A-Infos (en) Update on Phillips-Van Heusen Union in Guatemala

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Source - Campaign for Labor Rights <clr@igc.apc.org>
The following information was prepared by the U.S./Guatemala Labor
Education Project, and includes: an update on the PVH situation; a
letter from the PVH union; response to PVH being drafted; more demo
reports; action request.  For readers unfamiliar with the struggle of
the Phillips-Van Heusen workers in Guatemala, the letter from the union
in this alert provides an excellent summary of events.


UPDATE ON PHILLIPS-VAN HEUSEN  SITUATION

The union lives!

Guatemala: On Monday, January 4, 300 workers blocked the road to the
factory and did so again on Tuesday. Also on Tuesday, half the workers
went downtown to complain to the Labor Minister and discovered PVH
management entering the Ministry. The workers refused to let the PVH
managers leave the Ministry until they agreed to a meeting, which was
held on Wednesday, January 6, with union leaders, CUSG general secretary
Juan Francisco Alfaro, and the Labor Minister. [Campaign for Labor
Rights note: The PVH union is part of the CUSG labor federation.] During
the meeting, PVH defended their decision and made several important
admissions - see below. Another road blockage took place Thursday,
January 7. The workers' protests prompted the Minister of Economy to
threaten to suspend the PVH export licence (a moot point if the factory
is already closed!)

LEGAL ACTIONS FILED:

CUSG filed an amparo [legal action] in court at the end of December
which charges the company with violating the collective bargaining
agreement, specifically with the 30-day advance notice requirement
stipulated in article 59 for any change in work status including a plant
closing. 

Legal situation: According to reports from Guatemala, PVH admitted at
the January 6 meeting that they had: (a) violated Article 59 requiring
the 30-day advance notice because they were afraid of a violent reaction
by the workers; (b) violated labor law requiring payments to union
leaders for the duration of their terms plus 12 months (a law intended
to protect union leaders from reprisals); and (c) violated labor law
prohibiting the firing of pregnant or nursing women and requiring extra
payments up until the end of their nursing period (10 months after
birth).


LETTER FROM PVH UNION

[Campaign for Labor Rights note: Maquilas are assembly factories
producing for export.]

December 15, 1998

An Urgent Appeal from the Phillips-Van Heusen (CAMOSA)Workers in
Guatemala

Dear Friends, Brothers and Sisters, and those who have known us and
shared our struggle:

We write to you just days after the closing of the sewing plant where we
worked for Phillips-Van Heusen for many years as operators, pressers,
finishers and packers. We want you to know what will happen to us and to
the 80,000 workers in our country who labor in the maquila industry here
if this decision to close the plant is allowed to stand.

For the last year and half we have worked in accord with a collective
bargaining agreement - the only one in existence in the entire maquila
industry in Guatemala. We struggled for six years to win recognition of
the union and to negotiate a contract, a difficult struggle in which the
solidarity of our international allies played an important role.

It was an historic victory for Guatemalan workers and also benefitted
the company. We negotiated an agreement with significant improvements
for the workers and increased efficiency of production. The company
itself has acknowledged that the plant has been profitable throughout
this entire time and relations with the union were good. But the company
was not satisfied with the profits it was making from our labor. It
wants more. If Camosa is closed, PVH will send more work to its
contractors where our sisters and brothers are denied the right to
organize and are forced to work in sweatshops with half the pay and
practically none of the benefits we have won under our contract. 

We gave our word and played by the rules and now we demand that PVH do
the same. We demand respect and to be treated like the kind of people we
have always been: hard workers who have dedicated ourselves to building
the success of this company.

When we arrived for work on December 11th, we were told that the plant
was closed - in violation of the 30-day notice provided in our contract.
Not one manager showed his face to explain what they were doing or why.
Only lawyers showed up to try to pay us off so that we wouldn't demand
the right to our jobs. Many of the workers who went to receive payments
were tricked by the lawyers. Workers were not allowed to read what they
were signing and only later were told that they had signed "resignation
letters." The company also cheated pregnant women and new mothers out of
benefit payments they are legally owed.

After we won recognition of our union, the President of PVH, Mr. Bruce
Klatsky came to Guatemala and told us that we were all one big happy
family and that the company would always respect our rights. Nothing
could be further from the truth. We understand that Mr. Klatsky is a
member of Human Rights Watch and the Apparel Industry Partnership to end
sweatshops. How can this be? What PVH is doing in Guatemala is smashing
the human rights of workers and throwing us back into sweatshops that
pay starvation wages and treat us like animals. The 600 Camosa workers
will not go back to the sweatshops. We will fight for our rights, for
our dignity and that of our families, and for the tens of thousands of
workers in the maquila industry in our country who are so mercilessly
exploited by the big multinational
corporations that hide behind pretty words.

We demand that PVH keep its Camosa plant open and honor its legal and
contractual obligations to the workers.

If PVH insists on closing the plant, we demand that the company open its
books and explain exactly why it cannot reduce its supply from any
number of the hundreds of sweatshops from which it now sources, instead
of from one of the few plants where workers have won a measure of
respect and dignity.

We demand justice. 

We therefore issue this urgent appeal to workers, unions, religious and
human rights groups and people of good will in our country and
throughout the world for your support in this just struggle.

With great appreciation for your solidarity, we shall overcome.

The Executive Committee of STECAMOSA, on behalf of the workers of
Camisas Modernas S.A.


RESPONSE TO PVH BEING DRAFTED

Thanks to all of you who responded to our earlier alert by sending
letters to Bruce Klatsky, CEO of Phillips-Van Heusen. The company
promptly sent out a reply to everyone who included a return address. The
U.S./Guatemala Labor Education Project is drafting a response to the
letter from PVH. We will post the response as soon as it is completed.


MORE DEMO REPORTS!!!


(Los Angeles, California, U.S, recent, undated)

Four of us from GEAP (the Guatemala Education Action Project) leafleted
the JC Penney in Glendale for a little more than two hours. We handed
out over 200 flyers and gathered signatures on more than 25 prepared
letters which have now been sent. We are considering continued action
with members of UNITE.
- Garth Sorensen of GEAP

(Buffalo, New York, U.S., recent, undated)

We have a large PVH outlet in the middle of what is the largest outlet
mall in the State. We picked the Saturday before Christmas but the
weather was big time against us. Nevertheless, we went forward with our
leafleting directly outside the PVH store. Shoppers were generally
cordial, some turning away from the store. PVH management called mall
security; they insisted we stop and leave. One of our group had been
taking pictures and was told she was being detained and the others had
to leave and return to their cars. All refused to do so and eventually,
all were let go with camera and pictures intact. Here in western New
York, we have a history of leafleting at this PVH outlet store and
others have been arrested in the past. We shall return!
- Joan Malone of Jobs with Justice


(Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S., January 28, 1999)

Leafleting is scheduled for noon on January 28 at one of our major
downtown department stores, Lazarus, which sells all four PVH brand
shirts. I will keep you posted.
- Robin Alexander of UE and PLANTA


(New York City, U.S., recent, undated)

Correction of our earlier report: The NYC leafleting action was
organized by UNITE and the Stop Sweatshops campaign and was joined by
members of other organizations. - Thanks to Phil Josselyn of CISPES and
the Global Sweatshop Coalition for alerting us to an error in our
earlier report!


ACTION REQUEST

PLEASE CONTINUE TO ORGANIZE LEAFLETING AT PVH OUTLETS AND JC PENNEY
STORES.
It is important for PVH to feel the heat for its union-busting actions
in Guatemala - all the more so since Bruce Klatsky is a member of the
White House task force on sweatshop issues (the Apparel Industry
Partnership).

If you don't have the earlier alert with the text of leafleting
materials and you would like to receive that alert, contact Campaign for
Labor Rights at <CLR@igc.org> or (541) 344-5410. We would be happy to
email or fax it to you.

Please send reports of your leafleting actions to us at <CLR@igc.org>. 
Thanks for responding to the call for action!

In future alerts, we will post updates on campaign strategy, which the
U.S./Guatemala Labor Education Project is playing a leading role in
developing.

Background: 

See background article at:
http://www.summersault.com/~agj/clr/alerts/pvhclosesunionizedplantinguatemala.html

For more articles and material on the PVH campaign see: 

"Materials For PVH Leafleting" (posted December 18, 1998)
http://www.summersault.com/~agj/clr/alerts/pvhleafletingmaterials.html

"A Call For Leafleting at Phillips-Van Heusen Outlets and JC Penney
Stores" (posted December 16, 1998)
http://www.summersault.com/~agj/clr/alerts/protatpvhoutlets.html  

"Phillips-Van Heusen Closes Unionized Guatemala Plant!" (undated)
http://www.summersault.com/~agj/clr/alerts/pvhclosesunionizedplantinguatemala.html


For more information on the Campaign for Labor Rights, go to their
website: www.summersault.com/~agj/clr
e-mail CLR@igc.org
Phone: (541) 344-5410   
Fax: (541) 431-0523  

For more information on  the U.S./Guatemala Labor Education Project,
e-mail usglep@igc.org
Phone: (773) 262-6502

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