From: Trina Tocco (talkalot83@hotmail.com)
Date: Wed Jun 26 2002 - 23:40:57 EDT
"Make a Phone Call for Justice!
Call The Children's Place Retails Stores, Inc. to demand they stop selling
goods from Burma. The customer service number is: 1-877 PLACE USA Monday
through Friday: 9:00AM to 6:00 PM EST.
WHY:
In the past month, many people have written emails to The Children's Place
Stores calling on the company to stop supporting dictators by selling goods
from Burma. The messages have either been ignored or have received a lame
form response about the company's code of conduct, which does not address
the issue of products from Burma--the response even says they follow all
applicable laws--pretty funny considering Burma's notoriously brutal
military regime rules by decree!
WHEN:
This week (June 24-28), we urge people to respond to The Children's Place by
calling the company directly and talking to them about why they should cut
ties to Burma. Please be polite, but firm - it is time for this company to
listen to the truth about how their business ties to Burma are helping to
perpetuate human rights abuses.
Points to make in your phone call:
· The Children's Place Retail Stores has a large percentage of their
products made in Burma.
· By selling goods from Burma, The Children's Place helps make A LOT of
money for Burma's military regime. The regime taxes exports from Burma at a
very high rate.
· By operating in Burma, The Children's Place is providing a cover of
legitimacy for Burma's military regime. In reality, there are 50,000 child
soldiers in Burma--more than anywhere else in the world. There is also more
forced labor than anywhere else in the world.
· Factories in Burma, including garment factories, are closely tied to
forced labor and unsafe working conditions. Forced labor - including forced
child labor - is used in the construction of some of Burma’s factories and
infrastructure, as documented in the most recent human rights report issued
by the U.S. State Department.
· Other companies have agreed to stop stocking products from Burma,
including Wal-Mart, TJX, Ames Department Stores, IKEA, Williams Sonoma,
Crate & Barrel, Costco, and Family Dollar.
· Burma's elected leadership, led by 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San
Suu Kyi, has called on companies to steer clear of Burma until the country
has democracy. As in South Africa during the 1980s, the people of Burma
don't want the companies there!
· Until The Children's Place stops supporting dictators, you will be
BOYCOTTING THEIR STORES AND URGING OTHERS TO DO THE SAME!
Send information on responses you get back from The Children's Place to
dbeeton@freeburmacoalition.org, 202-547-5985.
For more information on the boycott of The Children's Place Stores,
www.freeburmacoalition.org or call 202-547-5985.
*****************************
Background on The Children's Place Stores and forced labor in Burma:
The Children's Place Retail Stores have products made in Burma - a Southeast
Asian country ruled by a brutal military dictatorship. But they should know
better: the garment industry in Burma is closely tied to a modern form of
slave labor.
Garment companies in Burma are controlled completely by the dictators, whom
have been criticized by the U.S. State Department, the United Nations,
Amnesty International, and others for brutal violations of human rights --
killing, torture, a modern form of slave labor, and rape.
The money you spend in The Children's Place on goods that are from Burma
benefits Burma’s military dictators and means more suffering for the 50
million people living in the country. To make matters worse, worker rights
are not enforced in Burma and health and safety standards are virtually
nonexistent.
--- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.371 / Virus Database: 206 - Release Date: 6/13/02Trina Tocco WMU Peace Center 2101 Wilbur Kalamazoo, MI 49006 616-344-4076
cell 616-873-1000 home 616-343-6054
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Mon Oct 28 2002 - 02:52:33 EST