Sweatshops

No Sweat (No, really)

You can tell that the anti-sweatshop movement is making an impact when the Liberal Democrats try to jump on the bandwagon. Though not generally known for their advocacy of workers’ rights, the Lib Dems have been plucking the consciences of residents in Haringey, North London, with a harrowing account of how their household rubbish goes to China to be processed by workers without rights, not allowed to form trade unions and in a country where rates of work-related deaths and injuries are utterly appalling even by Western standards. There’s just one little problem with this: not one word of it...

NZ union takes on McDonalds

From Labourstart: A few weeks ago the New Zealand union Unite launched the first-ever strike at Starbucks. Now they've taken on McDonald's, and they are serious about challenging one of the most ruthlessly anti-union corporations on the planet. They're signing up workers, taking the company to court, and launching a global campaign to flood McDonald's in New Zealand with thousands of email protest messages. Your support for this effort is essential. If we can compell McDonald's in tiny New Zealand to cave in and finally respect both the law and the basic human rights of its employees, we can...

Iran

On 16 September Iranian riot police attacked a gathering of carpet makers in the northern coastal city of Babolsar. They arrested around 40 and injured a number of others. According to reports from the Worker-communist Party of Iran, workers of Farsh e Alborz (“Alborz Carpet”) had gathered in front of the factory when the police arrived, firing tear gas and shots into the air and beating up the workers in baton charges. Several hundred workers of this factory lost their jobs, following the company’s closure last winter. Despite promises by employers and the local government, the factory has...

How students organise in the USA

By Laura Schwartz, convenor students against sweatshops Between 8 and 14 February I happily accepted an invitation from United Students Against Sweatshops to attend their winter conference in San Francisco as a representative of Students Against Sweatshops and No Sweat. 415 delegates attended the four day conference, representing groups from the 200 US colleges affiliated to USAS. Workshops and seminars focused on USAS’ four main campaign areas – sweat-free college merchandise; a living wage for campus workers; “Killer Coke”; and international solidarity. The conference also discussed how...

after a week, a year of action!

By Sacha ismail Between February 11 and 18, activists across the country organised meetings, protests, film-showings, petitioning and benefit gigs as part of the first student Anti-Sweatshop Week of Action. The week of action, which we hope to make an annual event, was called by No Sweat and Students Against Sweatshops, with (in the event, largely passive) support from the National Union of Students. A variety of left-wing activists on campus, from People & Planet groups to left-wing campaigning societies and even one Labour Club, organised events. The backbone of the week was an international...

How US students built their movement

By Laura Schwartz The US based student campaign United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) has groups in almost 200 universities and has dominated student politics on US campuses since it was founded in 1997. USAS campaigns have ensured on campuses all over the US that workers are paid a living wage and collegiate apparel is no longer made in sweatshops. Students Against Sweatshops was founded in the UK a year ago, with the aim of running campaigns similar to those of USAS, based on workers’ rights and workers’ solidarity. We can learn a lot from USAS by looking at how they build and run their...

The "coolie nation" and the feminisation of poverty

Dita Sari, a leading socialist, trade unionist and anti-sweatshop activist in Indonesia, looks at how women and migrant workers are faring in Indonesia today. For some time now, the countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America have been experiencing what is referred to as the feminisation of poverty. For centuries, colonialism encouraged backwardness in technological and human resources, inequality and a poor quality of life. Capitalism, which on the one hand opened the door to liberation and cultural enlightenment for women, at the same time exploits them. In the past and now, women are the...

Fighting the local bosses and the big brands

By Katrina, FNPBI, Indonesia The Katexindo factory is located in North Jakarta. The workers produce clothes for well-known brands such as GAP, Polo, Ralph Laurent, Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger. Unlike hundreds of garment factories that have been hit by the current crisis, Katexindo seems in a stable condition. Recently they have been making clothes for Polo. The workers had been producing at a rate of 60 items per hour, but the company raised the quota to 85 items an hour. And although the Polo code of conduct states that all workers should work in a safe and sanitary environment, the...

GAP scandal: workers fight closure with occupation

By the FNPBI The workers of the Binoli factory have begun an occupation. Situated in north Jakarta, Binoli produces 6,000 items of GAP baby wear per day. On 21 April workers’ representatives were invited to see the manager. The company stated that working hours must be cut. Workers will be divided into two shifts, and wages reduced by 25 percent. On 23 April the company announced redundancies and the closure of the factory. The bosses announced that a worker with five years at the factory will obtain three months salary and 500,000 Rupiah (US$55), while those who have worked less than five...

Garment workers strike over ill-treatment and unpaid overtime

More than 2,000 Indonesian garment workers have staged a strike to protest at their ill-treatment and unpaid overtime fees. The workers of Katexindo Citra Mandiri have been on strike since 14 May 14, according to the National Front for Indonesian Workers Struggle (FNPBI). FNPBI leader Dita Sari has said that the factory had forced the mostly female workers to work for more than eight hours a day. Katexindo is an Indonesian-owned garment factory producing for Gap, Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein. Dita Sari said: “Workers are being used as milking cows. They will not return to work until their...

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