From: S Webb (sfwebb@usa.net)
Date: Mon Apr 01 2002 - 09:32:21 EST
Forwarded from Ginger Gentile:
<Special shortened WRC board notes for USAS>
Dear USASistas,
The WRC board meeting held on March 1st was exciting as the relationship
between USAS and the WRC was a central point of discussion. While no
concrete proposals have been hammered out as of yet, University
Administrators, Advisory Council members and USAS delegates all agreed
that the relationship between the WRC and USAS needs to be solidified and
improved. However, concern was also expressed that the WRC needs to be
able to
remain independent, as the findings of the WRC are judged not only on
their thoroughness, but on their objectivity. USAS and the WRC have a
close relationship (USASistas serve on the board, USAS utilizes the
findings of the WRC), but must retain the present separate one in which
each organization pursues a separate strategy.
Greater efforts will be made by board members and WRC staff to educate
universities and USASistas about the work of the WRC. The WRC will
consider having a formalized internship for students to work on specific
projects, possibly in producing regions, and holding conferences with an
educational focus. Ideas were also tossed around concerning a
newsletter. In addition, the USAS board reps will work with the WRC staff
to improve lines of communication. Please let us reps know what you want
us to do for you!
Executive Director Scott Nova has had success in securing more funding
for the WRC than anticipated and is looking towards creating new staff
positions. The WRC has just hired Hee-Won Khym to be the outreach
director to mainly overseas NGOs and workers. Khym is fluent in Spanish
and
Korean. She started doing labor rights work as an undergrad at Boston
College. She is now finishing up her last semester at the Columbia
University School for International and Public Affairs where she will
receive her MA. Kim is also a union summer grad! The WRC is using Kim
as a consultant until her graduation in May. She did initial research for
the WRC BJ&B investigation in the DR. The WRC will also hopefully soon
fill a
research and investigations staff position. Both of these positions are
senior
staff positions
A small schools (i.e., non-licensing) working group will be created.
This group will include non-board members. Its purpose will be to
discover
new ways to include small schools in the work of the WRC, as some feel
that
this constituency is not able to fully participate because they are
unable to threaten the continuation of contracts.
Report backs on new and ongoing investigations:
BJB is one of the oldest apparel factories in Latin America, mainly Nike
hats but more and more Reebok. The first thing the WRC did was to
contact
Nike, because there was good evidence of illegal firings due to union
activity. We need them to get rehired immediately. In December they did
acknowledge the problem but did not take action. In December Hee-Won Kim
and Scott Nova did preliminary work, and it became clear that 20 workers
have been fired. The WRC then contacted the FLA and requested that they
contact their member brands, which they did. Several days later Nike
insisted to the factory
management that they reinstate the workers. Only 14 wanted to go back,
though others have been reinstated who were supporters and fired on a
separate occasion. However, the workers who were reinstated are still
being harassed. The WRC then did a full investigation. The team
included
Suzanne Webb, USAS board rep, and Rutt Tuffs, Administrator board rep, as
observers. They were both impressed by the investigation.
The WRC wants managers to write a statement that right to organize will
be
respected; this will be posted, read and published in newspapers (as the
local community is anti-union out of fear that a union will cause the
factory to relocate).
In return, the FLA will get the info that the WRC gathered from workers
(which the WRC wanted them to have anyway because it is public
information). Hopefully, the report will be out by mid-March. Also, the
government granted recognition to the union representatives. This confers
egal protection to the workers. The lesson is that the investigation
process can be a mediation, and encourage government interaction.
Rutt Tuffs said that as the WRC team only had to confirm violations,
instead of verifying the entire factory, the investigation was more
streamlined and efficient. The message that will come back to the
universities is that "your code is being violated, and this is how it
should be fixed."
PT Dada is located outside of Jakarta, Indonesia and also makes hats and
stuffed toys in a facility that employs more than 3,000 workers.
The factory was helpful in letting team into the factory during a
week-long
investigation that occurred during February (the report has just been
made public!). The team included Indonesian and Australian health and
safety experts, a representative from the Asian-monitor resource center,
Mark Barenberg of Columbia Law School and WRC Advisory Council member and
an Indonesian labor law expert from a well respected Indonesian
organization that works in the areas of worker education, health and
safety, and legal defense for workers and unionists. Maria Roeper, WRC
staff member, was also part of the team.
PT Dada was brought to the attention of the WRC after there was a wildcat
strike in the factory in July. There was an agreement between the
management and there are three unions, which makes the situation
complicated (multiple unions are allowed to represent different workers
in
the same factory under Indonesian law). Workers did not issue a formal
complaint to the WRC but during the investigation workers complained
about:
Unsafe working conditions
Lack of safety equipment.
Footwear issue (workers not being allowed to wear shoes) which had been
resolved by the time the team got there.
Discrimination against Muslim prayer (not allowing time for pray and
washing ritual), sexual harassment, denial of sick leave, breach of
contract, overtime, improper payment, and severe harassment about union
organizing. Workers are scared as being identified for talking to the
WRC. Workers have been harassed for being perceived to have brought
about
a WRC investigation
This is a very serious allegation. But there has been improvement. One
abusive manager has been fired (in part due to the involvement of Adidas).
However, he has been transferred to another factory in China.
The abuses that the WRC team found have just been released in a public
report.
Agatha Schmadik (who participated in the USAS sponsored Collegiate
Apparel and Research Initiative this summer in Indonesia) and Bhumika
Machala
(USAS staffer)get credit for their hard work in preparing for the
investigation. Bhumika did detailed interviews with PT Dada workers last
spring for the WRC, before she was hired by USAS. Agatha, who speaks
fluent Indonesian, spend almost a month setting up interviews for the WRC
before the full team arrived. Both Bhumika and Agatha were doing
research solely for the use of the WRC.
New Era: The WRC has not issued a final report because we hope we will be
able to access to information to see if their denials of the initial
findings of last spring are accurate. A week and a half ago they put out
a long rebuttal. It was sent to some universities and we got it later.
We responded with an assessment of value, but this is incomplete.
There have been new bargaining sessions. It is unclear if this is
leading
towards ending the strike or not. A number of schools have terminated
contracts. The WRC has not asked for contracts to be terminated, but
suggests that New Era only responds to strong pressure. The WRC came
across a cap from NC that was produced in China. New Era did not
disclose a Chinese factory. The CLC did produce a significant amount of
hats in
China. New Era said it was an oversight. New Era has been attackin both
the WRC and the schools for believing the WRC report.
Kuk Dong: there are new negotiations within the Union. There is an
expectation of new orders from Nike, confidence that it will get these
orders back.
The USAS board reps are:
Suzanne Webb, who is also chairperson of the board-University of Kentucky
sfwebb@u... 859.389.9213
Ginger Gentile-Columbia University
gsg15@c... 212.853.5104
Trina Tocco-Western Michigan University
Talkalot@h... 616.873.1000
Matt Teaman-Ohio State University
Taxtherich@h... 614.291.2636
Shahar Sapir-Florida State University
Sapirshahar@h... 850.681.2317
Get ready for the election this spring to replace Ginger and Suzanne, who
will be both graduating in May! Contact a board rep if you want to run
ASAP! Even though the deadline has passed, we will still be able to take
applications for another week or so.
Thanks, The USASistas on the WRC board!
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Mon Oct 28 2002 - 02:52:32 EST