The Lesotho Clothing and Allied Workers Union (LECAWU) has released information on serious worker rights violations in 21 factories producing for Wal-Mart in this small Southern African country. Sweatshop abuses include:

• excessive hours of compulsory overtime;
• poverty wages that don’t meet workers’ basic needs;
• verbal and physical abuse and sexual harassment;
• humiliating strip searches;
• unfair treatment of pregnant workers;
• inadequate washroom facilities and restrictions on their use;
• health and safety violations; and
• violations of freedom of association;

To lessen the possibility of Wal-Mart cutting and running from specific factories linked to specific abuses, LECAWU has requested that we not name the factories.

LECAWU is calling on its supporters around the world to demand that Wal-Mart take immediate steps to ensure, and provide verifiable evidence, that all its suppliers in Lesotho are complying with the Lesotho Labour Code and the Conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO).

Recently, LECAWU sent a letter to Wal-Mart protesting the inadequacies of that company’s current factory monitoring program. According to LECAWU, the personnel director at one Wal-Mart supply factory acted as the translator for worker interviews during a social audit of the factory commissioned by Wal-Mart. Workers can not be expected to tell the truth about working conditions in the presence of factory management.

Tell Wal-Mart to not cut and run from Lesotho, but to stay and work with suppliers to fix the problems, in consultation with LECAWU. More information below and this information can also be found at the website from Maquila Solidarity Network at www.maquilasolidarity.org including a sample letter that can be send to Wal-Mart and at the webiste of the Clean Clothes Campaign as soon as the webeditor is back from his holiday. For your information, Wal-Mart is getting more and more into the European market and has now stores under its own name in Germany, and ASDA in the UK. Sample Letter

(please write your own and send a copy to the Clean Clothes Campaign)

Wal-Mart: Fax: ++ 1 479-273-4329; email: hlscott@wal-mart.com

H Lee Scott, CEO
Wal-Mart
702 SW Eighth St.
Bentonville, AR,
72716 USA

Dear Mr Scott:

I am writing concerning disturbing reports I have received of serious worker rights violations at over 20 factories producing for your company in Lesotho. Reported abuses include compulsory overtime that stretches workdays to up to 14 hours, poverty wages that don’t meet one-half the basic needs of a family of four, verbal and physical abuse and sexual harassment, humiliating strip searches, and violations of workers’ right to freedom of association.

I was also disturbed at reports that the personnel manager at one Wal-Mart supply factory was allowed to act as the translator for worker interviews during a Wal-Mart factory audit. Surely, your company does not believe workers will tell the truth about factory conditions in the presence of the personnel manager.

I urge your company to take immediate steps to ensure that all of your supply factories in Lesotho are in compliance with the Lesotho labour code and accepted minimum labour standards of the International Labour Organization of the United Nations, and I strongly urge you to consult with the Lesotho Clothing and Allied Workers Union (LECAWU) about violations of Lesotho law and the Wal-Mart code as part of that process.

I look forward to receiving a report on what actions your company is taking to use your considerable influence to help clean up sweatshop abuses in your Lesotho supply factories. I strongly urge your company to not cut and run from Lesotho, but to stay and be part of the solution.

Yours truly,

The following information is based on interviews with workers at Wal-Mart supply factories in Lesotho carried out by the Lesotho Clothing and Allied Workers Union (LECAWU) and the Africa office of the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers Federation (ITGLWF).

1. Hours and Overtime

Normal working hours at most Wal-Mart supply factories are 10 hours a day, from 7:00 am to 5:00 pm., with compulsory overtime of up to four additional hours, adding up to a 14-hour workday.

In heavy production periods, several factories require employees to work night shifts of up to 14 ½ hours.

There are extreme cases of workers in some factories being forced to work double shifts around the clock from 7:00 a.m. until the following morning.

It is common for workers not to be notified until near the end of their normal workshift that they must stay and work overtime hours. When employees must work on Sundays, they are not notified until late Saturday afternoon.

The vast majority of workers are women, many with families and children. Compulsory and unannounced overtime makes it impossible for women workers to adequately care for their children. The right to attend funerals is an important issue for workers, since most funerals are scheduled for Saturdays and Sundays, which workers are often required to work.

There is widespread confusion about whether the overtime rate is being paid correctly. Some workers complain that their pay slips do not specify how much overtime is being paid.

Workers at one factory said that they were not allowed to clock in on Sundays, because the managers “were afraid of losing their orders” if buyers saw that the Code of Conduct was being violated.

2. Poverty Wages

Most workers at Wal-Mart supply factories in Lesotho receive wages of US$54 a month. These poverty level wages cover less than half the costs of the basic needs of a family four.

3. Verbal and Physical Abuse and Sexual Harassment:

Workers in most factories described the working atmosphere as tense. Verbal abuse is widespread. Supervisors often yell at workers, use profanity and insults.

Physical abuse is also reported. Workers at one Wal-Mart supply factory charged that managers hit them with shoes, scissors and fabric punchers. Workers at another factory reported being beaten by supervisors. A worker at a third factory was severely beaten by supervisor in April 2001.

Worker testimonies also reveal instances of sexual abuse by management personnel of some companies. A supervisor at one Wal-Mart supply factory reportedly demanded sexual favours and arranged “special appointments” to meet with female workers in his office. This person reportedly recruited other supervisors to put pressure on women workers who are reluctant to attend these special appointments.

It is a common practice for supervisors to take bribes when recruiting new workers. Supervisors at two Wal-Mart supply factories are known to demand bribes of between M250.00 (US$27) and M400.00 (US$44) for hiring workers.

4. Employee Searches:

Research revealed that most workers are searched at lunch and before leaving at the end of the day. The actual method of searching varies from factory to factory. Most common is for workers to be lined up and patted down by supervisors.

Workers at three Wal-Mart supply factories must undergo strip searches, in which they are required to remove their clothing.

At one factory, male supervisors are present during the searches and lift up the dresses of women workers; the workers described this practice as humiliating.

At another factory, menstruating women are forced to show their sanitary pads during the searches. Managers claim that searches are necessary in order to catch thieves.

5. Pregnant Women:

Pregnant women are not given any special consideration, and are not transferred to less physically demanding tasks.

6. Health and Safety:

Workers complained that factories are bitterly cold in the winter and stiflingly hot in the summer, because most companies do not have adequate insulation or heating or air conditioning systems. Workers at one factory said the factory is equipped with heaters, but management refused to turn them on, claiming, “It’s not cold enough”.

Most workers said they did not receive protective gear, such as facemasks. However, workers at one factory said they were given masks, but the cost was deducted from their wages.

Workers at another factory told of an incident in the Packing Department, where a worker suffered a deep cut from a tape cutter. Her supervisor refused to allow her first aid, so instead, a colleague wrapped up the wound with toilet paper.

Workers are also concerned for their physical safety when leaving the company premises. Two workers at another Wal-Mart supply factory were raped near the factory when they left at 6:00 pm and were not provided transport.

7. Washroom facilities:

Workers at all factories surveyed complained that there were not enough washrooms. One Wal-Mart supply factory reportedly has only three washrooms for its 900 workers. At many factories, pass systems are used to limit how often workers can use washroom facilities. Workers at one factory were searched whenever they used the washroom. At other factories, access to washrooms was limited to certain times of the day.

Most factories do not make toilet paper available. Workers at one Wal-Mart supply factory said they must use scraps of fabric “off cuts” to wipe themselves, which they then discard on the floors. The water that flushes the toilets at another Wal-Mart supply factory is pumped in from the dirty laundry water used by the Asian managers who live on the company premises.

8. Freedom of Association:

Despite the fact that LECAWU has signed up more than 50% of the workers at some of the Wal-Mart supply factories, none of the employers have been willing to negotiate a collective agreement. Factory managers of many Wal-Mart suppliers are openly hostile to LECAWU members and union shop stewards.

Although the Lesotho Labour Code requires companies to work with union shop stewards, whether or not the union represents the majority of workers in the factory, most Wal-Mart suppliers refuse to deal with union. At one factory, management established a Disciplinary Committee, which usurped the duties of the LECAWU shop stewards. At another factory, management transferred the shop steward to a production division where there were no union members.