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Urgent
appeals Round the world, right now, thousands
of garment workers are fighting for their rights.
The cases below are calls for solidarity from garment
workers and their representatives who are persecuted,
discriminated against, or lose their jobs because
they have tried to organise to improve the conditions
in which they work. By taking action on each case,
you can help bring pressure to bear on the brands,
suppliers and governments who have the ability and
the responsibility to respect these workers' rights.
Where abuses are found in a company's supply chain,
we call on that company to put pressure on the supplier
concerned to protect workers' rights, not to 'cut
and run' by withdrawing its orders.
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.
Feb 5, 2008
Settlement Reached by A-One Factory Workers in Bangladesh
Illegally dismissed workers at Tessival supplier
accept severance after two-year struggle
 Agitating
Dhaka garment workers After a two-year
fight for justice, 50 workers at the A-One factory
in Bangladesh finally received compensation from
the Italian company Tessival, currently the factory's
only remaining buyer.
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.
Dec 13,
2007Call on
Chinese Authorities to Stop the Violence against
Migrant Worker Centre
The
DGZ Worker Centre and its staff have been brutally
attacked for educating workers about the new Labour
Contract Law.
In November 2007, Huang Qingnan of the Dagongzhe
(DGZ) Migrant Worker Centre in Shenzhen, China
was seriously injured after being stabbed by two
unidentified men. The assault followed on the
heels of two other violent attacks on the DGZ
Centre. The Centre provides a free library, labour
law education and free legal consultation to migrant
workers in Shenzhen. It is suspected that the
Centre is being targeted for its recent efforts
to raise awareness about the new Labour Contract
Law, which requires better employment conditions
for workers.
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.
 
March 14,
2007 Cambodian
Trade Union Leader Murdered
International
unions, NGOs denounce latest killing; help sought
for family
On February 24, Hy Vuthy, president of the Free
Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia
at the Suntex garment factory, was shot dead while
riding his motorbike home after finishing his night
shift at the factory, located in Phnom Penh's Dangkao
districut.
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.
 
April 10,
2007 Spectrum
Workers Receive First Payments from Compensation
Fund: Carrefour still Refusing to Participate
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 CCC is extremely pleased that the fund will
now become a reality for the workers and wishes
to thank all those who have contributed to making
this happen. The CCC will continue to monitor the
progress of the fund and will continue to call upon
Carrefour and the other companies who have so far
refused to participate in the initiative to contribute
to the fund.
March 6,
2007 Intimidation
of trade unionists in Sri Lanka
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.
Please write to the Sri Lankan president to demand
safety for all trade unionists under threat.
 
Jan 3, 2007
Hermosa: emergency fund set up and new action request
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.
Please take a few moments to send a letter to the
brands that have sourced from the Hermosa factory
in El Salvador.
 
Sept 22,
2006 How low
can you go?
Sign
on today and support a monthly minimum wage of Tk3000
(€34.37) for Bangladeshi garment workers
Garment workers have been participating in rallies
and demonstrations across Bangladesh since the beginning
of September to protest against the failure of the
Bangladesh Wage Board to come up with an acceptable
minimum wage for the garment industry. The CCC supports
the workers in their demand for a wage that allows
them to live in dignity. Your support is needed
to pressure the Bangladesh garment factory associations
to set a wage that will genuinely improve the lives
of these workers. We also ask you to send a message
to the international brands and retailers buying
from Bangladesh to voice their support for workers'
demand to be paid a living wage and put this into
practice.
 
Oct 12, 2006 - UPDATE
€20.12 per month
announced as Bangladesh garment workers’ wage
May 31, 2006
Bangladeshi garmentworkers
protests
Continued
Action Needed: Contact Bangladeshi Authorities Now!
Following demonstrations in reaction to the wide-ranging
rights violations in the garment sector in Bangladesh,
many garment workers remain under arrest and outstanding
issues regarding working conditions have yet to
be fully addressed by authorities and industry.
Your support is needed to call for the charges to
be dropped and those workers imprisoned to be released.
The government must be pushed to launch an immediate
investigation into the root cause of the riots and
instigate measures to address them. Improvements
in the Bangladesh garment industry are long overdue
-- please adapt and send the sample message below!
May 25, 2006
Union officials arrested,
beaten and tortured in Bangladesh following workers
protests
Action
urgently needed: contact embassies now!
Most of you will have read in the media about the
very serious protests of garment workers in Bangladesh.
Two workers are confirmed dead (informal reports
speak of five), hundreds have been injured, and
at least over a hundred factories have been torched
in riots over the past few days. After a worker
from FS factory in Gazipur (producing among others
for Auchan, H&M, Gap, M&S, Inditex, Tesco and Next)
was shot by the police, the fighting spread to the
Savar EPZ and further, workers tended to single
out factories where there had been problems including
Universe Garments, Bandhu, Ringshine and A-One.
February
6, 2006 Justice
for Bangladesh Workers
Help
put an end to deadly working conditions in garment
factories
In recent weeks one incident after another at garment
and textile factories in Bangladesh has caused the
death and injury of numerous workers, making clear
that sector-wide structural measures to improve
health and safety conditions are urgently needed.
On February 27 we informed you of incients at the
KTS Textile, Phoenix, and Imam facilities, but since
then, we regret to report that on March 6 another
fire left three workers dead and some 50 workers
injured at Saiem Fashion in Gazipur.
Bangladesh workers' rights organizations demand
follow-up
September
5, 2005 Update
and action request PT Busana Prima Global - Indonesia
Update
Sept 2005
Since our last update management has failed to sufficiently
remediate the problems in a timely manner, and therefore
the CCC is again calling for action on this case.
It is now more than two years (!) that the PT BPG
workers have been calling for justice - please take
a few minutes to adapt and send a letter of protest
to factory management.
August, 2005
North Sails continues to ignore
workers' plight
Voice
your support for the 207 unjustly dismissed workers
 Voice
your support for the 207 unjustly dismissed workers
at the Global Sports Lanka factory in Sri Lanka.
The CCC asks you to write to North Sails to let
this company know they can't ignore workers rights.
June 27,
2005 FILA FAILS
- Silent on Workers Rights in Indonesia
Fila
take positive action now on the PT Tae Hwa case!
This summer labor rights activists around the world
are joining together to take action against the
international sportswear brand Fila. The Clean Clothes
Campaign , together with its allies, has planned
a series of protests targetting US-based Fila because
of their failure to act on their responsibilities
toward the Indonesian workers who made their sport
shoes. Join these activists and give your support
to the Tae Hwa workers by pressuring Fila to take
positive action on this case..
 
We
keep our older appeals in an archive
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