We are pleased to report that the Dagongzhe (DGZ) Migrant Worker Centre in Shenzhen, China has re-opened and that its founder, Huang Qing-nan, has partially recovered and resumed work. Thank you for taking action!

July 26, 2008Euro 2008 Supplier Gets Red Card for Workers' Rights
In the month before football players from 16 European nations kicked the ball over the line, 52 workers in Turkey learned about the other side of the Euro 2008 medal.   They worked for the factory Mink Tekstil in Konya, Turkey which produces Euro 2008 logo goods. In June 2006, almost the entire workforce of Mink Tekstil (90 Percent) joined the textile trade union Teksif. Although Teksif was granted bargaining rights at Mink Tekstil, factory management refused to accept the union’s invitation to begin negotiations and instead launched an anti-union campaign, forcing workers to resign from the union under threats of dismissal, pay cuts, the conclusion of ‘under the table’ payments and transfer to other locations. As a result of the pressure, eight union members resigned from union membership. The dozens of other union members who refused to resign were dismissed. In this context, Teksif ended up losing its majority and hence its bargaining rights.

Demand the reinstatement of the workers of Mink Tekstil and the right of freedom of association!
April 9, 2008Call on adidas to Improve its Performance in Indonesia, Re-Employ Mistreated Workers
adidas must take action to address systemic labour violations in Indonesia. It can begin by making amends for the illegal and unfair treatment of workers at PT Spotec and PT Dong Joe who were left with nothing when the factories abruptly closed.   The In November 2006, 10,500 workers at PT Dong Joe and PT Spotec suddenly found themselves out of a job when the factories abruptly closed. To make matters worse, workers did not receive their severance and other entitlements for many months, leaving them with nothing. Full entitlements have still not been paid to all workers.

Feb 5, 2008Factory Investigator Mehedi Hasan Released, Urgent Action Still Needed in Bangladesh
Good news! Thanks to concerted pressure from human and labour rights activists around the world, the Bangladeshi authorities released Mehedi Hasan from custody on Sunday, February 3.   The outcome of the case is an enormous relief, but Hasan's arrest is a reminder that worker rights advocates in Bangladesh are under serious threat.

TAKE ACTION!
Call on Bangladeshi Authorities to Stop Repression of Labour Rights Advocates and Trade Unions

March 17, 2008 Tell Chinese Officials: Release Innocent Workers, Bring Corrupt Owner to Justice On February 13, 700 workers at the Panyu Li Chang Footwear Co. Ltd returned from their New Year holiday to find that the owner had stolen their wages, closed the factory and sold all the equipment. Now five of the workers who peacefully appealed for justice face criminal charges. Chinese authorities publicly announce arrest of five workers. Demand the immediate and unconditional release of the five workers who spontaneously and peacefully walked with their fellow workers to report the factory owner's crime and call on the authorities for help. Jan 29, 2008A Message to Adidas: Dismissed Workers Deserve New Jobs!
Adidas must ensure employment of unfairly dismissed Panarub workers   In October 2005, 33 workers from PT Panarub Factory in Tangerang (near Jakarta) were unfairly dismissed after they demanded better working conditions and participated in a legal strike asking for better pay for workers. The factory’s 11,500 workers produced sports shoes for Adidas and other sportswear brands, and were paid as little as 60 cents an hour despite a dramatic rise in the cost of living in Indonesia. In response, the factory management fired nearly all of the leaders of the union, Perbupas, in an effort to stop the workers from fighting for better working conditions and exercising their right to freedom of association.

Jan 24, 2008Tell Kings Land that Union Rights are Human Rights For over six months, workers at the Kings Land Garment Company in Cambodia have asked management to address problems with working conditions at the factory. After seeking government intervention and exhausting every possibility to urge management to meet with them, the Garment Workers Democratic Union went on strike on January 11 to demand that Kings Land recognize the union, discuss labor violations, and reinstate 18 union activists who have been illegally dismissed since the union was formed in July 2007.

Sit-in strike ends at Haowei Toys The sit-in strike at Disney supplier Haowei Toys has ended, but the campaign to improve working conditions at other Disney factories continues. Over 300 workers of the Haowei Toys factory in Shenzhen, China, producing plastic toys for Disney, have been protesting day and night against the violation of their labour rights. Labour rights violations reported by the Students and Scholars against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) include excessive overtime, under-payment or non-payment of overtime, forced signing of blank contracts, withholding pension and social insurance payments, exposure to dangerous toxins and unhealthy dormitory conditions.

May 16, 2007 Appeals Court Upholds Convictions in Chea Vichea Murder Case Unions, NGOs call for new investigation into shooting death of Cambodian union president Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun were sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment after a deeply flawed criminal investigation followed by an unfair trial on 1 August 2005. On April 12 the Cambodian Court of Appeals upheld the convictions of Born Samnang and Sok Samoeun for the 2004 murder of Free Trade Union of the Kingdom of Cambodia (FTUWKC) leader Chea Vichea. The FTUWKC maintains that these men are not the killers of Chea Vichea and that their detention is unjust.

We hope that you will join us in continuing action to push for a just resolution to this case. Please add your name to the CCC's online petition to the Cambodian government to call for a new investigation into the murder of Chea Vichea. April 4, 2007 Philippines: violence against workers continues Philippine garment workers still need your support as violence in the Cavite Export Processing Zone (CEPZ) continues. On December 11, 2006, two labor activists who were members of the Solidarity of Cavite Workers (SCW) and one worker of the Yakazi-EMI factory producing semi-conductors, were gun downed by assassins in front of the Japanese-owned factory in Imus, Cavite. Jesus Buth Servida, 32 years (photo) was killed instandly. After the shooting of labor leader Gerardo Cristobal on April 28, 2006, and the killing of bishop Alberto Ramento, chairman of the board of the Workers Assistance Center on October 3, 2006 (!), more labor activists active in the Province of Cavite were shot. Also, the striking workers at Chong Won (recently renamed to C. Woo) and Phils Jeon remain under threat of violence, tolerated and supported by both the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE). Despite international protests against the extreme violence directed at labor and human rights activists, the Philippine authorities did not take any effective measures to date to halt the violence. Neither has there been any independent and impartial investigation into the killings and shootings.

The CCC believes that the Philippine government and its institutions PEZA and DoLE, should guarantee workers' rights to freedom of association and immediately take effective measures to halt any form of violence directed at labor activists and striking workers. So far the government's response has been insufficient. Please take action to support Philippine workers in their struggle to improve working conditions and to defend their right to organize.

International unions, NGOs denounce latest killing; help sought for family

 

Hy Vuthy was killed shortly after successfully negotiating a one-day holiday for Suntex workers for the Khmer New Year.

The Clean Clothes Campaign strongly condemns this killing and calls upon the Cambodian government to bring to justice those behind this and previous killings of unionists and to bring to an end the climate of inpunity that surrounds the violation of human rights in the workplace in Cambodia.

Serious concerns remain about the safety of his family, who are still subject to harassment. Your contributions to a support fund for Var Sopheak and her children are urgently needed.

Days before the second anniversary of the Spectrum garment factory collapse, which killed 64 and injured 80 (54 seriously), 22 workers received the first distribution of a US$ 60,000 advance from the fund.

Zarina's husband was one of the 64 workers killed when the Spectrum garment factory collapsed in 2005. Since that time Zarina, shown here with her seven-year-old son, has had to take out loans to provide the most basic necessities for her family.

The Clean Clothes Campaign is gravely concerned about the recent developments in Sri Lanka, where trade unionists are intimidated and threatened with abduction, as a result of a public campaign depicting them as traitors and terrorists.

In 2006 we have several times asked you to support the Hermosa workers, whose factory closed in may 2005 following an attempt to organize a union. A determined group of 63 workers has since been campaigning to receive their legally owed severance and other payments, and to end the blacklisting that prevents them from getting new jobs in the Maquila.

Sign on today and support a monthly minimum wage of Tk3000 (€34.37) for Bangladeshi garment workers

Continued Action Needed: Contact Bangladeshi Authorities Now!

Action urgently needed: contact embassies now!

Help put an end to deadly working conditions in garment factories

 

Update Sept 2005

 

Voice your support for the 207 unjustly dismissed workers

 

Fila take positive action now on the PT Tae Hwa case!