From: P1d2o3b@aol.com
Date: Sat Nov 03 2001 - 12:00:19 EST
Dear Friends who profoundly understand we need mutually beneficial
agreements between worker in the US and the PRC,
Please study the following and do what you can to encourage
UNITE, AFLCIO, ICFTU and
ACFTU leaders to begin serious efforts to find common ground.
Lines drawn by this case will harden.
The imperative of meeting capital globalization
with labor internationalism will be ignored.
If things do not move forward, they
move backward.
This time it will be our children and grandchildren
in the US who suffer.
peggy powell dobbins, phd
sociologist and artist
aft 2115 aflcio retired
404 523 6685
404840 6209
<A HREF="http://www.international-behind-the-barcode.org/">International
Behind the Barcode</A>
Women In Time Change History
> Subj: [usas] Update! Saipan Sweatshop Trail Will Go On, Fed Judge Says
> Date: 11/3/01 5:32:07 AM Eastern Standard Time
> From: SIUHIN@aol.com
> To: actionla@regenerationtv.net
>
> Updates! Federal Court Judge Rejects Motion to Dismiss Landmark Sweatshop
> Class Action Against Saipan Garment Factories!
> - The Gap, Target and Other Retailers First Case to Hold Retailers
> Accountable for Factory Sweatshop Abuses Will Proceed to Trial
> October 29, 2001
> By: Sweatshop Watch
> http://www.sweatshopwatch.org
>
> In a closely-watched human rights case, a U.S. District Judge in the
> Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands today upheld the complaint in
a
>
> class action lawsuit alleging sweatshop conditions on the Western Pacific
> Island of Saipan. This ruling allows the case to proceed to trial.
>
> According to the complaint, more than 13,000 garment workers in Saipan
often
>
> work 12-hour days, seven days a week, in unsafe, unclean conditions that
> violate U.S. labor laws. In a 55-page decision, U.S. District Judge Alex
R.
> Munson held that these allegations, if proven at trial, were sufficient to
> establish liability of both the factories and retailers for engaging in a
> "conspiracy" to use peonage labor in violation of racketeering laws.
>
> "We won another important round today," said Al Meyerhoff of Milberg Weiss
> Bershad Hynes & Lerach LLP and a lead attorney for the plaintiffs. "The
> Saipan workers are going to get their day in court. This case is going to
> trial," continued Meyerhoff.
>
> Addressing the plaintiffs' claims that the Saipan's sweatshop industry is
> dependent on indentured foreign labor, the court stated:
>
> "When the labor is tied to a debt owed to the employer and the employer
> physically
> coerces the worker to labor until the debt is paid or the consequences of
> failing to
> work to pay off the debt are so severe and outside the customary legal
> remedy
> that
> the worker is compelled to labor, a condition of peonage results, and this
> is
> the
> essence of plaintiffs' allegations."
>
> One of the primary claims in the lawsuit is that the Saipan garment
industry
>
> employs foreign workers, primarily young women from the People's Republic
of
>
> China, who were required to sign "shadow contracts" waiving their basic
> human
> rights. These workers were also allegedly forced to pay "recruitment fees"
> as
> high as $7,000 just to come to the U.S., creating an indentured status
that
> has been illegal in the United States since the civil war.
>
> In seeking to be dismissed from the suit, the retailers claimed they could
> not be legally responsible for the actions of factory owners since they
were
>
> just "customers."
>
> The federal court granted in part and denied in part defendants' motion to
> dismiss the action, upholding the RICO claims but disallowing certain
other
> claims "without prejudice" to plaintiffs' amending the complaint to
include
> more detail or allegations of "state action" involving the People's
Republic
>
> of China.
>
> "Since China's role in violating human rights on American soil is
manifest,
> we should have little difficulty adding state action allegations," said
> Michael Rubin of Altshuler Berzon Nussbaum Rubin & Demain and a lead
> attorney
> for the plaintiffs. "China even owns several of the factories," continued
> Rubin.
>
> Since the case was filed in 1999, nineteen retailers have settled the
claims
>
> against them and agreed to a rigorous system of independent monitoring at
> the
> Saipan factories of contractors that produce their clothes. The settlement
> provides for a multi-million dollar fund and requires retailers to ensure
> that their Saipan factories comply with strict employment standards,
> including guaranteeing overtime pay for overtime work, providing safe food
> and drinking water, and respecting employees' basic human rights.
> Unfortunately, the factory owners, together with The Gap, Target, JC
Penney,
>
> Levi Strauss, and others have blocked the other retailers' settlements by
> using delay tactics in the courts.
>
> Earlier this month, in a separate but related action solely against the
> Saipan factory owners for requiring "volunteer work" to meet production
> quotas in violation of American overtime laws, Judge Munson ordered that
> some
> 20,000 current and former garment workers in several countries be provided
> notice of their right to submit claims for back wages. And the complaint
in
> a
> California state court case against The Gap and other retailers for
alleged
> false advertising and fraud in claiming only to sell "sweatshop free"
goods
> has also been previously upheld.
>
> The defendants include many major U.S. retailers and dozens of largely
> foreign factory owners, including Hong Kong businessman, Willie Tan, head
of
>
> Tan Holdings.
> The plaintiffs are represented by the San Diego firm of Milberg Weiss
> Bershad
> Hynes & Lerach LLP and the San Francisco firm of Altshuler Berzon Nussbaum
> Rubin & Demain.
>
>
> Updates! Federal Court Judge Rejects Motion to Dismiss Landmark Sweatshop
> Class Action Against Saipan Garment Factories!
>
> - The Gap, Target and Other Retailers First Case to Hold Retailers
> Accountable for Factory Sweatshop Abuses Will Proceed to Trial
> October 29, 2001
> By: Sweatshop Watch
> http://www.sweatshopwatch.org
>
> In a closely-watched human rights case, a U.S. District Judge in the
> Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands today upheld the complaint in
a
> class action lawsuit alleging sweatshop conditions on the Western Pacific
> Island of Saipan. This ruling allows the case to proceed to trial.
>
> According to the complaint, more than 13,000 garment workers in Saipan
often
> work 12-hour days, seven days a week, in unsafe, unclean conditions that
> violate U.S. labor laws. In a 55-page decision, U.S. District Judge Alex R.
> Munson held that these allegations, if proven at trial, were sufficient to
> establish liability of both the factories and retailers for engaging in a "
> conspiracy" to use peonage labor in violation of racketeering laws.
>
> "We won another important round today," said Al Meyerhoff of Milberg Weiss
> Bershad Hynes & Lerach LLP and a lead attorney for the plaintiffs. "The
> Saipan workers are going to get their day in court. This case is going to
> trial," continued Meyerhoff.
>
> Addressing the plaintiffs' claims that the Saipan's sweatshop industry is
> dependent on indentured foreign labor, the court stated:
>
> "When the labor is tied to a debt owed to the employer and the employer
> physically
> coerces the worker to labor until the debt is paid or the consequences of
> failing to
> work to pay off the debt are so severe and outside the customary legal
> remedy that
> the worker is compelled to labor, a condition of peonage results, and this
> is the
> essence of plaintiffs' allegations."
>
> One of the primary claims in the lawsuit is that the Saipan garment
industry
> employs foreign workers, primarily young women from the People's Republic
of
> China, who were required to sign "shadow contracts" waiving their basic
human
> rights. These workers were also allegedly forced to pay "recruitment fees"
as
> high as $7,000 just to come to the U.S., creating an indentured status that
> has been illegal in the United States since the civil war.
>
> In seeking to be dismissed from the suit, the retailers claimed they could
> not be legally responsible for the actions of factory owners since they
were
> just "customers."
>
> The federal court granted in part and denied in part defendants' motion to
> dismiss the action, upholding the RICO claims but disallowing certain other
> claims "without prejudice" to plaintiffs' amending the complaint to include
> more detail or allegations of "state action" involving the People's
Republic
> of China.
>
> "Since China's role in violating human rights on American soil is
manifest,
> we should have little difficulty adding state action allegations," said
> Michael Rubin of Altshuler Berzon Nussbaum Rubin & Demain and a lead
> attorney for the plaintiffs. "China even owns several of the factories,"
> continued Rubin.
>
> Since the case was filed in 1999, nineteen retailers have settled the
claims
> against them and agreed to a rigorous system of independent monitoring at
the
> Saipan factories of contractors that produce their clothes. The settlement
> provides for a multi-million dollar fund and requires retailers to ensure
> that their Saipan factories comply with strict employment standards,
> including guaranteeing overtime pay for overtime work, providing safe food
> and drinking water, and respecting employees' basic human rights.
> Unfortunately, the factory owners, together with The Gap, Target, JC
Penney,
> Levi Strauss, and others have blocked the other retailers' settlements by
> using delay tactics in the courts.
>
> Earlier this month, in a separate but related action solely against the
> Saipan factory owners for requiring "volunteer work" to meet production
> quotas in violation of American overtime laws, Judge Munson ordered that
some
> 20,000 current and former garment workers in several countries be provided
> notice of their right to submit claims for back wages. And the complaint in
a
> California state court case against The Gap and other retailers for alleged
> false advertising and fraud in claiming only to sell "sweatshop free" goods
> has also been previously upheld.
>
> The defendants include many major U.S. retailers and dozens of largely
> foreign factory owners, including Hong Kong businessman, Willie Tan, head
of
> Tan Holdings.
> The plaintiffs are represented by the San Diego firm of Milberg Weiss
> Bershad Hynes & Lerach LLP and the San Francisco firm of Altshuler Berzon
> Nussbaum Rubin & Demain.
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> Subject: [usas] Update! Saipan Sweatshop Trail Will Go On, Fed Judge Says
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attached mail follows:
Updates! Federal Court Judge Rejects Motion to Dismiss Landmark Sweatshop
Class Action Against Saipan Garment Factories!
- The Gap, Target and Other Retailers First Case to Hold Retailers
Accountable for Factory Sweatshop Abuses Will Proceed to Trial
October 29, 2001
By: Sweatshop Watch
http://www.sweatshopwatch.org
In a closely-watched human rights case, a U.S. District Judge in the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands today upheld the complaint in a
class action lawsuit alleging sweatshop conditions on the Western Pacific
Island of Saipan. This ruling allows the case to proceed to trial.
According to the complaint, more than 13,000 garment workers in Saipan often
work 12-hour days, seven days a week, in unsafe, unclean conditions that
violate U.S. labor laws. In a 55-page decision, U.S. District Judge Alex R.
Munson held that these allegations, if proven at trial, were sufficient to
establish liability of both the factories and retailers for engaging in a
"conspiracy" to use peonage labor in violation of racketeering laws.
"We won another important round today," said Al Meyerhoff of Milberg Weiss
Bershad Hynes & Lerach LLP and a lead attorney for the plaintiffs. "The
Saipan workers are going to get their day in court. This case is going to
trial," continued Meyerhoff.
Addressing the plaintiffs' claims that the Saipan's sweatshop industry is
dependent on indentured foreign labor, the court stated:
"When the labor is tied to a debt owed to the employer and the employer
physically
coerces the worker to labor until the debt is paid or the consequences of
failing to
work to pay off the debt are so severe and outside the customary legal remedy
that
the worker is compelled to labor, a condition of peonage results, and this is
the
essence of plaintiffs' allegations."
One of the primary claims in the lawsuit is that the Saipan garment industry
employs foreign workers, primarily young women from the People's Republic of
China, who were required to sign "shadow contracts" waiving their basic human
rights. These workers were also allegedly forced to pay "recruitment fees" as
high as $7,000 just to come to the U.S., creating an indentured status that
has been illegal in the United States since the civil war.
In seeking to be dismissed from the suit, the retailers claimed they could
not be legally responsible for the actions of factory owners since they were
just "customers."
The federal court granted in part and denied in part defendants' motion to
dismiss the action, upholding the RICO claims but disallowing certain other
claims "without prejudice" to plaintiffs' amending the complaint to include
more detail or allegations of "state action" involving the People's Republic
of China.
"Since China's role in violating human rights on American soil is manifest,
we should have little difficulty adding state action allegations," said
Michael Rubin of Altshuler Berzon Nussbaum Rubin & Demain and a lead attorney
for the plaintiffs. "China even owns several of the factories," continued
Rubin.
Since the case was filed in 1999, nineteen retailers have settled the claims
against them and agreed to a rigorous system of independent monitoring at the
Saipan factories of contractors that produce their clothes. The settlement
provides for a multi-million dollar fund and requires retailers to ensure
that their Saipan factories comply with strict employment standards,
including guaranteeing overtime pay for overtime work, providing safe food
and drinking water, and respecting employees' basic human rights.
Unfortunately, the factory owners, together with The Gap, Target, JC Penney,
Levi Strauss, and others have blocked the other retailers' settlements by
using delay tactics in the courts.
Earlier this month, in a separate but related action solely against the
Saipan factory owners for requiring "volunteer work" to meet production
quotas in violation of American overtime laws, Judge Munson ordered that some
20,000 current and former garment workers in several countries be provided
notice of their right to submit claims for back wages. And the complaint in a
California state court case against The Gap and other retailers for alleged
false advertising and fraud in claiming only to sell "sweatshop free" goods
has also been previously upheld.
The defendants include many major U.S. retailers and dozens of largely
foreign factory owners, including Hong Kong businessman, Willie Tan, head of
Tan Holdings.
The plaintiffs are represented by the San Diego firm of Milberg Weiss Bershad
Hynes & Lerach LLP and the San Francisco firm of Altshuler Berzon Nussbaum
Rubin & Demain.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Mon Oct 28 2002 - 02:52:31 EST