The Lesotho Clothing and Allied Workers Union (LECAWU) has releasedinformation on serious worker rights violations in 21 factories producingfor 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 specificfactories linked to specific abuses, LECAWU has requested that we not namethe factories.

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

Recently, LECAWU sent a letter to Wal-Mart protesting the inadequacies ofthat company’s current factory monitoring program. According to LECAWU, thepersonnel director at one Wal-Mart supply factory acted as the translatorfor worker interviews during a social audit of the factory commissioned byWal-Mart. Workers can not be expected to tell the truth about workingconditions 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: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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 seriousworker rights violations at over 20 factories producing for your company inLesotho. Reported abuses include compulsory overtime that stretchesworkdays to up to 14 hours, poverty wages that don’t meet one-half thebasic needs of a family of four, verbal and physical abuse and sexualharassment, humiliating strip searches, and violations of workers’ right tofreedom of association.

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

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

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

Yours truly,

 

The following information is based on interviews with workers at Wal-Martsupply factories in Lesotho carried out by the Lesotho Clothing and AlliedWorkers 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 additionalhours, adding up to a 14-hour workday.

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

There are extreme cases of workers in some factories being forced to workdouble 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 theirnormal workshift that they must stay and work overtime hours. Whenemployees must work on Sundays, they are not notified until late Saturdayafternoon.

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

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

Workers at one factory said that they were not allowed to clock in onSundays, because the managers “were afraid of losing their orders” ifbuyers 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$54a month. These poverty level wages cover less than half the costs of thebasic needs of a family four.

3. Verbal and Physical Abuse and Sexual Harassment:

Workers in most factories described the working atmosphere as tense. Verbalabuse is widespread. Supervisors often yell at workers, use profanity andinsults.

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

Worker testimonies also reveal instances of sexual abuse by managementpersonnel of some companies. A supervisor at one Wal-Mart supply factoryreportedly demanded sexual favours and arranged “special appointments” tomeet with female workers in his office. This person reportedly recruitedother supervisors to put pressure on women workers who are reluctant toattend these special appointments.

It is a common practice for supervisors to take bribes when recruiting newworkers. Supervisors at two Wal-Mart supply factories are known to demandbribes 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 beforeleaving at the end of the day. The actual method of searching varies fromfactory to factory. Most common is for workers to be lined up and patteddown by supervisors.

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

At one factory, male supervisors are present during the searches and liftup the dresses of women workers; the workers described this practice ashumiliating.

At another factory, menstruating women are forced to show their sanitarypads during the searches. Managers claim that searches are necessary inorder to catch thieves.

5. Pregnant Women:

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

6. Health and Safety:

Workers complained that factories are bitterly cold in the winter andstiflingly hot in the summer, because most companies do not have adequateinsulation or heating or air conditioning systems. Workers at one factorysaid the factory is equipped with heaters, but management refused to turnthem 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 costwas 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 supervisorrefused to allow her first aid, so instead, a colleague wrapped up thewound with toilet paper.

Workers are also concerned for their physical safety when leaving thecompany premises. Two workers at another Wal-Mart supply factory were rapednear 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 enoughwashrooms. One Wal-Mart supply factory reportedly has only three washroomsfor its 900 workers. At many factories, pass systems are used to limit howoften workers can use washroom facilities. Workers at one factory weresearched whenever they used the washroom. At other factories, access towashrooms was limited to certain times of the day.

Most factories do not make toilet paper available. Workers at one Wal-Martsupply factory said they must use scraps of fabric “off cuts” to wipethemselves, which they then discard on the floors. The water that flushesthe toilets at another Wal-Mart supply factory is pumped in from the dirtylaundry 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 atsome of the Wal-Mart supply factories, none of the employers have beenwilling to negotiate a collective agreement. Factory managers of manyWal-Mart suppliers are openly hostile to LECAWU members and union shopstewards.

Although the Lesotho Labour Code requires companies to work with union shopstewards, whether or not the union represents the majority of workers inthe factory, most Wal-Mart suppliers refuse to deal with union. At onefactory, management established a Disciplinary Committee, which usurped theduties of the LECAWU shop stewards. At another factory, managementtransferred the shop steward to a production division where there were nounion members.