[Marxism] Workers Defense Bulletin-Urgent Action Alert

["eugene plawiuk" <eugene@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

WORKERS DEFENSE BULLETIN - NOV 18, 2004
"An Inury to One is an Injury to All"
eugene@xxxxxxxxxxxx

LABOUR SOLIDARITY URGENTLY NEEDED
1.El Salvador- U.S. Trade Unionist Assasinated
2.Korea-KGEU General Strike launched, State Suppresion
Getting Bitter
3.China- Shoe Factory Workers Imprisoned
4.Israel- Authorities Seek to Dismantle Workers Advice
Centre
5.Hondouras-Gildan Continues to Violate Labor Rights!


=====================================================
US TRADE UNIONIST ASSASSINATED IN EL SALVADOR

Urgent Action Alert Maquila Solidarity Network
http://www.maquilasolidarity.org/

November 17, 2004

Gilberto Soto was assassinated on November 5, at 6:00 p.m.,
while visiting his mother in the city of Usulutan, El
Salvador. A US citizen and Salvadoran by birth, Mr. Soto
was just about to begin working on a new project
documenting violations of the rights of Central American
port workers and drivers when he was killed by unknown
assailants.

Mr. Soto received a call on his cell phone and had just
stepped outside the doorway of his mother's home when he
was approached by two men who shot him at close range. He
died instantly. The killers fled, running to a car waiting
about 100 yards away. There may also have been a third
assailant on a bicycle. There was no attempt to rob Mr.
Soto, and according to eye witnesses, it was clear that
this was an assassination.

Mr. Soto was a long time organizer with the International
Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT). Less than a year ago, he
met in New York City with Denmark 's SID Union (The
Specialized Workers Union in Denmark). The IBT and SID were
interested in collaborating on a joint project documenting
the systematic violations of worker rights by Maersk, one
of the largest shipping companies in the world. Port
workers and drivers in Central America work long hours with
little pay and are not allowed to exercise their right to
freedom of association. Mr. Soto was about to begin working
on this project when he was assassinated.

REQUESTED ACTION:

Please write to Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre
Pettigrew, with a cc to the Salvadoran Ambassador to
Canada, urging his government to communicate to the
Salvadoran government the need for prompt, thorough and
fair investigation into Mr. Soto's assassination, and for
Mr. Soto's murders to be brought to justice.

To:       The Honourable Pierre Pettigrew

Minister of Foreign Affairs

125 Sussex Drive

Ottawa, ON  Canada

K1A 0G2

Fax: 613 995 8180

Email: pettigrew.p@xxxxxxxxxx


Cc:       His Excellency Dr. Mauricio Rosales-Rivera

Ambassador for El Salvador

209 Kent Street

Ottawa, ON   Canada

K2P 1Z8

Fax: 613 238 6940

Email: embajada@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


SAMPLE LETTER (Please write your own and send a copy to MSN
info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx)


November 16, 2004

The Honourable Pierre Pettigrew Minister of Foreign Affairs

125 Sussex Drive Ottawa, ON, Canada K1A 0G2

Dear Minister Pettigrew:

I am writing to register my serious concerns about the
recent assassination of US trade union leader Mr. Gilberto
Soto in Usulatan, El Salvador, and to strongly urge your
government to communicate to the Government of El Salvador
the urgent need for a prompt, thorough and fair
investigation into his murder and that all those
responsible for the murder be brought to justice.

Mr. Soto was murdered while visiting his mother in Usulutan
on November 5,
2004. The circumstances surrounding the murder suggest that
this was a well-planned assassination. Two men shot Mr.
Soto in the back, at close range, before fleeing to a
waiting car. There was no attempt to rob Mr. Soto, and
according to eye witness accounts, it was clear that the
sole intent was to kill him.

Originally from El Salvador and a long-time resident and
citizen of the United States, Mr. Soto was a well-known
activist in the Teamsters union. He was just about to begin
work on a new project documenting violations of the rights
of Central American port employees and drivers when he was
murdered.

I am extremely concerned that the assassination of Mr. Soto
is related to his solidarity activities in support of
workers in Central America and that his murder was intended
to prevent him from meeting and promoting solidarity with
these workers.

I understand that the Salvadoran government is promising an
investigation into the murder of Mr. Soto, but that to
date, there has been very little done to apprehend Mr.
Soto's killers.

I would strongly urge that your government communicate to
the Salvadoran government the importance of carrying out a
full investigation of Mr. Soto's murder and duly bring to
justice all those responsible for the crime.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this important
matter.

Yours truly,


Cc: Dr. Mauricio Rosales-Rivera, Ambassador for El Salvador

===================================================

KOREAN GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES GENERAL STRIKE LAUNCHED,
SUPPRESSION GETTING BITTER

Dear colleagues

Please find the attached KGEU Breaking News #7 dated 15th
of November, 2004.

These days the KGEU web site server has been under
intentional attack such as trying
to take control of the server for our web site and intranet
or making the server
overloaded by using specific programmes. We are trying to
protect the server from
this attack but the web site and intranet would not be in
proper operation quite
often. Therefore you are expected to use both email
addresses such as kisto@xxxxxxxx
or kisto@xxxxxxxxx when you send your message to us. And
please make them
carboncopied to inter@xxxxxxxx as well.

In Solidarity,

KIM Seok
C.P. : +82-(0)16-237-5940
email: kisto@xxxxxxxxx kisto@xxxxxxxx
International Relations Director
Korean Government Employees' Union
Tel: +82-2-2631-1948 Fax: +82-2-2631-1949
Web: http://www.kgeu.org Email: kgeu@xxxxxxxx


KGEU Breaking News #7 15th November 2004

KGEU strike launched, Suppression getting bitter

The KGEU launched a strike as it has planned and the
government has escalated
suppression without coming out to talks with the union.
In spite of the government continuous threatening and
police blockade, thousands of
government employees managed to join annual workers' rally
organised by the KCTU in
which more than 60 thousands workers participated, in Seoul
on 14th, Sunday.
During the rally KIM Young-Gil, President of KGEU, who has
been under an arrest
warrant, suddenly showed up at the rally stage, and
declared that KGEU would launch
a strike from 09:00 on 15th, Monday.

Followings are excerpts of KGEU manifesto for strike stated
by President KIM
Young-Gil.

Dear fellow citizens.
Our strike is the first step to purge of corruption and
undemocratic practices in
civil service turning away from the chain of submission and
silence. Now we the
government employees are trying to grip a banner of strike
to create new civil
service for people by fully guarantee of basic labour
rights. We cannot help
launching a strike. It is tough and painful choice. But we
promise you that today's
discomfort and inconvenience which our strike may cause
would be back to you as far
better public service tomorrow.

Dear brothers and sisters of working class.
When you fought at the risk of your lives for
democratisation of this society
against the powerful and the capital, we remained lackeys
and tool for them. Now we
repent of our past and try to pay off the debt. The banner
of KGEU and its members
will be with you at the struggles for defeating
neo-liberalism, impeding FTAs,
abolition of discrimination against irregular workers, and
reunification. Again we
swear that till the day when workers, peasants, and all the
excluded are
emancipated, the KGEU will always be with you.

Dear my colleagues of KGEU at last.
In spite of ruthless suppression by the government and the
police, we have been able
to be here to declare launching a strike. We are well aware
that our demand for full
guarantee of basic labour rights is so justified and
legitimate because those are
our only weapon to do our duty for truthful reform of civil
service for people and
eradication of graft and corruption. The managers say that
a hard rain of
suppression is falling so that we had better refrain.
However, I dare say, if all of
us are in the rain, it is just cooling and refreshing us,
but only a few of us are
there, it becomes a fierce flood to sweep them away. We
have nothing to lose any
more, and shall not step back. Let's rewrite history of
victory with our
determination instead of retrogression of history. The only
choice against this
arrogant government is a general strike. It's because we
cannot be back to the
shameful past when we were lackeys of the regime. Firmly
convinced of progress of
history, I declare that 140,000 members of the KGEU will
launch a general strike
from 09:00 in the morning on 15th of November, 2004.


After declaring a general strike at the rally, the KGEU
members scattered and
gathered again at Yonsei University in Seoul hours later.
Around 5,000 members of
KGEU and other organisations managed to get in and held a
government employees rally
confirming the coming general strike. But as the police
raid was expected, the KGEU
members had to be scattered again. 09:00 in this morning,
they entered into another
university and held a strike rally. When they got our of
the university, 25 members
were arrested.

As of 09:00, 15th, 77 chapters of KGEU nationwide launched
a strike and 45 thousand
government employees joined the strike. And 8,000 members
who left their workplaces
to join the strike rally are waiting for the next step of
strike tactics in all over
Seoul.
The government has stated that all the participants in the
illegal collective
activities organised by the KGEU will be completely
excluded, and that dismissed
government employees will never be reinstated, and that the
jobs that would get
vacant due to mass dismissal will be filled up with
immediate new employment.

16 thousands of riot cops have been deployed around 239 of
government offices
nationwide. The government and the police say that any
government employees who are
away from work without permission or leaving offices
earlier will be arrested as
criminals in an act of crime. As of now, more than 110 KGEU
members have been
arrested. KIM Hyeong-Cheol, chairperson of Committee for
Political Empowerment was
arrested after KCTU's rally on Sunday. JEONG Woo-Wan,
executive director of finance,
was arrested when he tried to get access to his email
account at an internet cafe.
Among those arrested, there are KIM Yong-Seong, Chair of
KGEU National Assembly
Secretariat Branch, GWON Jong-Mahn, Chair of
Yeongdeungpo-gu Chapter of KGEU Seoul
Branch, and NAM Hyeon-Woo, Chair of Gangseo-gu Chapter of
KGEU Seoul Branch.

Your solidarity desperately needed! Please send your
message to the Korean
government demanding to stop the repression and to come up
to talks with the KGEU.
Solidarity Message to the KGEU, protest letter to the
Korean government and protest
visit to Korean mission abroad may be a lot helpful.

Followings are where you are expected to send your message;


President ROH Moo-hyun
The President of Republic of Korea
1 Sejong-no, Jongno-gu
Seoul 110-820, Republic of Korea
E-mail: president@xxxxxxxxx
Fax: +82-2-770-0347

Prime Minister LEE Hae-Chan
Office of the Prime Minister, Republic of Korea
77-6, Sejongno, Jongno-gu, Seoul 110-760, Korea
Email: m_opm@xxxxxxxxx
Fax: +82-2-720-3571

Minister HUH Sung Kwan
The Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs
The Government Central Building
77-6 Sejongno, Jongno-gu, Seoul 110-760, Korea
Email: minister6@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Fax: +82-2-3703-5501
     +82-2-3703-5526

CC: KGEU Fax: +82-2-2631-1949 Email: kisto@xxxxxxxxx
kgeu@xxxxxxxx

=========================================================

CHINA LABOUR PRESS RELEASE NO.7 (2004-11-16)

China Labour Bulletin today learned that another five
former employees of a shoe
factory owned by the Taiwanese company Stella International
in Dongguan city,
Guangdong Province, have been sentenced to up to three
years? imprisonment. Two of
the five convicted workers were below the legal minimum
working age when hired by
the company, and only one of them is currently older than
20.

All five were convicted by the Dongguan Municipal People?s
Court of ?intentional
destruction of property? in connection with a mass protest
in late April by workers
at the Xing Xiong Shoe Factory, one of seven such factories
in southern China owned
by Stella International.

The sentences, which have not yet been publicly announced
by the court, were as
follows: Liu Jufei, 29, Ding Kui, 19, and Liu Rongneng, 19,
were each sentenced to
three years? imprisonment, while Geng Chunfei, 16, and Liu
Haiyang, 16, were each
sentenced to two years? imprisonment, suspended for three
years.

?Instead of scapegoating these five workers, the Dongguan
legal authorities should
be investigating the abusive employment practices that led
to the Stella workers?
mass protest six months ago,? said Han Dongfang, the
director of China Labour
Bulletin. ?The government?s failure to enforce China?s own
labour laws is the real
source of the growing labour unrest in many parts of the
country today,? added
Han.

On the evening of 21 April, more than 4,000 workers staged
a protest at the Xing
Xiong Shoe Factory over low wages, wage arrears and the
poor meals provided at the
factory?s canteen. The problem that directly sparked off
the protest was the
factory?s decision to reallocate the workers? overtime
hours from the weekend to
weekdays, resulting in substantially lower overtime rates
being paid. Some machinery
and company equipment was damaged, as the workers? action
turned rowdy.

In late October, five workers from another Stella factory
in Dongguan ? the Xing Ang
Shoe Factory ? were sentenced to up to three-and-a-half
years? imprisonment on
similar charges following a protest by around 1,000 workers
there on 23 April, just
two days after the Xing Xiong factory protest. For further
information, see <a
href=http://www.china-labour.org.hk/iso/article.adp?article_id=5913>Five
Stella
workers sentenced to up to three-and-a-half years?
imprisonment</a>.

In a letter sent to the Dongguan Court on 23 October ? just
days before the first
set of sentences were handed down ? Stella International?s
top management asked that
lenience be shown to the five Xing Ang worker defendants.
Moreover, several of
Stella?s main foreign buyers ? including Reebok, NIKE, Cole
Haan, Sears, New
Balance, Timberland and Jones Apparel Group ? endorsed this
plea for leniency by
adding their company?s names to the letter.

Stella International?s top management issued a public
statement on 30 October saying
that the company was ?saddened by the decision of the
Dongguan Court? and that they
?believe the violent strike which occurred at the Stella
factory and Selena factory
this April was a tragedy for all parties involved.? In a
welcome gesture, the
company pledged that it would ?pay the minimum wage to the
families of the workers
during the length of their sentence? and that it would
?support an appeals process?
for the sentenced workers.

According to CLB sources, however, lower-level managers at
some of Stella?s other
factories have recently been misinforming the workers ?
presumably in an attempt to
forestall any further protest incidents ? that those
convicted in the Xing Ang
factory protest trial were sentenced to ?as long as 10 or
15 years?
imprisonment?.

======================================================
ISRAELI AUTHORITIES SEEK TO DISMANTLE WAC-MAAN

WAC - Worker Advice Center (Ma'an)
Head Office: Jaffa, POB 41199 Israel 61411
Ph 972-3-6839145 Fax 972-3-6839148
Northern Office: Nazareth - Eastern Qua.
Ph 972-4-6462156 Fax 972-4-6462152
E - mail: wacnas@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx /  WebSite:
<http://www.workersadvicecenter.org/>
www.workersadvicecenter.org

Position Paper of November 15, 2004
Israeli Authorities Seek to Dismantle WAC-MAAN
(Workers Advice Center)
Stop the witch hunt!

The right to organize workers is fundamental and
inviolable!

The Registrar of Non-Profit Associations (NPA's) in Israel,
Attorney
Yaron Kedar, has decided to dismantle the Workers Advice
Center (WAC,
referred to as Ma'an in Arabic and Hebrew). He claims that
WAC has not
been acting in accordance with its stated goals: to defend
workers'
rights. Rather, he says, "The NPA acted in cooperation with
other NPA's
to advance the interests of the political party known as
the ODA" (the
Organization for Democratic Action - or Da'am in Arabic).
He states, in
particular, that WAC has served as a conduit of funds to
the ODA.

WAC rejects these claims. Since its registration as an NPA
in the year
2000, it has been devoting all its energy and resources to
advance the
interests of under-represented workers, especially Arabs,
by organizing
them into work teams, finding them jobs with construction
companies, and
representing them in their battles with Israeli
bureaucracy. All of
WAC's financial records were provided to the Registrar. He
did not find
a single shekel that went from WAC, or through WAC, to the
ODA.

Why then has he decided to dismantle WAC?

The story begins with the former Registrar, Amiram Boget.
He attempted
to deny registration to WAC. In May 2000 a Jerusalem court
forced him to
go through with it. One year later, however, Boget
undertook an
investigation on the pretext that "WAC is not fulfilling
the goals for
which it was established, and it is serving as camouflage
for political
activity." The spur was a complaint, but Boget refused to
divulge who
made it. With the release of the investigative report, the
source has at
last been revealed.  The complaint stemmed from a
disgruntled former
employee who had lost a personal lawsuit against WAC. After
giving false
testimony, he received permission from the Registrar to
found a rival
NPA.

The Registrar's investigator, in his report, cannot help
but acknowledge
that WAC carried on "energetic activity in the field of job
placement,"
but he goes on to say that the hidden purpose of this
activity has been
to advance the ODA. The hidden purpose? If it is hidden,
then how does
the Registrar know about it? Or is it no longer hidden? Has
he brought
the hidden purpose to light? But if so, why does he show no
evidence?
Apparently, WAC's purpose is still hidden, like the WMD in
Iraq!

In the investigative report we read that WAC, as well as
other NPA's it
cooperates with, "were established and operated by central
activists in
the ODA party." So what? The law permits a person to be
active both in a
political party and in an NPA. The ODA is legal. But the
Registrar has
certain persons in mind. In the 1980's, these persons were
accused of
contact with the PLO, and some sat in prison as a result.
That is the
nub of the vendetta. In the report we read the following
sentence: "As
communicated to me, these activists stem from 'Derekh
Hanitzotz." The
investigator then mentions them by name. The Registrar's
investigator
does not say what possible relevance this can have. Rather,
he conveys a
subliminal message: such people should not be allowed to
take part in an
NPA.

As for the ideational connection between WAC and the ODA,
no one has
ever denied its existence. Such a connection in no way
contravenes the
Law of NPA's. All the political parties in Israel maintain
ideational
connections, if not more, with NPA's.

As a public body, WAC belongs to its hundreds of members,
and they alone
have the right to determine the makeup of its institutions.

WAC's members today include more than 600 workers. It is
open to all,
without regard to nationality, gender, religious belief or
political
tendency. It is run by the workers together with its field
coordinators
in a spirit of cooperation and equality between Arab and
Jewish members.
The leaders are chosen in democratic elections. Some of
them are
identified indeed with a socialist orientation, but this
fact is subject
to the will of the membership. The members, and only they,
have the
right to determine who will serve in the leadership. They
and only they
have the right to determine WAC's policies and agenda. When
the
Registrar attempts to interfere with this process, he
violates the basic
rights of all WAC members.

In the last four years, WAC has signed wage agreements with
fifteen
construction companies, among them the largest in Israel.
It has ensured
jobs for hundreds of Israeli citizens. It is represented on
a regular
basis in the discussions of the Knesset Committee on
Migrant Workers. It
is recognized as a representative body by the Employment
Service and the
Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

The vendetta has a broader context, as revealed in a study
by the
Israeli Center for Third Sector Research (Ben-Gurion
University of the
Negev), headed by Professor Yitzhak Galnoor. This study
warns against
over-interference on the part of the authorities,
especially the
Registrar of NPA's, in the affairs of NPA's that work for
social change
- and that often find themselves, as a result, in
confrontation with the
government. Galnoor devotes a chapter to the relation
between the
Registrar and NPA's that work in the Arab sector. He finds
a clear
negative bias.

WAC's harassment should also be seen against the background
of the
socio-economic situation in Israel today. The government
has slashed
social welfare in recent years, pushing tens of thousands
outside the
network of social security. The towns of the periphery, and
especially
the Arab villages, have undergone social and economic
devastation. Given
its neo-liberal agenda, the government pursues
organizations like WAC,
which demand justice for the deprived and neglected.

WAC has opened a public campaign in Israel and abroad,
insisting on its
right to organize workers

WAC has no intention of rolling over backwards and yielding
to the
Registrar's decree. It has relations of solidarity and
cooperation with
labor unions throughout the world. We shall turn to these
unions,
including the International Labor Organization (ILO). The
"Convention
concerning Freedom of Association and Protection of the
Right to
Organise, Convention:C087," effective since 1950 - which
Israel joined
in 1957 - obliges all member states to grant freedom of
organization to
their workers, including the freedom to determine the
internal
regulations of their organizations, their plan of
operations, and the
choice of their leadership, as they see fit, without
interference from
the government.

WAC calls on all human-rights organizations, and on all who
care about
freedom of organization and freedom of speech in Israel, to
join its
struggle against the vendetta of the Registrar of NPA's.

A more detailed version of this position paper is available
on request.
For solidarity messages and questions, please contact WAC
at one of the
addresses listed at the top of this document.

WAC will soon issue a protest letter, which may be sent to
the relevant
Israeli Authorities by e-mail. If you, your trade union, or
your
organization wish to participate in this campaign,
pleasecontact:

Mr. Assaf Adiv - WAC's National Coordinator

 <mailto:asafadiv@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
asafadiv@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Tel: (M)
+972-57-7586198
=============================================================

GILDAN CONTINUES TO VIOLATE LABOR RIGHTS!

Write today to Gildan to admonish it for such behavior!
Gildan must comply with FLA requirements and meet
responsibilities to its Honduran workers by November 30!

Please find below:

* Update
* Action Request
* Sample Institutional Letter to Gildan
* Background Information

The current situation is that the Fair Labor Association
has given Gildan Activewear a deadline: Gildan must comply
with FLA demands by November 30 or its FLA membership will
be terminated December 10.  Gildan's refusal to
acknowledge its responsibility in this situation
illustrates standard corporate behavior in the face of
worker organizing.

The Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) and Fair Labor
Association (FLA) investigations of Gildan's Honduras
factories have demonstrated the existence a concerted
anti-union attitude.  You can access the FLA report at
http://www.maquilasolidarity.org/campaigns/gildan/index.htm

Gildan should make reparations or be sanctioned, especially
in
light of the fact that there are other Gildan factories in
the Americas which could suffer the same consequence if
Gildan is not stopped now.  We can still win by ensuring
that Gildan will not get away with worker rights
violations with impunity!

Campaign for Labor Rights and SweatFree Communities
support the FLA demands but we also continue to insist
that the closure of El Progreso factory is unacceptable
and demand that Gildan compensate all the laid-off workers
from El Progreso factory.

Please take action by writing a letter to Gildan today
and/or asking your school, religious organization or local
government to do the same.  Because Gildan's main market
is supplying institutions with blank t-shirts, this is a
good opportunity to join with local organizations to tell
Gildan that they must comply with the FLA demands and meet
the needs of the laid-off workers.  Gildan is susceptible
to our pressure!

************************
ACTION REQUEST
************************

Please contact Gildan immediately to insist it complies
with FLA demands for continued Association membership and
meets its responsibilities to El Progreso workers. See
sample letter to Gildan below.
(Please send a copy to MSN info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx)

The letter can be sent to Gildan via:

E-mail: slemay@xxxxxxxxxx
Fax: 514-735-6810
Mail:
Stephane Lemay, Vice-President, Public and Legal Affairs
Gildan Activewear
725 Montee de Liesse
Montreal, Quebec
H4T 1P5
CANADA
To call Stephane Lemay: 514-734-8394

***********************
SAMPLE LETTER
***********************

NOTE: This letter should be adapted for individuals or
institutions; the options are in brackets below.

Stephane Lemay, Vice President, Public and Legal Affairs
Gildan Activewear
725 Montée de Liesse
Montréal, Québec H4T 1P5
Canada

Dear Mr. Lemay,

I am writing [on behalf of myself and (institution)] to
urge your timely compliance with the Fair Labor
Association demands for continued membership in the
Association.  [We will not make any further Gildan
purchases until]/ [I insist] you satisfy the FLA
requirements for continued membership and meet your
responsibilities towards the laid-off El Progreso workers.

Cutting and running from your responsibilities to El
Progreso workers in Honduras was unacceptable.  Both the
FLA and Worker Rights Consortium investigations have
evidenced serious worker rights violations at El Progreso:
violations of work hours, overtime and holiday pay laws,
discrimination against pregnant workers, sexual
harassment, and the systematic firing of workers who tried
to organize a union in order to improve conditions.  Faced
with these findings, Gildan should have taken immediate
corrective action rather than closing the El Progreso
factory and sending 1,800 workers out on the streets.  The
plant closing has further victimized workers who toiled in
dismal conditions, and has sent a clear message to other
workers in Honduras and in Gildan factories elsewhere:
Don't try to organize a union.

[We]/[I] urge you to fully comply with the conditions set
by the Fair Labor Association for Gildan's continued
membership in the Association without delay.  [We]/[I]
look for your corrective action to include full back pay
to all unjustly fired union supporters from the date of
their firings to the date of the factory closure;
first-hire job opportunities for laid-off El Progreso
workers; assistance to those workers to find employment at
other factories in the free trade zones; and protection
against blacklisting at those factories.  In accordance
with the FLA demands, we also look for your public
acknowledgement of the violations of workers'
associational rights in El Progreso, effective
communication to your remaining Honduras workers of their
freedom of association, and, worker rights training on
freedom of association open to all workers (not just a
selected group of workers).

If you want be recognized for quality garments made by a
high-quality company, you will take these steps, proving
you are serious about respecting workers' rights. [We]/[I]
will continue to follow this case closely.

Sincerely,
[your name]

**************************************************************************
FLA AND WRC FINDINGS:
SYSTEMATIC LEGAL AND WORKER RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
***************************************************************************


Two third-party independent monitors, the Worker Rights
Consortium (WRC) and the Fair Labor Association (FLA),
found serious labor law and worker rights violations at a
Gildan Activewear owned and operated sewing facility in El
Progreso, Honduras.
  Violations include the deliberate and systematic firing
of workers over a two-year period in order to prevent the
formation of a union.  Both the monitoring organizations
have since denounced the factory closing as a clear code
of conduct violation that will have a negative effect on
the free exercise of associational rights by workers
throughout Gildan's operations.

*Freedom of Association - Violations of Article 128 of
Honduran Constitution and Article 469 of Honduran Labor
Code

The WRC "identified overwhelming evidence... that Gildan
Activewear El Progreso management deliberately targeted
union supporters for dismissal in violation of Honduran
laws protecting workers' right to associate freely and to
form unions."  Similarly, workers reported to the FLA that
"they are not free to organize or participate in any kind
of activities that would indicate a desire to form a union
and if known by Gildan management would result in
termination of employment."  Furthermore, according to the
WRC, the timing of Gildan's closure decision
"constitute[s] a strong circumstantial case that a desire
to avoid unionization was a significant factor in Gildan
Activewear's decision to close the El Progreso facility."
 The FLA says that Gildan's decision to close the El
Progreso factory "[raises] questions about its commitment
to freedom of association."  As a result, the FLA took the
unprecedented step of placing Gildan, an FLA member, on a
90-day period of special review, and has now put a
deadline for the termination of its membership in the FLA
at December 10, 2004.

*Sexual Abuse - Violation of Article 60 of the Honduran
Labor Law for Equal Opportunities for Women

The WRC concluded that, "the factory doctor has on
repeated occasions subjected women workers to
inappropriate and sexually intrusive contact in the course
of medical examinations."  The FLA reports workers
testifying that, "the doctor at the factory has examined
workers' personal areas without having ailments that would
require him to do so."

*Wages and Working Hours - Violations of Articles 128,
300, 322, 326, 339, and 344 of
 the Honduran Labor Code

Both the FLA and the WRC found that: workers were not paid
for their lunch breaks; workers were routinely required to
work on statutory holidays and compensated at the normal
wage rate rather than the legally mandated holiday wage;
that work shifts exceeded the legally established workday;
and that workers were paid at the normal wage rate rather
than the legally required overtime rate.

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