A Central American factory that was closed after workers unionized will now be reopened, thanks in part to a campaign students organized against Russell Athletic, a large producer of college uniforms and branded merchandize.
In what is being hailed as the biggest victory ever by student anti-sweatshop activists, Russell Athletic, the largest supplier of team uniforms and logo-wear, has agreed to reopen a Honduran factory shut down in January shortly after its workers formed a union and will rehire the 1,200 union members.
When Russell shut the factory and moved production to cheaper nonunion plants, United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) mobilized on college and university campuses across the country. Their actions persuaded nearly 100 schools, including Harvard, Michigan, Miami, North Carolina and Stanford universities, to end their agreements with Russell for violating the workers’ rights.
The campaign only goes to show that an elaborate and persistent strategy of targeting factory operators can go a long way in allowing others to organize their workplaces to address their own concerns. So goes the power of international community organizing
I was unable to come up with any insider contacts for a full fledged story on yesterday’s general strike in Puerto Rico.
The New York Times has a short article on the unrest here and as Gabo commented on my previous post, you can find up to date reports on the troubles here, but only if you speak Spanish.
The NYT article contains an interesting factoid I hadn’t heard before; “On an island with little industry, the public sector plays an especially large role, employing about 25 percent of all workers.”
To make matters worse, conservative Governor Luis Fortuño’s plan to layoff 17,000 employees seems specifically targeted towards lower class Puerto Ricans, leaving the higher echelons of public service relatively untouched.
Fortuño’s plan seems recklessly shortsighted, cutting off many of the island’s poorer families from their only source of income in a bid to remain fiscally solvent. Other options could include laying off higher paid officials (who most likely have diverse sources of income or savings), while cutting hours or pay for the majority of government employees. Some money is better than nothing.
Unemployment already stands at 15 percent. The planned cutbacks will push jobless levels past 17 percent.
Labor unrest has been simmering for weeks in Puerto Rico, where the conservative governor Luis Fortuño recently announced the termination of 17,000 public sector jobs, beginning in November. He enacted this drastic cut in response to the island’s $3.2 billion deficit, the result of a three year recession.
The cuts are expected to propel the 15 percent unemployment rate well past the 17 percent mark, worse than any U.S. state. In reaction to these devastating numbers, Puerto Rico’s unions have announced an island-wide general strike today, culminating with a march on the capital. At least twelve of the island’s unions are expected to participate, and non-union workers are being actively encouraged to join as well. Organizers are anticipating at least 100,000 people for the march alone.
The government has not been standing idly by. In a move decried by the ACLU, Fortuño has threatened to charge protesters with terrorism if they block the function of the air and sea ports. This seems likely, given that a general strike is, well, general. (The right to strike is protected under the Constitution.)
I have put out feelers to some of my labor sources and I will be attempting to contact participants and experts Thursday night. In any case, I will try to post something at day’s end and with any luck I will be able to get a feature length article up by Friday, unless my attempts to harvest on the ground sources prove fruitless.
In any case, stay tuned.
On and by the way: there hasn’t been a general strike in the United States since the mid-1930s. Frankly, it’s a little hard to imagine a circumstance that would cause the mainland U.S. labor movement to use such militant tactics.
In These Times has launched a new worker's rights blog, "Working In These Times". I highly recommend it. There aren't nearly enough media outlets that cover these issues.
The AFL-CIO convention just keeps getting better and better. This morning the 250,000 strong UNITE HERE announced their reaffiliation with the AFL-CIO. For those just tuning in UNITE HERE was one of six unions that left the labor federation in 2005. They formed their own coalition, Change to Win (CtW) because they felt the AFL spent too much time on the Democrats and not enough on organizing new workers.
The other CtW unions are Teamsters, the Carpenters, national powerhouse SEIU, the farmworkers (UFW), and the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW). These six unions were some of the largest in the movement claiming a third of the union members in the country. They were also some of the most innovative and activist unions in the business. While many of the old school, business-oriented unions had abandoned the social justice elements of the movement, SEIU and UNITE HERE in particular had reemphasized their progressive roots. They allied with other left-wing movements and championed issues like immigration reform that the larger movement had long ignored. SEIU and UNITE HERE were also responsible for two of the most successful organizing drives of the past forty years, turning LA and Las Vegas respectively into union towns.
Thus, there was a fair amount of excitement when they left the AFL-CIO. There was talk in some circles of a revitalizing split, akin to the CIO’s emergence in the thirties. But it quickly became evident that no rebirth would be forthcoming. CtW ran up against the same impassable barrier as their AFL counterparts: our nation’s medieval labor laws. The only way to really move forward is to support progressive politicians who back your interests (like organizing the public sector, where unions have been growing). In short, CtW can’t organize any better than the AFL, so there isn't really a reason for CtW to exist. Then in the last year or so, UNITE HERE and SEIU started feuding for reasons too internecine to get into. Really, it was only a matter of time until the UNITE HERE side came back to the AFL’s fold.
“We felt that Change To Win was too dominated by SEIU, and after last year’s election, where AFL and CtW worked together for President Obama, it was time to heal the split,” Pilaf Weiss, a UNITE HERE spokeswoman told me. “With the exception of SEIU we still work with all the other unions in Change to Win. They are all strong allies of ours.”
New AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka has stated that reuniting the labor movement will be one of his primary goals. This will rightly be seen as a feather in his cap. But the rest of the CtW unions, who don’t necessarily have UNITE HERE's extraordinary wariness of SEIU, will probably be a tougher sell.
As anticipated, Richard Trumka’s slate, the sole contenders, were elected yesterday at the AFL-CIO’s August convention. Not too much new here. Trumka, and Arlene Holt-Baker (who spoke at CP’s July conference) have both been high up in the labor federation for a long time. But then there is 39 year old Liz Shuler, elected to Trumka’s old Secretary-Treasurer post, the second highest position in the AFL-CIO. Shuler is “the youngest person ever to become an officer of the AFL-CIO”, according to the federation’s blog and she seems to recognize that the labor movement desperately needs to initiate young workers into the fold. Read More »
For anyone curious about President Obama's address to the AFL-CIO yesterday in Pittsburg, here it is in full from 2 Political Junkies. I’m not going to directly link to it, as there are four segments and our video posting abilities are…imperfect. Link to text is here.
The speech itself is pretty stirring stuff, as I tweeted yesterday: “This is the guy I voted for”. It is reminiscent of Obama’s finer moments on the campaign trail, and opening with a cute pick me up: “You know, the White House is pretty nice, but there's nothing like being back in the House of Labor.” (Although he kind of spoils the moment by following it up with a nod to Arlen Specter.)
Obama included a lot of health care talk, naturally, a reaffirmation of his support for the Employee Free Choice Act, and a necessarily brief list of his labor victories (Ledbetter Act, rescinding Bush’s anti-worker executive policies). He tied the success of organized labor to the success of the middle class, and thus to the success of the U.S. as a whole and at the end he delves into the proud history of organized labor in Pennsylvania
There isn’t anything new or particularly revelatory here. But having spoken to a couple of my friends in organized labor, they seem pretty rejuvenated by the speech. These are people who have been flagging throughout the summer, getting more and more depressed by the imbecilic, yet effective, attacks on health care, the EFCA quagmire, and the general standoff that is the U.S. Senate. The fact that Obama was able to overcome their post-August cynicism shows that the president hasn’t completely alienated his left-wing supporters, contrary to recent sensational news coverage. Check out the labor blog Talking Union for more.
Some in the UM administration have downplayed the role of SESJ and student activism in their decision:
Yet, UM Vice President Jim Foleyon Tuesday said the university didn't sever the contract with Russell because of the students' protest. The university has been looking into worker-rights violations by Russell for several years, far before the students got involved, he said.
The university came to its conclusion after discussing findings with the Workers Rights Consortium and the Fair Labor Association.
UM joined the WRC because of a SESJ campaign, and even the official UM press release announcing the decision mentioned SESJ.
Either way, SESJ is applauding the university’s decision, and will continue to work with the administration, students, and others to stop sweatshops.
The SESJ have received a Campus Progress Action Grant for several years for their anti-sweatshop activities, and were recipients of the 2008 Campus Progress “Action Campaign of the Year” award. Action grants range from $200-$1,000, and are awarded to students working on hard-hitting, progressive issue campaigns. The image in this update was taken at a 06-07 SESJ rally.
UPDATE: The Montana Kamin (the University of Montana - Missoula's student newspaper) ran an editorial on the SESJ victory today (3/5/09), and they also pointed out that this decision was directly linked to student activism:
With all respect due to Foley, who’s a smart guy, B.S. meters should be shooting through the roof on this one. [...] While it’s certainly plausible that Foley would have decided to sever ties with Russell if it had never appeared in the newspapers or been the focus of rallies, it’s far more likely that the issue would have died. So SESJ, your greatest achievement here was raising public awareness on a matter that may have otherwise gone unnoticed.
The Students for Economic and Social Justice at the University of Montana (UM) made the news again for their campaign to convince the UM administration to cancel their contract with Russell Athletic.
The company, which makes university logo clothing for UM and other colleges, has been under fire from the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC), student groups, and universities for its decision to close its Jerzees de Honduras factory. There is substantial evidence that the factory was closed because of “anti-union animus.” Jerzees de Honduras and a “sister facility” have also been the focus of recent union-busting action by Russell. Both factories are now closed, and represented Russell’s only unionized factories in a country not known for its union-friendly atmosphere.
The Students for Economic and Social Justice are encouraging students to sign a petition to the UM administration, and attempting to schedule meetings with key school officials. They also held a rally/press conference on Febuary 20th, and have hung large banners in “the quad” to raise awareness. You can join the campaign against Russell’s union-busting spree by taking action online or bringing the campaign to your campus.
The Students for Economic and Social Justice have received a Campus Progress Action Grant for several years for their anti-sweatshop activities, and were recipients of the 2008 Campus Progress “Action Campaign of the Year” award. Action grants range from $200-$1,000, and are awarded to students working on hard-hitting, progressive issue campaigns.
After nearly 20 minutes of rallying, SESJ members marched into Main Hall to deliver a petition of 360 signatures to Dennison. SESJ members gathered student signatures this week on the Oval to urge UM Administration to break its contract with Russell. [...] Dennison came out of his office and took the petition when Ella Torti, a regional organizer for United Students Against Sweatshops and a junior in human biology and International Developmental Studies, handed it to him. [...] Torti said SESJ was protesting because UM hasn’t acted. Administration has delayed meetings with the group too, Torti said. Thursday’s protest was a direct result of Foley [a UM official] canceling their meeting that was scheduled for that day, she said. “We are asking for immediate action,” Torti said.
Other schools are quickly joining the effort - twomore universities announced that they are dropping their contracts with the troubled company on Friday.
The American federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union went on strike this morning at the University of Minnesota. The local newspaper reports that the workers feel the standard annual pay raises given by the university do not compensate for a rising cost of living. Included in the union are health care and technical workers, and while the University insists that emergency health services will still be available, this is concerning.
The university is located over a broad stretch of the city, on the east side of downtown, bordering neighborhoods that are generally lower income than the rest of the city. The U of M medical clinics, in their varying locations and purposes, serve not only the students, faculty and the surrounding neighborhoods that need them, but also the Twin Cities area and suburbs.
From the above linked article:
"Because health care and technical workers are also involved, this strike may limit the number of non-emergency services provided by Boynton Health Service, the Community-University Health Care Center in the Phillips neighborhood, the university's dental clinic and its veterinary medical clinic."
The clinic available to students will be limited as well as the care center in Phillips, a neighborhood with 31.9% families below the poverty line, including 40.6% of children (according to the 2000 census) and a median family income that is 46% lower than that of the city of Minneapolis as a whole. This area deserves to continue to have access to regular medical care, and I have no problem with a marginal rise in my tuition in order to help provide that (as a rise in worker compensation will likely contribute to this).
There will still be ambulances and emergency services, but how long will the university allow the cities to go without every day care available? Dental and veterinary clinics might seem marginal in comparison, but what about your grandmother's scheduled root canal or your dog's injuries that need attending to?
I can understand the administration trying to save a little money here and there, but I believe that these workers are a vital part of the community and the university as a whole, and are well worth paying a more generous wage for the crucial services they provide.
As Michigan is in a full-blown budget crisis, the Department of Corrections and Governor Granholm proposed yesterday that Camp Manistique, a prison labor camp in the Upper Peninsula, be shut down. Closing Camp Manistique, which is a minimum-security facility, would save the state $4.5 million per year. It would also cost 45 prison employees their jobs (although according to The Mining Journal, both prisoners and employees would be transferred to other facilities).
The prison employees are unionized, and they tend to vote Democrat, therefore the Dems have undertaken a full-blown campaign to keep the prison open. Prisoners currently incarcerated in Michigan, of course, cannot vote. Although shutting down Camp Manistique would not actually reduce the number of prisoners in the state, Michigan, like other states, has a detention and corrections budget spiraling out of control. Michigan’s annual prison budget is $1.9 billion, a fifth of the state’s general fund. Tom Clay from Citizens Research Council of Michigan says that if Michigan didn’t have such high rates of incarceration compared to other Great Lakes states, the prison budget would be closer to $1.4 billion. According to Families Against Mandatory Minimums, “States such as Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania have more residents than Michigan but incarcerate fewer inmates. Michigan's per-capita incarceration rate is the country's 11th-highest, ranks higher than seven other Great Lakes states and is fourth-highest among the 11 most populous states.”
Back for more at here at Take Back America. It's my second day so I figure I'm over the whole star-struck open-mouthed staring thing. I walk by Ned Lamont and calmly urge him to run again. I check my pulse...still relaxed and good to go. Run into my congresswoman (from September through May minus breaks), Rosa DeLauro. Hey, ain’t no thang. My Old Spice is living up to its guarantee. (I always wondered if they would really "buy me a stick of [my] own" if I was "not satisfied.")
Today is May 1st, recognized in all but a handful of countries in the world as “International Workers’ Day.” The U.S. is one of those handful, that does not commemorate the struggles of working people on the first of this month. But in fact, May Day originated in the U.S in the late 19th century.
The demand for safe conditions at work places, the right of workers to organize, and above all an eight-hour work day was at the forefront of the burgeoning workers’ rights movement of the 1800s. In Chicago, the movement culminated with a rally at Haymarket Square that ended violently, with a bomb thrown into the crowd and police opening fire on the marchers. Subsequently, a group of eight anarchist men were scapegoated for the bombing. All were convicted, some of them even hanged, and 3 eventually pardoned.
The (organized) labor movement in the U.S. has a history of classism, racism and gender discrimination. Strides made in the 20th century often came with a price—most notably, in the exclusion of agricultural and domestic workers from the union-affirming Wagner Act of 1935. Agricultural and domestic workers also happened to be overwhelmingly either people of color, women, or immigrants. This continues today, as our most vulnerable workers, especially undocumented migrants, are still not protected from exploitation.
Let today’s May Day be about confronting what has and continues to divide workers, and affirming the right to dignity and economic security that all people deserve.
You cheered with them when they took on Taco Bell and Yum Brands. Now, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers has done it again! For the past 2 years, the CIW has run a campaign to expose the dismal conditions and treatment farmworkers who supply McDonald's receive. Today, McD's and suppliers have agreed to the following as a result of the campaign:
A penny more per pound to workers harvesting tomatoes for McDonald's;
A stronger code of conduct based on the principle of worker participation;
And a collaborative effort to develop a third party mechanism for monitoring conditions in the fields and investigating workers' complaints of abuse.
Yay CIW! And we can't forget the important role students played in supporting the campaign, through the spearheading organization Student/Farmworker Alliance, that works in solidarity with the CIW.
The Truth Tour is still on though! This weekend, organizers, students, workers, and even some celebs will gather in Chicago to demand the dignity and just treatment of farmworkers.
Right now, University of Michigan students are staging a sit-in to end the use of sweatshop labor for university licensed apparel. The students are demanding that the administration accept a Designated Suppliers Program and Code of Conduct for its licensees, that will actually reward factories for adopting fair and humane labor standards for its workers—thus reversing the “race to the bottom” trend, into a “race to the top.” The best part of this plan, developed largely by United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS), is that the Workers’ Rights Consortium, in cooperation with the local union or union-like entity, monitors and evaluates their places of employment for compliance with the Code of Conduct. Workers can request that the factory be taken off the list of Code-compliant factories if violations occur.
Call, e-mail or fax the University of Michigan president, Mary Sue Coleman, now! Tell her that you support the students sitting in and want the University of Michigan to be an example to other schools committed to the dignity of workers everywhere. College apparel is a multi-billion dollar industry, and this plan has the potential to make real change.
In Pascagoula, Mississippi, Signal International hired hundreds of guest laborers in India, promising them greencards and permanent residency, along with well-paying jobs. Many of the workers spent their life savings or even sold their houses to pay the fee for H2-B visas, but upon arriving here, were only given the temporary visas, paid half of what they were promised, and found their living conditions squalid.
About a week ago, company representatives and armed security guards raided the workers’ camp, took 6 workers, and locked them in a room, saying they would be deported to India. One of the workers, Sabu Lal, even slit his wrists hoping that his self-mutilation would keep him from deportation. He was recently interviewed on Democracy Now:
“How I can go back to India? There is nothing. My family is waiting for me to fulfill their wishes by earning something from America. They are dreaming to come to America. These guys cheated me. From India, for ’til I come here, they cheated me, and family is cheated…They are treating us like slaves. And whenever we making some comments, they are saying that ‘Just shut your mouth.’”
Please remember that Campus Progress' terms of use do not allow promoting or endorsing any particular political party or candidate for office. Posts or comments that do this will be deleted.
Posts
!
