[Marxism] Fla. Garment workers expose sale of faulty body army for GIs

[<ffeldman@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

The Militant, June 13, 2005
Florida garment workers denounce war profiteering
Point Blank bosses sold faulty body armor to Marines
lead article

BY MARK HAMM
MIAMI?Point Blank Body Armor has become the focus of a controversy. The company 
sold the U.S. Marine Corps 19,000 bulletproof vests that failed the military?s 
own quality tests, heightening safety concerns among GIs deployed in combat 
situations in Iraq and Afghanistan. In face of damaging media coverage, on May 
4 the Marines recalled about half of the 10,000 faulty vests that were given to 
U.S. troops.
The company has reaped hefty profits from Washington?s wars and occupation of 
Afghanistan and Iraq. DHB Industries, Point Blank?s parent company, has 
expanded dramatically to meet the military?s demands for one million vests. It 
opened two new, nonunion factories in Florida last year in addition to its now 
unionized plant in Oakland Park, just north of Ft. Lauderdale, near Miami, and 
saw its revenue jump from $130 million in 2003 to $230 million last year.

A number of workers at Point Blank were not surprised to hear about the 
Marines? recall of vests. In a number of interviews, workers at the Oakland 
Park plant said the recently reported quality defects are the result of top 
management decisions and policies aimed at maximizing profits.

Workers at that plant fought a hard battle to organize into the UNITE garment 
workers union in response to abusive working conditions and low wages. During 
that fight workers themselves pointed to the company?s responsibility for 
quality defects and how these problems potentially jeopardized soldiers in 
combat. At the same time, they rejected the company?s demand that they end 
their union fight in the name of backing the war effort. After a two-year-long 
struggle, including a six-month strike, the workers won their first union 
contract in April 2004.

Workers said they have had firsthand experience with the bosses? chiseling 
tactics and efforts to cut corners in order to squeeze out more profits. Old, 
broken-down sewing machines, for example, make their jobs harder and unsafe.

Before the union victory, the company would grant no wage increases beyond a 
50-cent raise after the first six months of work, which brought wages to $6 an 
hour, workers report. In their first contract last year, the unionists won 
annual pay raises?a gain that workers at the company?s other plants in south 
Florida said was extended to them as well.

Union condemns defective products
During their union fight, workers pointed to the company?s use of outdated 
bullet-resistant textiles in vests sold to the New York City police. The 
company felt compelled to replace 1,000 vests free of charge.

In a September 2002 press release, during the strike, UNITE quoted workers at 
Point Blank who said they were ?routinely told by management to sew incorrect 
size labels into bulletproof vests, and to fill orders with improperly sized 
vests after switching the labels.? The union noted the problems that the sizing 
of the protective gear created for soldiers in Afghanistan.

The union statement also noted ?problems documented by a U.S. Army survey of 
troops in Afghanistan? regarding improper sizing of body armor used by the 
soldiers.

The company responded by suing UNITE officials in December 2002, claiming they 
had defamed Point Blank with false and misleading information about the safety 
of the vests. The suit was settled as part of the agreement that resulted in 
union recognition at the Oakland Park plant, according to UNITE press secretary 
Amanda Cooper.

This year, police departments in the southern United States won a settlement 
from Point Blank to replace vests manufactured with Zylon, a material that 
loses its resistance to bullet penetration after only six months when exposed 
to light.

While some workers expressed concern that quality questions might jeopardize 
their jobs by hurting the business, most of those interviewed by the Militant 
said the revelations vindicated the union?s stance. ?The Marine Corps should 
refuse to buy Point Blank vests if they think they are no good,? said one union 
member, who asked not to be identified by name.

Unionists maintain that quality defects are the result of top management 
decisions, not worker incompetence, and should be corrected. ?Whatever she 
says, that?s what quality control does,? another worker said, referring to 
Point Blank chief executive Sandra Hatfield.

Failed quality tests
According to the May 9 Defense News, last year ?the Marine Corps accepted 
19,000 Interceptor outer tactical vests (OTVs) from Point Blank Body Armor that 
failed government tests due to ?multiple complete penetrations? by 9mm pistol 
rounds? and other quality checks. Ballistics specialists at two government 
agencies, the Army Soldier Systems Center in Natick, Massachusetts, and the 
Defense Contract Management Agency, recommended the Marines reject the 
questionable vests.

One of the 800 internal memos released to the Marine Corps Times under the 
Freedom of information Act as part of an eight-month investigation, states, 
?The technical office is obligated to report?what we believe are major 
performance and quality assurance problems with this contractor. Ballistic 
failures started to occur in January 2003?. [Other agencies] have also 
identified major quality assurance deficiencies within Point Blank but without 
resolution to the satisfaction of either agency or the government COTR. 
(Contracting Officer Technical Representative). The COTR highly recommends 
disciplinary action against the contractor to resolve the issue. Instances of 
this nature have been occurring regularly over the past year?. I urge immediate 
action since this technical office has little confidence in the performance of 
the items to provide the contracted levels of protection.?

Instead, company executive Hatfield and Lt. Col. Gabriel Patricio of the 
Marines signed waivers allowing the purchase and delivery of the body armor.

On May 4, however, faced with the imminent publication of a growing body of 
evidence by the Marine Corps Times, the Marines recalled 5,277 
Interceptors?about half of the rejected vests that were issued to the soldiers.

The president of DHB Industries, Gen. Larry Ellis (Ret.), dismissed doubts 
about the quality of the vests. ?We categorically stand behind the quality and 
effectiveness of Interceptor OTVs manufactured by Point Blank,? he said in a 
company press release.

?The vests are performing in the only test that matters?live combat,? DHB 
executive vice president Col. Ishmon Burks (Ret.) told the press.

The Marine Corps has made no purchases from Point Blank so far in 2005, 
although it has an order for 9,000 vests outstanding. The Army, which says it 
has never waivered test results for body armor, continues to do business, 
however, having accepted 500,000 vests to date and providing the bulk of a half 
billion dollar backlog of orders.

Despite Point Blank?s surge in profits in 2004, its stock plummeted by more 
than 60 percent in the first three months of this year. This drop followed a 
massive sell-off in December by DHB executives, shortly after a big U.S. Army 
contract was announced.

On May 3, the day before the Marines announced their recall of Point Blank 
vests, DHB announced it had named a new president, retired army general Larry 
Ellis.




_______________________________________________
Marxism mailing list
Marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism