[PEN-L:1831] Re: Urgent Action request (fwd)

[D Shniad <shniad@xxxxxx>]

Forwarded message:
Date: Fri, 8 Dec 95 20:23:54 -0500 (EST)
From: lcitglwf@xxxxxxxxxxx (Laura Carter)
To: shniad@xxxxxx
Subject: Re: Urgent Action request


December 8 1995

FROM: INTERNATIONAL TEXTILE, GARMENT AND LEATHER WORKERS' FEDERATION (ITGLWF)


"USE INFLUENCE TO FORCE CHANGE", GAP URGED



The GAP has been urged to reconsider its decision to withdraw from El
Salvador following serious and continuing allegations of unfair labour
practices by its local contractor, Mandarin International, and to instead
use its influence to ensure that worker rights are implemented as
rigorously as quality of production and speed of delivery in all its
sourcing contracts.

In a letter sent today to El Salvador's Minister of Labour Juan Cifontes,
Neil Kearney, General Secretary of the Brussels-based International
Textile, Garment and Leather Workers' Federation (ITGLWF) regretted the
GAP's decision to pull out of the country but warned that continuing
abuses of worker rights in the maquila sector were tarnishing the
country's reputation in international markets.

Said Kearney: "In a world of modern communications, such abuses can no
longer be  hidden from the eyes of the world.  Companies know that
consumers care about how their garments are produced, and the GAP's
withdrawal from a company which had embarked on a vicious union-busting
campaign is therefore not surprising".

"However, pulling out of the country would be damaging to workers'
interests, and accordingly we have urged the GAP to consider sourcing
instead from reputable suppliers in El Salvador who are committed to
providing fair and reasonable wages and working conditions, to upholding
the right to organise and bargain collectively, and to respecting local
labour laws".

Kearney further called on the Minister of Labour to launch a campaign to
persuade employers to promote harmony by accepting workers' inalienable
right to freedom of association and the right to bargain collectively.
"Such a campaign would help the clothing industry become a strong and
viable sector capable of providing well-paid and secure jobs and making a
positive contribution to national development, and would encourage
companies such as the GAP to continue to source their production in El
Salvador", he concluded.

	- ENDS -


The Brussels-based International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers'
Federation is an International Trade Secretariat which brings together
200 affiliates in 100 countries worldwide with a combined membership of
over 7 million workers.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: NEIL KEARNEY (Tel: 32/2/512 26 06 and
32/2/512 28 330)


Ref: LC 1395