<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN"> <HTML> <HEAD> <META content=text/html;charset=iso-8859-1 http-equiv=Content-Type> <META content='"MSHTML 4.72.3110.7"' name=GENERATOR> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>-----Original Message----- From: Michael Eisenscher <<A href="mailto:meisenscher@igc.org">meisenscher@igc.org</A>> To: <A href="mailto:Solidarity4Ever@igc.topica.com">Solidarity4Ever@igc.topica.com</A> <<A href="mailto:Solidarity4Ever@igc.topica.com">Solidarity4Ever@igc.topica.com</A>> Date: Friday, June 23, 2000 1:35 AM Subject: 20,0000 Cambodian Garment Workers Strike; Factory Guards Open Fire; Cops Batt </DIV>IN THIS MESSAGE:   20,0000 Cambodian Garment Workers Strike; Factory Guards Open Fire; Cops Battle Paraguay Protesters URGENT ACTION ALERT on GAP IN CAMBODIA!!! ACT NOW!!! ***CALL GAP at 1-800-333-7899, ask for Global Compliance or Priscilla Otani Demand that GAP respect the rights of workers and pay their workers a living wage.  Workers in Cambodia are asking for a wage increase from $40 to $70 dollars a month.  ***Organize an Emergency Action at your local GAP store! WHY??? According to reports in The Straits Times, South China Morning Post, BBC, AP and Reuters and communications that we've had with FTUWKC (the Free Trade Union of Workers in the Kingdom of Cambodia) this week, the current situation in Cambodia's capitol, PHNOM PENH is both disturbing and empowering!  On Monday, June 19, "Hundreds of workers from the garment industry, which supplies major foreign retailers including The Gap and Ralph Lauren, took to the streets yesterday in a protest against low wages and poor working conditions. In what has become a familiar sight, 400 mainly women workers, who earn as little as US$40 a month for back-breaking shifts in hazardous factories, gathered at a stadium before heading out across the city".(The Straights Times).  In addition to GAP and Ralph Lauren, BBC also reported that Italian sports label Lotto and cigarette spin-off Camel Trophy were also producing in Phnom Penh. FTUWKC also stated that Calvin Klein and Haggar were also there. "Early last week, about 160 workers at the Yung Wah Industrial Company were knocked unconscious while sewing when a short-circuit in the factory sent powerful electric charges through their sewing machines., Cambodia's rag trade is its largest and fastest growing industry. The strikers are demanding their monthly pay is increased form $40 to $70". (South China Morning Post) Upon discovering these reports, I contacted GAP Inc. and was told that "they were very concerned about the current situation and were doing all that they could to find out what they could do as buyers to alleviate the situation".  Since GAP does have 3 on the ground compliance officers in Cambodia, I asked if GAP does business with any of the factories where workers are striking or have been hurt and the answer I got was no.  I have reason to believe otherwise.  I know that GAP has a huge presence in Cambodia and that they do business with Yung Wah, Tack Fat (where a worker was beaten last February for expressing his rights to organize), and June Textiles.  They are also "thinking" of working with Luen Thai, where workers went on strike on Monday.   Today Katja Hemmerich at FTUWKC wrote, "Yesterday and today we have had between 10-20,000 workers on strike because there was no resolution on the minimum wage discussions at the Labour Advisory Committee meeting on Tuesday. This campaign was lead by the Free Trade Union, but these strikes have taken on a life of their own and are no longer in our control. All the workers frustrations about salaries, overtime, union reps being fired etc. seems to have exploded in the last two days. We are trying to convince the Garment Manufacturer's Association that they have to address the labor problems comprehensively if they want a long term solution. In the short term to end the strikes, they must at least raise the wage. You could help us, by explaining to the buyers that if all of these things are not addressed in the near future, these strikes won't stop. These demands are not unreasonable, and are in fact simply a summary of all the demands of workers from factories that have gone on strike over the past year. Thus, it would be helpful, if the buyers could explain to the owners here that production will proceed much more smoothly if they stop the frequent strikes by dealing with these demands." ACT NOW!!! So, now is the time to act! We need to put the pressure on GAP and all the other buyers to respect workers rights and pay them a living wage.  The workers are asking for a salary increase from $40 to $70.  This is not too much to ask!  Also, we should demand that the workers who were hurt at the Yung Wah and June Textiles be treated and all their medical bills be paid for.  1) Call GAP's Global Compliance office at 1-800-333-7899 or ask for Priscilla Otani.  You can also send a fax to 415-427-7037, attn: Millard Drexler, CEO.    2) Organize an EMERGENCY ACTION THIS WEEKEND at your local GAP store. 3) Call Ralph Lauren at 212-318-7000.  Ask for CEO Ralph Lauren.  You can also send a fax to 212-888-5780.  4) Call Calvin Klein at 212-719-2600.  Ask for CEO Barry Schwartz.  You can also send a fax to 212-730-4818. 5) Call Haggar at 214-352-8481.  Ask for J. M. Haggar III.  You can also send a fax to 214-956-4367.  Thank you for your support!  Feel free to call me at 1-800-497-1994 ext 355 if you have any further questions, ideas, or if you will be organizing an action so we can let press know.  For full articles, see below. In peace and solidarity, Leila Salazar Global Exchange 1) The Straits Times <<A href="http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/asia/sea11_0619.html" eudora = autourl>http://</A>straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/asia<A href="http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/asia/sea11_0619.html" eudora = autourl>/sea11_0619.html</A>> Monday 19 June 2000 Cambodian garment workers want better pay 2)South China Morning Post <<A href="http://www.scmp.com/News/Business/Article/FullText_asp_ArticleID-20000619013220244.asp" eudora = autourl>http://</A>www.scmp.com<A href="http://www.scmp.com/News/Business/Article/FullText_asp_ArticleID-20000619013220244.asp" eudora = autourl>/News/Business/Article/FullText_asp_ArticleID-20000619013220244.asp</A>> Monday 19 June 2000 Cambodia Garment workers take to streets over wages Agence France-Presse in Phnom Penh 3) Cambodian garment workers strike Wednesday 21 June 2000 BBC News <<A href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/asia-pacific/newsid_800000/800237.stm" eudora = autourl>http://news.</A>bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/asia-pacific/newsid_800000/800237.st <A href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/asia-pacific/newsid_800000/800237.stm" eudora = autourl>m</A>> 4) Striking Cambodian Garment Worker Shot, Wounded   (6-22) <A href="http://www.latimes.com/wires/winternat/20000622/tCB00a8293.html" eudora = autourl>http://</A>www.latimes.com/wires/winternat<A href="http://www.latimes.com/wires/winternat/20000622/tCB00a8293.html" eudora = autourl>/20000622/tCB00a8293.html</A> 5) Factory Guards Open Fire in Cambodia (6-22) <A href="http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/w-asia/2000/jun/22/062200696.html" eudora = autourl>http://</A>www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/w-asia/2000/jun<A href="http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/w-asia/2000/jun/22/062200696.html" eudora = autourl>/22/062200696.html</A> June 22, 2000 Factory Guards Open Fire in Cambodia Filed at 4:55 a.m. EDT By The Associated Press PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) -- Security guards at a Cambodian garment factory opened fire on a mob of striking workers Thursday, shooting one of about 1,000 protesters demanding a substantial pay raise. A 23-year-old female worker was grazed in the head by a bullet and listed in stable condition at a nearby hospital. Human rights workers reported that several others were slightly injured, mostly with cuts and bruises from rocks. Workers swarmed the streets on the outskirts of the capital for a second straight day in a strike to increase the minimum wage to $70 a month from $40 and a reduce the 48-hour work week. Union-organized protesters marched from factory to factory, forcing open locked gates and urging workers inside to join their strike. Nearly 20 of the impoverished country's 178 garment factories are believed to have been closed by the walkouts. When the protesters reached the gates of the Mithona factory, armed guards beat back the mob with sticks, witnesses said. The demonstrators responded by throwing rocks and storming the gate, and the guards countered by opening fire. ``The security guards shot two or three times in the air and for some reason they lowered their guns and started shooting at people,'' 18-year-old striker Lim Srey Mom said. Violence continued for about an hour until opposition leader Sam Rainsy arrived and urged factories to meet worker demands. The protesters dispersed soon afterward, although the strike is expected to continue Friday. Garment assembly is a $700 million industry in Cambodia, where cheap and unskilled labor is one of the country's few comparative advantages. War-shattered Cambodia has its own currency, but much business is conducted in U.S. dollars, including the wage negotiations. A $40 monthly wage is more than most earn in agrarian Cambodia, but prices in the capital also tend to be higher than normal. Unions claim most factories operate as pitiless sweatshops, ignoring labor codes, forcing unpaid overtime work and maintaining substandard conditions. The union said the strike started after the Labor Advisory Committee -- formed last year to settle labor disputes -- adjourned Tuesday without addressing worker demands. ``There was no resolution and that's why the workers are so frustrated,'' said Katja Hemmerich, foreign adviser for the Free Trade Union of the Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia. ``The whole thing has sort of spiraled out of control.'' Representatives of the Garment Factory Association could not be reached for comment. The director-general of the Ministry of Social Affairs, Om Mean, said it would take at least 15 days to organize a new meeting of the labor committee. Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company ============================================= Subject: GAP leafletting and solidarity action at GAP Headquarters Friday         6-23! To: <no-sweat-ba@globalexchange.org>, <bayareaDAN@egroups.com>,         <staff@globalexchange.org>, <interns@globalexchange.org> Don't forget...we will be meeting once again tomorrow (Friday June 23) to leaflet at the GAP Headquarters.  Because of the recent strikes in Cambodia, we are calling on all of you to bring signs and your voices to demand that GAP respect worker's demands and pay them a living wage.  The workers have asked for our support so let's get out there tomorrow! Join us at 11:30am outside the Embarcadero BART, next to the Hilton.  We will walk over to the GAP Headquarters at One Harrison Street where we will leaflet and protest GAP in solidarity with the workers in Cambodia.  If you can't make it call the GAP at 1-800-333-7899. In Peace and Solidarity, Leila Salazar Global Exchange _________________________________________________________________ Global Exchange                     <A href="http://www.globalexchange.org/" eudora = autourl>http://www.globalexchange.org</A> To unsubscribe, email no-sweat-ba-request@globalexchange.org with    unsubscribe in the body of the message. =============================================== June 22, 2000 Police Battle Paraguay Protesters Filed at 8:34 p.m. EDT By The Associated Press ASUNCION, Paraguay (AP) -- Riot police fired tear gas and unleashed water cannons Thursday to disperse hundreds of workers on a strike called by labor unions opposed to a government privatization plan. At least 20 people were injured and dozens arrested, authorities said, as thousands of transport and other union workers launched the first of a two-day strike supported by three of the country's four largest labor groups. Most stores and schools in downtown Asuncion and in Ciudad del Este. Most public transportation ground to a halt. Union workers are incensed over a government plan to sell railroad, water, and telephone systems to private parties. Approved by the Senate in May, the plan is to be voted on by the lower house on June 29. Critics of the plan say putting the state-run businesses in private hands could leave the jobs of some 15,000 people at risk. Persio Duarte, a labor leader, threatened more strikes if the government didn't withdraw its plan. ``In some way we're going to take revenge against the government,'' he told reporters. ``Not with acts of violence, but with more strikes and protests that will disrupt this process of privatization.'' Government spokesman Jaime Bestard said the government would allow the strikes to continue, but would not revoke its proposed plan to privatize. ``The right of the unions to strike will be respected,'' he told reporters. ``But the project to reform the state will not be reversed. It's irreversible.'' A protracted economic crisis has brought widespread discontent with the government of President Luis Gonzalez Macchi, which has struggled to rejuvenate Paraguay's stagnant economy. With per capita income just above dlrs 1,600 a year, some 22 percent of Paraguay's 5.4 million people live in poverty. The unemployment rate hovers near 16 percent and 300,000 peasants in the countryside are clamoring for land. Many people depend on cash-strapped state enterprises for their livelihood. Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company <DIV>-----------------------------------------------------</DIV> <DIV>Click here for Free Video!!</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.gohip.com/free_video/" EUDORA = AUTOURL>http://www.gohip.com/free_video/</A></DIV><PRE>______________________________________________ You can subscribe to Solidarity4Ever by sending a message to: Solidarity4Ever-subscribe@topica.com and unsubscribe by sending an email to: Solidarity4Ever-unsubscribe@topica.com. 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