >We have drafted a sign-on letter for leaders of national religious >organizations. The letter seeks a commitment from Penney's to sever ties >with Chi Shing if it moves production from Nicaragua to Mexico. In support >of that letter, we are asking local activists to sign the following letter. > >*************************** >URGENT ACTION REQUEST >*************************** > >Please sign and send the following letter today and send a copy to Campaign >for Labor Rights at 1247 "E" Street SE, Washington, DC 20003. It would be >especially helpful if you could collect signatures in public situations such >as tabling events, union meetings, places of faith and campuses. > >James E. Oestereicher, CEO >J.C. Penney >P.O. Box 10001 >Dallas, TX 75024 > >Dear Mr. Oestereicher: > >I am writing to express my serious concern about the recent news that one of >your contractors has threatened to close its factory in Nicaragua and move >its production to Mexico. The Chentex factory produces Bugle Boy pants and >Arizona Jeans, both of which are sold in your stores. > >I understand that this announcement comes just one month after a union >received legal recognition at the Chentex factory and is widely seen as an >attempt to suppress the right of the union to bargain collectively. This is >the latest in a series of anti-union tactics by the company, including >efforts to discredit union leaders by disseminating reckless and >unsubstantiated allegations. I also understand that five workers recently >have been fired from the factory, in what appears to be yet another >union-busting tactic. > >Abandoning some 1,800 workers simply for exercising their right to join a >union, as guaranteed under Nicaraguan law and internationally-recognized >conventions, hardly seems consistent with the moral standards to which your >company has publicly committed itself. > >We urge you to make a public commitment that J.C. Penney will sever all of >its business relations with Chi Shing if that consortium closes its Chentex >factory in Nicaragua, and to communicate your concerns directly to Chi Shing >and inform its management of your decision to sever relations if the >consortium does shift operations from the Chentex factory to Mexico. > >As a consumer, I take a personal interest in the conditions under which >products are made. The rights of working people matter to me. You can >demonstrate to me the seriousness with which you regard these concerns, not >by writing back that you have "looked into the matter," but by informing me >that you have made an arrangement to meet with the religious and human >rights representatives who have written to you. > >I eagerly await your response. > >Sincerely, > >NAME: > >ADDRESS: > Dale W. Wimberley Department of Sociology Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University