(More on The Saipan workers' lawsuit)

To all: You may have heard rumors yesterday that 6 more companies settled the Saipan lawsuit. It's true! Now, out of the 17 original defendants, only 4 remain...the major one being GAP Inc. Other companies that have NOT agreed to cut out ridiculous recruitment fees that keep workers indebted to slavery; have not agreed to allow workers to unionize; have not agreed to pay workers a living wage or pay back wages owed to workers; and have not agreed to allow Verite (a non-profit monitoring group) to monitor their factories are Target (merged with Dayton-Hudson), Lane Bryant (merged with the Limited), JC. Penney and GAP Inc. Read below for more information.

Although GAP hasn't settled, this is a great victory for thousands of workers in Saipan. Thank you to all of you who have helped in exposing the insanely abusive conditions in Saipan sweatshops. Keep up the fight!

In solidarity, Leila Salazar Global Exchange *************************************************

Reuters

Eight more U.S. retailers settle sweatshop suit

HONOLULU - Eight more major U.S. clothing retailers have agreed to settle a class action lawsuit which alleges sweatshop labor conditions in the U.S. territory of Saipan, a spokesman for the plaintiffs said Tuesday.

The companies -- Calvin Klein Inc., Jones Apparel Group, Liz Claiborne Inc., The May Department Stores Company, Oshkosh B Gosh Inc., Sears, Roebuck and Company, Tommy Hilfiger USA Inc., and Warnaco, Inc. -- join nine others in agreeing to pay a total of some $8 million and adhere to a system of independent monitoring at the Saipan factories of contractors who produce their clothing.

The suit before a Hawaii court is the first attempt to use federal racketeering laws to hold U.S. companies accountable for mistreatment of workers in foreign-owned factories operating on U.S. soil.

The defendants, which have included a host of the best-known clothing makers in the United States, have been accused of allowing mistreatment of thousands of workers on Saipan, a South Pacific island territory.

Earlier this month, plaintiffs added a number of new clothing makers to the original group of defendants, indicating that they aimed to enforce sweeping new workplace standards throughout Saipan.

Global Exchange, a San Francisco-based human rights group which is one of the plaintiffs in the suit, hailed the new settlement agreement but blasted a number of hold-outs, including The Gap, who have refused to sign.

"It's terribly disappointing that Gap and the other holdout defendants refuse to make a similar commitment to end workplace abuses in Saipan," Global Exchange founding director Medea Benjamin said. "These companies clearly have the resources and the responsibility to clean up the factories where their clothes are made."

A spokeswoman for Gap did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.

Other major companies which have not settled the case include J.C. Penney, Target and Lane Bryant, a division of Limited Inc., according to the plaintiffs.

The settlement provides that in future supply contracts, retailers will require factories to comply with strict employment standards, including guaranteeing overtime pay for overtime work, providing safe food and drinking water, and agreeing to honor employees' basic human rights.

The settlement agreement requires court approval and does not involve an admission of wrongdoing by the defendants.

The Associated Press

Tuesday, March 28, 2000,

More retailers agree to settle Saipan garment worker lawsuits By JEAN CHRISTENSEN, Associated Press Writer HONOLULU‹Liz Claiborne, Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger were among eight major clothing retailers that agreed Tuesday to settle a federal class-action lawsuit brought by garment workers in the Northern Mariana Islands. In a $5.7 million settlement filed in U.S. District Court, the retailers agreed to pay workers who alleged they endured sweatshop conditions and to fund an independent monitoring system to guard against labor abuses by factory operators on the island of Saipan, which is part of the Northern Marianas. The other retailers in the settlement were Sears, Roebuck & Co., Jones Apparel Group, May Department Stores Co., Oshkosh B'Gosh Inc. and Warnaco Inc. The agreement, which will be considered by a federal judge on April 25, brings to 17 the number of retailers that have settled in the case for a total of $8 million. It does not include an admission of wrongdoing by the companies. Nine companies, including Nordstrom Inc., J. Crew Group Inc. and Ralph Lauren, settled claims last year. Litigation is still pending against other retailers, including The Gap, J.C. Penney, Target and Lane Bryant, and the mostly foreign-owned garment factories in the Western Pacific commonwealth, said Los Angeles attorney Al Meyerhoff, who represents the plaintiffs. The latest accord represents the most significant development in the case because the retailers account for $400 million-$500 million of Saipan's $1 billion-a-year garment industry, he said. "We think it will put even more pressure on the factory owners as well as on the nonsettling retailers to adopt these reforms and move in a positive direction," Meyerhoff said. Medea Benjamin, director of Global Exchange, a San Francisco-based human rights group that is a plaintiff in a companion lawsuit in California state court, praised the agreement but added, "It's terribly disappointing that Gap and the other holdout defendants refuse to make a similar commitment to end workplace abuses in Saipan." Kellie Leonard, a spokeswoman in San Francisco for The Gap, said: "We believe the allegations made against our company are false and we are committed to proving that in court." A jury trial in the case is scheduled for next February. The Northern Mariana Islands are a U.S. possession 3,700 miles southwest of Hawaii.

The lawsuit was filed in January 1999 on behalf of 30,000 current and former garment workers, mostly women recruited from China, the Philippines, Bangladesh and Thailand. It accuses the companies of violating U.S. labor laws in a conspiracy with Chinese, Japanese and Korean subcontractors. Garment workers in Saipan factories must work up to 12 hours a day, seven days a week for less than the legal minimum wage while making clothing tagged "Made in the USA", the lawsuit contends.

The territory's commonwealth relationship with Washington leaves control of immigration and minimum wages in local hands while exempting Saipan's exports from U.S. duties and quotas. The settlement provides that in future contracts, retailers will require factories to comply with strict employment standards, including guaranteeing overtime pay, providing safe food and drinking water, and agreeing to honor employees' basic human rights, Meyerhoff said. "Public concern over sweatshops, particularly among young people, is at an all-time high," he said. "Part of the reasons these companies are settling is they'd like to be part of the solution. There's an opportunity here not only to do the right thing in Saipan but to create a model...that others can look to as the way to do this right." Sears spokeswoman Jan Drummond had a simpler explanation. "The bottom line is it's a business decision," she said. "We looked at how long and how expensive continuing to engage in this litigation would be weighted against the relatively small amount of business we do in Saipan." Roberta Schuhalter Karp, Liz Claiborne vice president of corporate affairs and general counsel, said the lawsuit "lacked merit." "We are pleased, however, that the settlement will fund independent monitoring in Saipan, a goal that we have long supported and that the litigation made difficult to implement," she said. Tommy Hilfiger Corp. officials said the company canceled its manufacturing agreements in Saipan after the lawsuit was filed, but may resume production on the island if the court approves the settlement.