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NEWSLETTER 13, NOVEMBER 2000
First VICTORY for Workers Who Used Leverage
of University Codes of Conduct!
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Los Angeles, CA -- With the support of university students nationwide,
eight garment workers have won their struggle against their former
sweatshop employer. On May 3, the workers announced a settlement
at a press conference at the University of Southern California.
In November, the workers came forward to file a federal lawsuit
against J.H. Design Group, a garment factory where they worked sewing
jackets for USC, UCLA, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Florida, Kentucky,
Nebraska, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Tennessee, Nike, Reebok, and Disney,
among others. The lawsuit alleged sweatshop conditions, including:
- Working seven days a week;
- Working 10-12 hours a day;
- Being forced to sew in their homes until midnight and on the
weekends to meet quotas;
- Receiving sub-minimum wages, often without overtime pay;
- Illegal firings for speaking out about sweatshop conditions;
and
- Inhumane treatment, including verbal abuse and subjection to
racial slurs.
Approximately four months after the lawsuit was filed, J.H. Design
Group agreed to settle the case with the eight garment workers for
$172,000, which includes payment of back wages and compensation
for the workers who were fired.
Adolfo Sanchez, one of the workers, said "We want to thank
the students for the support they gave us. Their activism put pressure
on J.H. Design, and we hope that our case helps to end the abuses
in garment factories against workers. We hope that the public will
continue to support workers who engage in efforts to bring more
equality between garment companies and workers. This support is
essential to victories like the one we won."
Julio Flores, another worker, said "Thank you to the university
students who supported us. We hope that students will continue to
pressure their universities to investigate where their clothes come
from, to ensure that the workers who made them are paid and treated
well."
Concerned with reports of ongoing human rights abuses in garment
factories, students across the country have been campaigning to
ensure that the t-shirts, hats, and sweatshirts that bear their
schools' names and logos are not manufactured under sweatshop conditions.
Many universities have adopted Codes of Conduct for Trademark Licensees
to prevent such abuses. The discovery of this Los Angeles sweatshop
sewing jackets for several universities who adopted codes of conduct
put these policies to their first test.
The students, faculty and administration of Indiana University
(IU) were appalled to learn of the conditions under which one of
their licensees, J.H. Design Group, was producing IU apparel. The
licensing department reviewed the company's contract and tried to
contact the licensee. Since the current contract predated the ratification
of Indiana University's code of conduct, no official actions were
taken. However, many at the university found other means to show
support for the workers, including sending a valentine signed by
all the students, faculty, and administrators on the university's
sweatshop committee. Micah Maidenberg, a student at Indiana University,
said "We wanted to show the workers that people were noticing
their struggle and supporting their courage."
"The students at USC were outraged when we heard of the case,"
said Paul Payne, a USC undergraduate. "Abuses such as these
highlight the need for schools to take a strong stance against sweatshops
and implement stringent anti-sweatshop codes and monitoring programs."
The workers are represented by the Asian Pacific American Legal
Center (APALC), who also represented the workers of the infamous
El Monte slave sweatshop, and the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles
(LAFLA). "Student organizing and public support for the workers
played a key role in helping us settle the case relatively quickly,"
said Muneer Ahmad, an attorney with APALC. "Too often, workers
are forced to wait months or years for justice as manufacturers
and retailers do everything they can to deny responsibility,"
said Julia Figueira-McDonough, an attorney with LAFLA.
"This is the first victory for sweatshop workers who used
university codes of conduct as tools to demand justice," said
Nikki Fortunato Bas, program coordinator of Sweatshop Watch. Sweatshop
Watch mobilized student, alumni and public support for the J.H.
Design Group workers and demanded that the universities live up
to their codes of conduct and ensure the workers are compensated
for the abuses they endured. "The outpouring of public support
showed that universities have to do much more than adopt a code
of conduct. They must abide by those principles and enforce the
code by ensuring workers know about their rights and have the tools
they need to assert their rights."
During the University of Michigan's (UM) anti-sweatshop campaign,
students demanded that the administration put its code of conduct
into action by joining the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC), an organization
created to implement university codes of conduct. Members of the
Board of Regents were shocked to hear that UM apparel was stitched
in a Los Angeles sweatshop, nevertheless it took an occupation of
the Dean's office to persuade the University to commit to enforce
its code. The University of Michigan became one of the first major
licensing institutions to join the WRC in February. "We are
ecstatic that justice has been served for the workers who have for
too long stitched collegiate apparel under sweatshop conditions,"
said Peter Romer-Friedman, a junior at the University of Michigan-Ann
Arbor. "We must not forget that sweatshops exist and even thrive
within our own backyards. We must hold companies accountable whether
they produce in Los Angeles, New York or China."
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For more information, visit http://www.sweatshopwatch.org.
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