Labor is Not a Commodity

Haitian Garment Union, SOTA, Perseveres Despite Uphill-Odds

By Hanna Claeson

After more than two months of struggle, backed by international solidarity efforts, fledgling Haitian Garment union “Sendika Ouvriye Takstil ak Abiman” (SOTA, or translated into English, Textile and Apparel Worker’s Union), seems to be achieving the before unthinkable. Five out of the six union leaders, who were fired in late September within days of the public announcement of their leadership role in the new union, have been reinstated. Johny Joseph, (Treasurer of SOTA) and  Hilaire Jean-Francois (SOTA’s Secretary of Organization),were reinstated in December. The remaining three workers – Wilner Elissaint (General Coordinator of SOTA), Cénatus Vilaire (Secretary of Grievances of SOTA), and Brevil Claude (Education and Public Information Secretary of SOTA) – returned to work in early January, 2012. The sixth worker, Mitial Rubin (Secretary of SOTA), has not been reinstated by his employer, a factory called One World Apparel, owned by Charles Henri Baker, a former candidate for President of Haiti.  Four out of the six workers worked at Genesis, a factory that produces apparel almost exclusively for Gildan. Gildan, in turn, is the leading producer of blank T-shirts for the North American market, which are used by universities, public entities, and groups buying in bulk. Genesis was also the first company to start firing workers.

The reinstatement and compensation of all of the union leaders is crucial to the labor justice in Haiti, home to the harshest labor conditions and lowest wages in the Caribbean/Central America region.  The continued survival and vitality of the union will set a precedent for union organizing and labor rights advocacy for workers throughout the entire country, in diverse sectors of the economy. It will be a signal to both union and non-union-workers that the right to association can be upheld and respected, instead of only punished and retaliated against. Only when it is safe to join a trade labor union will union-organizing efforts have a chance at achieving their goals: respect on the job, better hours, wages, and working conditions.

The New Face behind Unionized (and Feminist) Bananas in Latin America

By Lupita Aguila Arteaga, STITCH

More and more women in the global labor rights movement continue to impress us all with their resilience and passionate fight for gender equality in our unions and organizations. In the last few years, women in the banana unions across Latin America have upped the ante. Bananeras, as they are dearly called, have achieved victories we can only dream of in the U.S., including clauses in their union contract that allows them to take a paid day off for a mammogram and/or a pap smear, union-wide campaigns with workshops against domestic violence, as well as union-led campaigns against HIV/AIDS with a focus on reproductive justice and accessibility to healthcare for all women in their communities. Not to mention the fact that ALL local banana unions have a women’s committee. 

Well, let’s add another triumph for women everywhere: newly-elected by the Coordination of Latin American Banana Unions, Iris Munguia, General Coordinator of more than 45,000 workers in eight countries across the region! Iris was named coordinator of COLSIBA during its XI Conference in August 2011. She is the first woman to be elected to lead COLSIBA since its founding in 1993. The fact that Iris was elected for this important position illustrates the great progress that unions in Latin America have made regarding the representation of women.

Boycott of Philippine Airlines and AirPhil Continues

By Liana Foxvog, International Labor Rights Forum

At the height of the period for booking year-end travel, International Labor Rights Forum joined the boycott of Philippine Airlines (PAL) and Air Philippines, in solidarity with the Philippine Airlines Employees' Association (PALEA). To date the petition on our website in support of the boycott has generated 4715 letters. These letters are addressed to Lucio Tan, owner of both PAL and AirPhil; Jaime Bautista, President and Chief Operating Officer of PAL; Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III, President of the Philippines; Rosalinda Dimapilis Baldoz, Secretary of Labor and Employment of the Philippines; and Ramon Jimenez, Secretary of Tourism of the Philippines.

Last month we featured Philippine Airlines as one of the worst companies for workers' right to associate in 2011 in our annual Working for Scrooge report, and we'll continue our support of the boycott until the locked-out and fired workers are reinstated.

PAL was founded in 1941 and is the first and oldest commercial airline in Asia. Out of its hubs at Ninoy Aquino International Airport of Manila and Mactan-Cebu International Airport of Cebu City, PAL serves nineteen destinations in the Philippines and 24 destinations in Southeast Asia, Middle East, East Asia, Oceania and North America, including Vancouver, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Honolulu.

After posting record sales of $65 million last year, the Airline announced it would fire more than 2,600 employees.

Labor, Sweatshops and CAFTA in Nicaragua

By Steve Watrous 

As I walked through the big room of a clothing factory in Managua’s free trade zone, where about 800 workers were busy sewing and ironing black Wrangler jeans, the heat was horrible for a visitor from the north. I saw the notices that the employees were supposed to wear dust masks, but they mostly weren’t, and neither was I until a kind woman offered me one.

The dilemma is that once you put on the mask, those ceiling fans no longer cool half your face, and that factory seems ten degrees hotter. Fortunately, the dust was light enough that I could clearly see the far corner of the room, maybe 300 feet away.

This building used to contain Chentex, a viciously anti-union company that made clothing for Kohl’s Department Stores and other U.S. vendors. About 11 years ago fair traders in Milwaukee and many other cities made a fuss about Kohl’s Nicaraguan sweatshops. When I last visited Nicaragua, 10 years ago, Chentex had defeated the unionizing effort.

A Top Blog for Future Leaders

By Liana Foxvog, International Labor Rights Forum

A shout out to OnlineColleges.net, for including this blog, Labor Is Not a Commodity, in the list of The 50 Best Blogs for Future Leaders.

Here's what OnlineColleges.net says about the purpose of the list: "The old adage purports that the best leaders come hurtling headfirst into the world instead of eventually learning the necessary skill sets. Maybe. Maybe not. Even the natural-born mobilizers and motivators out there could benefit from a few shots of nurture to get the ol’ noggin a-flooded with ideas. Whether prepping themselves for the soapbox or boardroom, these future leaders need to educate themselves about the world and how to best sharpen the personal tools needed for lasting success and influence. Surprise, surprise: the Internet abides."

We're thrilled to be included in the human rights, social justice and ethics category. About our blog OnlineColleges.net says: "Business, social and political leaders should consult this resource when learning more about unsafe working conditions and wages, child labor and other worker’s and human rights injustices."

This Year’s Worst Companies to Work for if You Want the Right to Join a Union

By Liana Foxvog and Sean Rudolph, International Labor Rights Forum

Today we published our list of this year's Scrooges for workers' right to unionize. The companies that topped our list are Dole, Hershey's, Philippine Airlines, and Wal-Mart. These corporations use intimidation and sometimes violence, either in the U.S. or in their supply chains abroad, to violate workers’ internationally recognized right to organize.

Among other rights related to freedom of association, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) states that “everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests” (Article 23, Section 4).

Despite the labor rights protections in the UDHR and national labor laws, workers continue to see their rights trampled on a daily basis. In its most recent survey of violations of trade union rights, the International Trade Union Confederation reports at least 90 unionists were killed, 2,083 were injured, and 4,599 were illegally fired last year as a result of their union activities.  Additionally, as the employment crisis continues to grow, many labor rights advocates fear that companies are using the crisis to attack union workers and institute employment schemes that reduce the number of workers guaranteed union protections.

The 2011 Scrooge corporations’ violations include intimidating workers with severe threats, standing by while suppliers aggressively suppress worker organizing, collaborating with military forces to undermine democratically elected union leaders, illegally firing thousands of workers, exploiting foreign exchange students, and turning a blind eye to forced child labor in the supply chain.

The right to freedom of association is typically violated through the use of bullying tactics and the spread of anti-union propaganda but this year’s Scrooges have taken violating workers’ rights to new lows. As we celebrate the holiday season, consumers and labor advocates can support workers by telling these Scrooge companies that they need to respect workers rights.

As we celebrate the holiday season, you can support workers by calling on the Scrooges to respect workers' rights:

• Urge Philippine Airlines to reinstate fired workers and support job security 
• Tell Wal-Mart to stop doing business with contractors that repress labor organizing
• Ask Hershey to end trafficked child labor in its supply chain
• Call on Dole to stop supporting military propaganda campaigns against legitimate worker organizations

Click here to read more about these companies in our Working for Scrooge report.

One year after fire, more workers die on the job in Bangladesh

By Liana Foxvog and Judy Gearhart, International Labor Rights Forum

We solemnly remember the twenty-nine Bangladeshi workers who lost their lives in the That’s It Sportswear factory fire, which occurred one year ago yesterday.  We also remember the more than four hundred other workers who have lost their lives in the past six years due to unsafe garment factories in Bangladesh.  Sadly, just last week, two more workers perished and eleven were seriously injured in a stampede triggered by panic after a boiler explosion.

On December 14, 2010, a fire broke out due to a short-circuit in the unsafe, ten-story sweatshop. Key exits were blocked and constructions on the roof prevented helicopter landing. Twenty-nine workers were killed: most burned alive, others died by suffocation, and some jumped to their death. Nine more were seriously injured.

Newt Gingrich: This Year’s Grinch

By Judy Gearhart and Adeline Zensius, International Labor Rights Forum

Last month, Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich offered his solution for the endemic poverty in many areas of our nation: replacing school janitors with child laborers.

In a speech given to Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, Mr. Gingrich argued, “It’s tragic what we do in the poorest neighborhoods, entrapping children, in, first of all, child laws, which are truly stupid.” His proposal for reforming child labor laws include replacing unionized janitors with one “master janitor” and several local students to clean their own schools.

Mr. Gingrich’s comments, made in a seemingly offhanded manner that then required additional clarification, indicate how little appreciation he has for child welfare policy – not to mention international norms. Strong child labor laws are critical for safeguarding children’s time and energy for school and learning. Public schools contracting youth as janitors would both create serious health risks and further stigmatize those kids who cannot afford to spend time in extracurricular activities, such as sports, clubs, and student leadership. Contracting poor students to work in jobs that provide very little vocational training for future employment ignores the growing problem of class warfare in our country. These programs have the potential to exacerbate this problem, polarizing our schools into groups of “wealthy” and “poor” students.

From Dhaka to DC: Global Solidarity for Striking UK Workers

By Eric Gottwald, International Labor Rights Forum

ILRF staff joined with National Nurses United (NNU), the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Service Employees International United (SEIU), the AFL-CIO and other unions to demonstrate in front of the British embassy yesterday in solidarity with UK Public Sector Workers' General strike.  Over 2 million British workers participated in a 24 hour strike yesterday, the largest in a generation, against proposed deep cuts in their pensions.  

National Nurses United led demonstrations in 6 cities across the US -- turning out in force in their signature red apparel.  Several speakers highlighted the need for international trade union solidarity in opposition to efforts to exploit the financial crisis – caused by the reckless behavior of the international banks and financiers – to weaken public sector unions and social safety net programs. 

Meanwhile, half a world away in Dhaka, Bangladesh, the National Garment Workers Federation led a rally in support of striking U.K. workers.  Several hundred garment workers marched through the streets of the capital in a lively demonstration of South to North trade union solidarity.

Thoughts on Occupy Wall Street

By Tiffany Finck-Haynes, International Labor Rights Forum

Car horns honking to demonstrate their support of  marchers chanting, “The people united will never be divided” walking along 16^th Street, rhythmic sounds of drumming in Malcolm X Park coined by a chorus of, “we are the 99%” and the call and response of the people’s mike, are all moments that illustrate my involvement in Occupy DC over the past few weeks. Talking and collaborating with others in McPherson Square, united by mutual frustration with the current state of the global economy, leaves me hopeful that as we continue to act on our mutual frustration, through education and collective action, we will make positive and forward reaching changes in our global system.

The initial occupy movement began on September 17^th, 2011 as a small encampment in Liberty Square in Manhattan’s Financial District. Similar to New York, the initial encampment of Occupy DC, marked by sleeping bags and bikes, has grown to encompass a large gathering of tents and sleepers. The growth of Occupy DC is only an example of the growth of the larger movement.  Thousands of occupations have been initiated throughout the United States and across the world. As my friends from Colombia, Bolivia, Italy and Japan write to me in support of the movement and encampments in their own countries, I’m moved and my faith growths that global dissatisfaction with our unfair global economy, controlled by major banks, multinational corporations and elites, will be stopped as the underrepresented: the students, the parents, the teachers, the unemployed, the underpaid, the professionals, the voters and all who encompass the inadequately served of our society, the 99%, unite to collectively ensure that the balance of power between corruption and democracy is restored.