Action request --FOL in Morocco

January 24 2001, Fruit of the loom condemned for 'disgraceful behaviour' in three continents

Dear Friends,

Please find below information from the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers' Federation (ITGLWF) on the case of a factory producing for Fruit of the Loom in Morocco. ITGLWF reports that management at this factory, which produces for the European market, is preventing workers from exercising their right to freedom of association.

Contact Fruit of the Loom today and let them know that you find this unacceptable:

Dennis S. Bookshester
CEO Fruit of the Loom Ltd.
P.O. Box 866GT
3rd Floor, Anderson Square Building
Shedden Road Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, BWI
tel. 345-945-8210

For more information on this case, please contact the ITGLWF at the contact addresses listed below.

ITGLWF PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 24 2001, Fruit of the loom condemned for 'disgraceful behaviour' in three continents

The Chicago-based clothing multinational, Fruit of the Loom, is today accused of behaving disgracefully in its treatment of workers in three continents and its CEO, Dennis Brookshester, has been urged to call a halt to the company's latest union-busting campaign at its Moroccan production plant near the country's capital, Rabat. The problems in Morocco follow a long history of virulant anti-union activity by the company in the United States and its mass dismissal of workers in Ireland.

Condemning the company's activities in the Americas, Europe and Africa, the Brussels-based International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers' Federation (ITGLWF) is now demanding that the company immediately clean up its act and respect international labour standards. In addition to demanding the direct intervention of Fruit of the Loom's CEO, the ITGLWF is also to lodge a complaint with the International Labour Organisation and will be seeking a determination that the company's behaviour in Morocco breaches the OECD's recently revamped guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.

This action was sparked by the the dismissal of eight union leaders who had established a union branch at the Rabat factory. The ITGLWF claims that since then the eight have been harassed, even outside the factory, and at one point were detained for questioning by the police. The remaining workers are living and working in a climate of fear.

The Moroccan plant, in Salé, near Rabat, employs some 1,200 workers and receives cut fabrics from the Fruit of the Loom factory in Buncrana in Ireland. The finished garments are then marketed in Europe. The Services, Industrial Professional and Technical Union (SIPTU) in Ireland has also asked the Fruit of the Loom Irish subsidiary to intervene to ensure the rights of Moroccan workers are respected.

Says ITGLWF General Secretary Neil Kearney: "This is the unacceptable face of globalisation - a multinational company showing scant respect for the people they employ and deliberately trampling on their human rights. The company's Moroccan workforce simply held a General Assembly at the headquarters of the Union Marocaine du Travail (UMT), and decided to create a branch union.Within a week of hearing of the meeting, the company embarked upon a union-busting campaign and a militia was employed to intimidate those workers who had attended".

"Two days later, having discovered the names of the union leaders and even before any demands had been made, management announced their dismissal. General Manager Abdelmalek El Ouassini was adamant in his refusal to allow a union in the factory. 'There is no freedom of association here!', he said. He then hung a huge banner on the front wall of the factory which read 'no to the union'". "Since then, there has been an atmosphere of fear inside the factory. The workers are constantly watched and management forbids them to have any contact with the fired leaders. The eight union leaders are subjected to harassment from the militia, and at one point were detained by the police for five hours. This is not uncommon in Morocco, where employers regularly collude with the police, and striking union leaders are liable to be imprisoned on criminal charges for 'withholding labour'.

"A delegation of the UMT met with Mr Assila, the governor of Salé, to protest at the situation at Fruit of the Loom. The governor told them: "I don't want unions in my prefecture'".

The union has appealed to the labour authorities. But Morocco's labour code does not protect trade unionists against anti-union discrimination, nor does it protect unions from acts of interference by employers. The authorities rarely act against employers who victimise trade unionists, refuse to pay the minimum wage, or close factories illegally, said Mr. Kearney.

Meanwhile, close to 800 workers at two plants in Buncrana and Derry in Ireland are out of work or will lose their jobs in the next few months, as a result of the shift of production to Morocco. According to the company, the job losses in Donegal and Derry are due to high production costs in Ireland and the decision was an 'economic necessity'. Neil Kearney, himself a native of Donegal, says the company probably pulled a large part of its production out of Ireland simply to avoid dealing with a unionised workforce just as it has been doing in the United States for years. "But," he says, " this time it can't get away with its virulent anti-union behaviour. Trade unions internationally will do everything possible to ensure that Fruit of the Loom is called to account and shoulders its responsibility to respect basic worker rights in its Moroccan plant.

"Fruit of the Loom has long abused workers rights in its US plants. Then the job losses in Derry and Donegal were a devastating blow to the local economy. Now it is workers in Morocco who are feeling the brunt of the company's disgraceful behaviour. Of course, these workers need the jobs, but, unless they have the right to organise and bargain collectively for decent wages and working conditions, neither the workers nor their communities will benefit", concluded Kearney.

The ITGLWF has also asked the Prime Minister of Morocco, Abderrahman Youssoufi, to intervene to put a stop to the company's union-busting campaign. It will also be asking Fruit of the Loom's customers in Europe to insist that the company abandon its socially irresponsible behaviour. -END- The International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers' Federation is an International Trade Secretariat bringing together 250 affiliated organisations in 130 countries, with a combined membership of 10 million workers.

For more information, contact: Neil Kearney, General Secretary: 32/2/512.2606 (office) or 32/475.93.24.87 (mobile)
Laura Carter Assistant to the General Secretary (Policy) International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers' Federation (ITGLWF) 708 3rd Street Nelson BC V1L2R2 Canada Tel/Fax: 1/250/354.2016 Brussels fax: 32/2/706.5423