December 24, 2004,
Dear friends, your support is once more urgently needed for our campaign on behalf of the workers of Global Sports Lanka (formerly: North Sails Lanka.) On october 19th of this year we informed you we were re-opening the campaign. Please find below an update on the developments since then, as well as an action request, sample letters and contact details.

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Of the 207 North Sails Lanka workers who were suspended and dismissed in 2002 for going on strike, 38 are presently still fighting their dismissals in court. In September 2002, the CCC started a campaign supporting workers at the North Sails Lanka factory, calling upon the management to reinstate the dismissed workers and to respect their right to freedom of association. International campaigning led to the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in December 2003, between the Austrian company Boards and More (at the time owner of North Sails Lanka), the FTZ & GSEU union and the CCC . The MoU stated that all parties involved would accept the court's decision AND that the company would negotiate directly and substantially with the union FTZ&GSEU as well as permit the establishment of unions
(see http://www.cleanclothes.org/companies/northsails-03-12.htm).

North Sails Lanka, now known as Global Sports Lanka, was sold by Boards & More Austria to the Swiss company Global Sports Technologies. Boards & More (itself also by now in Swiss hands) is still the license holder of the North Sails brand. Global Sports Lanka, in a subsequent meeting with the union on April 26, 2004, confirmed what was also said in the December 2003 meeting: that direct negotiations with the FTZ&GSEU should cover the fate of the dismissed workers by reaching a settlement for them. During the April 2004 meeting, Mr. Schwendtke of Global Sports Lanka noted in the minutes of that meeting that the dismissed workers should be given priority for any new positions at the company, based on their suitability for the positions in question. Since the MoU, Global Sports Lanka has hired 90 new workers without even calling for interviews the 38 fired workers who had filed cases against their dismissal.

The CCC re-opened campaign because no progress was made in negotiations between Global Sports Lanka and the union.
Since then, there has been frequent contact with the owner of Global Sails Lanka, GST Holding in Switzerland.

The FTZ&GSEU, supported by the CCC, proposed competent mediation between factory management and the union in order to break the deadlock between them. Global Sports Lanka has chosen to wait for the cases of the dismissed workers to be heard in court - a process that has been dragging on for several years, worsening the already difficult situation of the workers who are still unemployed. The CCC believes that mediation is the most effective way to get out of this deadlocked situation. It offers a viable alternative to the fruitless negotiations between both parties so that they can come to a mutually satisfactory and acceptable resolution.

The union proposed an organization that is widely respected as an impartial human rights mediator be brought in as the mediating party. The owner of Global Sports Technologies, recently visited the factory in Sri Lanka on a 'fact-finding' mission. He did not use this opportunity to lay the groundwork for dispute resolution, even though he agreed with the assessment that the core problem consisted of a deadlock between local management and the union.

GST and local management have repeatedly demonstrated that they are unwilling to respect workers' rights with regard to freedom of association and collective bargaining. They have engaged in delay tactics by not negotiating directly and by not accepting the union's offer for mediation by an independent third party. These acts are in violation of the MoU. In the meantime, the dismissed workers have been forced into the difficult situation of having to look for work elsewhere while waiting for their cases to be heard in court - an extremely time consuming process.

It is essential that all parties recognize that the issue at hand is that mediation is necessary to break this deadlock and come to a swift and acceptable resolution regarding the dismissed workers.

These obligations to the workers are clearly outlined in the MoU, calling upon Global Sports Lanka and GST Holding to act in good faith by implementing the Memorandum of Understanding without any further delay, and to immediately:

• reinstate the illegally dismissed workers;
• agree to mediation as proposed by the union or forward a suitable alternative;
• recognize workers' rights to organize and to collective bargaining.

The CCC will continue its campaign supporting the workers of the Global Sports Lanka factory until North Sails (Mr. Schwendtke) and all of its business partners take concrete steps to resolve this dispute. These business partners include Boards & More, North Sails, GST and local management at the Global Sports Lanka factory to engage in competent mediation with the union. Please help us in supporting the North Sails Lanka workers and

1. Please send a letter of protest to the management of Global Sports Lanka, the factory owner GST Holding in Switzerland, Boards & More Austria, Boards & More Switzerland (license holder of the North Sails brand) and North Sails USA, urging them to enter into mediation with the union to quickly resolve this dispute (see sample letter # 1).

Dear Mr. Schwendtke,

I have been informed by the Clean Clothes Campaign about the ongoing labor dispute at Global Sports Lanka (North Sails Lanka) located in the Katunayake Free Trade Zone in Sri Lanka. In this factory, where North Sails surf sails are made, 207 workers were expelled and fired in 2002. They had been on strike to protest the refusal to pay their annual quality bonus. Since their wages are extremely low, the workers needed these "bonuses" to survive.

In December 2003 a promise (referred to as the Memorandum of Understanding, or MoU) was made by management and representatives of Boards & More and North Sails Lanka - the former owners of this facility- on the one hand, and the local union and the CCC on the other, in order to address the concerns at the heart of the dispute. I understand, however, that one year later, issues are no closer to being resolved than in 2003. I am dissatisfied to hear that the company has failed to implement the MoU in good faith. For example, although Global Sails Lanka hired 90 new employees, none of the dismissed workers was called up for an interview to see if they were suitable for filling these positions.

For this reason, the Clean Clothes Campaign reopened its campaign supporting the workers at Global Sports Lanka on 19 October 2004. Since management showed that it was unwilling to engage in constructive negotiation with the union, it was felt that mediation between the company and the union should be the next logical step. The union proposed that an independent organization that is widely respected as an impartial human rights mediator, be brought in as the mediating party. This option was turned down by the management.

These concerns were communicated to you and you recently visited the factory in Sri Lanka on a 'fact-finding' mission in order to facilitate a solution to the deadlock between the union and management. However, during this visit, you did not contact the union or the organization it proposed as mediator, nor did you forward a suitable counterproposal.

GST Holding and the local management have repeatedly demonstrated that they are unwilling to respect workers' rights with regard to freedom of association and collective bargaining. They have engaged in delay tactics by not negotiating directly with the union and by not accepting the union's offer for mediation by an independent third party. These acts are in violation of the MoU. In the meantime, the dismissed workers have been forced into the difficult situation of having to look for work elsewhere while waiting for their cases to be heard in court - an extremely time consuming process.

I therefore call upon you and your business partners to use your influence to instruct local management at the Global Sports Lanka factory to enter into mediation with the union FTZ&GSEU and to comply with the following demands:

• Global Sports Lanka reinstate the unfairly dismissed workers;

• management constructively negotiate with the union representing the workers;

• management respect workers' rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining, now and in the future.

We urge you to act quickly to resolve this dispute.

Surf the internet and locate the North Sails dealers in your country, and ask them to contact GST.

Draft letter to North Sails Dealers (please adapt as necessary)

NAME
ADDRESS
CITY
FAX NUMBER
Send by fax and by mail

Date:

Regarding: Mediation necessary to end the ongoing labor dispute at Global Sports Lanka (North Sails Lanka)

Dear Sir/Madam,
Through this letter, I want to inform you about the more than 2 year long labor dispute at Global Sports Lanka (formerly North Sails Lanka) in the Katunyake Free Trade Zone in Sri Lanka. In this factory, where North Sails surf sails are made, 207 workers were expelled and fired in 2002. They had been on strike to protest the refusal to pay their annual quality bonus. Since their wages are extremely low, the workers needed these "bonuses" to survive.

The Clean Clothes Campaign supports workers in the garment industry through, for example, letter writing campaigns and solidarity actions (see: www.cleanclothes.org)

In 2002, the workers had filed a complaint against their dismissal with the labor court in Sri Lanka. When the case came before the court in February 2003, North Sails Lanka management did not show up. The case was subsequently postponed.

Many people have responded to the appeal by the Clean Clothes Campaign and have sent letters to the management of Global Sports Lanka and representatives of Boards & More (the previous owner).

In December 2003 an agreement, referred to as the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was reached by Boards & More and North Sails Lanka on the one hand and the local union and the Clean Clothes Campaign on the other. Management agreed to negotiate directly with the local union in Sri Lanka to find a solution to this conflict. The Clean Clothes Campaign agreed to suspend its campaign activities for as long as there were constructive negotiations going on.

Both sides agreed to respect the decision of the labor court, who, to this day have not ruled on the case. Management benefits from this time consuming process, and, despite having agreed to negotiate in good faith, seems in no way inclined to come to some sort of agreement with the union.

Even though there have been 90 job openings in the past year, management has refused to re-employ the expelled workers, some of whom worked at the factory for more than 10 years. Some of the workers have found temporary work elsewhere, while others have had to remigrate to their native villages. They are very willing to work for Global Sports again. Finding a new job is difficult, because many of them are considered too old (older then 25!) and because Global Sports has blacklisted them as "troublesome". As you will understand, the situation of these workers is becoming more difficult by the day.

Since management showed that it was unwilling to engage in constructive negotiation with the union, it was felt that mediation between the Global Sports Lanka and the union should be the next logical step. The union proposed that an organization that is widely respected as an impartial human rights mediator, be brought in as the mediating party. This option was turned down by the management and no suitable alternative was proposed from their side.

These concerns were communicated to Mr. Christoph S of Global Sports Technologies, who recently visited the factory in Sri Lanka on a 'fact-finding' mission in order to facilitate a solution to the deadlock between the union and management. During his visit however, Mr. S did not contact the union or the independent mediator proposed by the union, nor did he propose a credible mediator to the union.

The company and the local management have repeatedly demonstrated that they are unwilling to respect workers' rights with regard to freedom of association and collective bargaining. They have engaged in delay tactics by not negotiating directly and by not accepting the union's offer for mediation by an independent third party. These acts are in violation of the MoU. In the meantime, the dismissed workers have been forced into the difficult situation of having to look for work elsewhere while waiting for their cases to be heard in court - an extremely time consuming process.

There are Clean Clothes Campaigns in several European countries, and similar campaigns in North America and Australia have been waged to support the demands of the workers. These are:

• reinstate the illegally dismissed workers;

• to enter into mediation with the union;

• recognize workers' rights to organize and to collective bargaining.

North Sails stands for quality, and has a good brand image, but that does not release the company from its obligation to take proper care of its employees. We hope that you, as a North Sails dealer, share our concern, and that you are willing to convey your concern to Global Sports Technologies and Global Sports Lanka about their failure to properly follow up on the agreement made in December 2003, to respect workers' rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining and to urge them to engage in mediation with the union.

Please inform us of the steps you intend to take.

Awaiting your response,

Sincerely,

GST Holding
Christoph S
Industriestrasse 13c
CH-6300 Zug, Switzerland

Cc : Boards & More AG
Yves Marchand
Weinbergstrasse 139
8006 Zurich

Cc: Boards & More Austria GmbH
Gregor König
Rabach 1
A-4591 Molln
E-mail: office@boards-and-more.com
Tel: ++43 758 44 03
Fax: ++43 758 44 03603

Cc: Boards & More SA
299, rue Champs Farcon
74370 Argonay
Tel. : ++ 04 50 66 99 22
Fax : ++ 04 50 66 94 90

Cc: Boards & More Switzerland
Mr. Schwab
Blegistrasse 11b
CH - 6342 Baar
E-mail: info@boards-and-more.ch
Tel: ++ 41 41 766 41 70
Fax: ++ 41 41 766 41 79

Cc: Global Sports Lanka, Ltd.
Meinhard Schwendtke
KEPZ, Phase 2, Ring Road 3
Katunayake, Sri Lanka
info@nslanka.lk
Fax: ++ 94 11 22 52 470

Cc: North Sails Group
Inc.66 Quirk
Road Milford
(CT 06460) USA