Pressure
Levi's to Settle Saipan Lawsuit
Please find below an appeal
from action from Sweatshop Watch. Take a few minutes right now to send an e-mail
to Levi Strauss today to demand that they settle the lawsuit charging a number
of workers' rights violations at their Saipan contract facilities. A sample message
is included below. For more information on this case which has involved 30,000
garment workers, please see the following site
http://www.sweatshopwatch.org/swatch/marianas/.
Please contact Sweatshop
Watch with any questions you might have on this case <
weatinfo@igc.org>.
Action Alert!
Help Us Pressure
Levi's to Settle the Lawsuit!
source: Sweatshop Watch March 18, 2003
Dear
Friends,
On March 20, 2003 in Saipan, we anticipate the final
approval of the Saipan sweatshop settlement with 26 U.S. retailers and 23 Saipan
garment manufacturers.
Levi Strauss & Company continues
to be the only retailer that refuses to settle the Saipan sweatshop lawsuit. Please
help us pressure Levi's by sending the action alert below to your contacts and
by linking to our web site http://www.sweatshopwatch.org/marianas/help.html where
you can download materials and postcards.
In peace and solidarity,
Deirdre
O'Boyle
Sweatshop Watch
ACTION
ALERT!
Tell Levi's it's high time they settled the Saipan
sweatshop lawsuit.
Levi's Jeans are an American icon and
their logo is recognized by consumers around the world, even in the most remote
regions of the globe. Many consumers identify with the logo but are unaware of
Levi's refusal to settle the Saipan sweatshop lawsuit, even though they spent
14 years on the island profiting from the exploitation of workers. On March 20,
2003, a Fairness Hearing will be held in Saipan, and it's expected that the $20
million dollar settlement will be approved.
26 U.S. retailers
and 23 Saipan garment manufacturers settled the case, and Levi's is the only retailer
who refuses to settle. The retailers who have settled include: Abercrombie &
Fitch; Brooks Brothers; Brylane L.P.; Calvin Klein Inc.; Cutter & Buck, Inc.;
Donna Karan International; Dress Barn; Gap, Inc. (Banana Republic, Old Navy);
The Gymboree Corp.; J.C. Penney Company, Inc.; J. Crew Group, Inc.; Jones Apparel
Group; Lane Bryant, Inc.; The Limited, Inc.; Liz Claiborne Inc.; The May Department
Stores Company; Nordstrom, Inc.; Oshkosh B'Gosh Inc.; Phillips-Van Heusen; Polo
Ralph Lauren; Sears Roebuck and Company; Talbots, Inc.; Target Corp. (Target,
Mervyn's, Marshall Fields, Dayton-Hudson); Tommy Hilfiger USA Inc.; Warnaco, Inc.;
and Woolrich, Inc.
For more information on the case and to
download postcards and factsheets please visit:
http://www.sweatshopwatch.org/marianas/help.html
Tell Levi's
that as a consumer you care about the workers in Saipan; and as a $4.3 billion
company they should take responsibility for their involvement in Saipan's sweatshops.
--SAMPLE
LETTER--
FAX TO: Robert Haas, Levi's Chairman - (415) 501-7112
or
EMAIL: Robert Haas, rhaas@levi.com
EMAIL: Michael Koboriin in Levi's Social Responsibility Department
- mkobori@levi.com
Robert Haas, Chairman
Michael Korboriin
Levi-Strauss &
Co.
1155 Battery Street
San Francisco, CA 94111
Dear
Mr. Haas & Michael Korboriin:
As a Levi's customer, I want
to express my concern about the sweatshop conditions and labor abuses on the island
of Saipan. As a global company contracting in dozens of countries worldwide, Levi's
has an obligation to its customers and its workers to reverse the race to the
bottom in labor standards that is occurring in the apparel industry. In Saipan
and across the globe, Levi's has a responsibility to lead the way towards ending
labor and human rights abuses by taking steps to:
