Date: Tue, 07 Apr 1998 17:58:06 +0000
From: Vera Britto <fiatlux-AT-umich.edu>
Subject: Re: Appeal for Solidarity - Nicaragua factory threatens cut-and-run


Dale W Wimberley wrote:
> 
> An appeal for your solidarity!  Please excuse any cross-posting.  For
> background information, see this website:
> 
> http://www.montgomery-floyd.lib.va.us/pub/compages/cjca/sweat
> 
> Dale Wimberley
> 
> >Date: Mon, 6 Apr 1998 09:29:26 -0700 (PDT)
> >X-Sender: clr-AT-pop.igc.org
> >Mime-Version: 1.0
> >To: clr-AT-igc.org
> >From: Campaign for Labor Rights <clr-AT-igc.apc.org>
> >Subject: Nicaragua factory threatens cut-and-run
> >
> >Labor Alerts: a service of Campaign for Labor Rights
> >To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to CLR-AT-igc.apc.org
> >Phone: (541) 344-5410 Web site: http://www.compugraph.com/clr
> >Membership/newsletter. Send $35.00 to Campaign for Labor Rights, 1247 "E"
> >Street SE, Washington, DC 20003. Sample newsletter available on request.
> >
> >NICARAGUA FACTORY THREATENS CUT-AND-RUN
> >1,800 workers at recently unionized Chentex would lose jobs
> >
> >[This alert was prepared April 3, 1998 on behalf of a coalition which
> >includes the Nicaragua Network (202) 544-9355 <nicanet-AT-igc.apc.org>; Witness
> >for Peace (202) 544-0781 <witness-AT-w4peace.org>; the National Labor Committee
> >(212) 242-3002 <natlabcom-AT-aol.com>; the U.S./Guatemala Labor Education
> >Project (773) 262-6502 <usglep-AT-igc.apc.org>; Campaign for Labor Rights (541)
> >344-5410 <CLR-AT-igc.apc.org>; TECNICA (718) 859-4546 <albondiga-AT-igc.org> the
> >Solidarity Center of the AFL-CIO; and the International Textile Workers
> >Federation.]
> >
> >***********************************
> >See ACTION REQUEST at end of alert!
> >***********************************
> >
> >In recent months, we have posted alerts on the certification of a union at
> >the Chentex clothing factory in Nicaragua's Las Mercedes free trade zone.
> >This was the third union in the zone to receive official recognition from
> >the Nicaraguan Labor Ministry.
> >
> >Just when it seemed that the free trade zone in Nicaragua had been cracked
> >open to labor organizing, Chi Shing, the Taiwanese consortium which owns
> >Chentex and two other factories in the zone, announced that it will close
> >Chentex in June and shift production to Mexico. Management sought to justify
> >the planned move by references to unsubstantiated allegations of union
> >violence.
> >
> >Cut-and-run is the central strategy of transnationals. Threats to move
> >production are used regularly in union busting and rollback in both the
> >industrialized nations and the Global South. It is crucial that we mobilize
> >strongly in defense of the Chentex workers, to demonstrate to Chi Shing
> >management - and to all cut-and-run companies - that there is no place for
> >them to hide in the global economy.
> >
> >Two of the biggest labels produced at Chentex are Bugle Boy pants and
> >Arizona Jeans, both of which are sold in J.C. Penney stores. The coalition
> >working on Nicaraguan sweatshop issues is mounting a campaign to pressure
> >J.C. Penney into exerting its leverage on Chentex and Chi Shing.
> >
> >We have drafted a sign-on letter for leaders of national religious
> >organizations. The letter seeks a commitment from Penney's to sever ties
> >with Chi Shing if it moves production from Nicaragua to Mexico. In support
> >of that letter, we are asking local activists to sign the following letter.
> >
> >***************************
> >URGENT ACTION REQUEST
> >***************************
> >
> >Please sign and send the following letter today and send a copy to Campaign
> >for Labor Rights at 1247 "E" Street SE, Washington, DC 20003. It would be
> >especially helpful if you could collect signatures in public situations such
> >as tabling events, union meetings, places of faith and campuses.
> >
> >James E. Oestereicher, CEO
> >J.C. Penney
> >P.O. Box 10001
> >Dallas, TX 75024
> >
> >Dear Mr. Oestereicher:
> >
> >I am writing to express my serious concern about the recent news that one of
> >your contractors has threatened to close its factory in Nicaragua and move
> >its production to Mexico. The Chentex factory produces Bugle Boy pants and
> >Arizona Jeans, both of which are sold in your stores.
> >
> >I understand that this announcement comes just one month after a union
> >received legal recognition at the Chentex factory and is widely seen as an
> >attempt to suppress the right of the union to bargain collectively.  This is
> >the latest in a series of anti-union tactics by the company, including
> >efforts to discredit union leaders by disseminating reckless and
> >unsubstantiated allegations.  I also understand that five workers recently
> >have been fired from the factory, in what appears to be yet another
> >union-busting tactic.
> >
> >Abandoning some 1,800 workers simply for exercising their right to join a
> >union, as guaranteed under Nicaraguan law and internationally-recognized
> >conventions, hardly seems consistent with the moral standards to which your
> >company has publicly committed itself.
> >
> >We urge you to make a public commitment that J.C. Penney will sever all of
> >its business relations with Chi Shing if that consortium closes its Chentex
> >factory in Nicaragua, and to communicate your concerns directly to Chi Shing
> >and inform its management of your decision to sever relations if the
> >consortium does shift operations from the Chentex factory to Mexico.
> >
> >As a consumer, I take a personal interest in the conditions under which
> >products are made. The rights of working people matter to me. You can
> >demonstrate to me the seriousness with which you regard these concerns, not
> >by writing back that you have "looked into the matter," but by informing me
> >that you have made an arrangement to meet with the religious and human
> >rights representatives who have written to you.
> >
> >I eagerly await your response.
> >
> >Sincerely,
> >
> >NAME:
> >
> >ADDRESS:
> >
> 
> Dale W. Wimberley
> Department of Sociology
> Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University