Update
on Matamoros garment case
6 Feb 2003 - Two weeks ago the CCC sent out an appeal asking
for support in the case of workers at a Mexican factory producing
for German sportswear company Puma, following their one-day
walkout on January 13th. Find below an update on the first results.
These workers still need your support! Please see the action
request at the end of this message and send
Puma an email today.
Case summary
On January 16 the German CCC contacted Puma regarding a labor
dispute at Matamoros Garment in Puebla, Mexico. 190 workers
had gone out on a one-day strike because they had not been paid
in three weeks. There were also complaints of forced overtime,
workers being locked in the factory, and denial of freedom of
association (via a deal made with the FROC-CROC union). The
workers formed an independent union -- the Sindicato Independiente
de Trabajadores de la Empresa Matamoros Garment (SITEMAG) to
press their demands.
On January 17 Puma informed the CCC that they were looking
into the matter, but that it would be a couple weeks before
they would be able to send anyone to the factory to investigate.
That same day, Matamoros management called together a group
of employees and threatened that they would lose their jobs
if they did not renounce the union, claiming that Puma was cutting
off orders because of their decision to organize.
On January 18, Matamaros management reports that Puma removes
all their labels from the facility.
In the meantime, hundreds of organizations and individual consumers
in Europe and North America contacted Puma to express their
concern about the labor dispute and reports that Puma had cancelled
its contract with the factory because the workers had organized
to demand their rights. Union organizations ranging from FNV
Bondgenoten in the Netherlands, the Brotherhood of Asian Trade
Unionists (BATU-WCL), to the International Garment and Leather
Workers Federation ITGLWF and its European Regional Organization
ETUC/TCL have all contacted Puma to express their concerns.
On January 28 Puma released a statement that they had audited
Matamoros Garment in early Sept. 2002 and did not find any problems
at the facility, but on October 8, they decided to terminate
their contract with the facility due to production delays. To
view Puma's full statement, please
see the CCC website.
On January 31 Puma posted a net profit of 84.9 million euros,
up 114% from the year before.
Due in large part to the huge amount of public pressure, this
past weekend Mr. Reiner Hengstmann, Global Head of Environmental
and Social Affairs of Puma, made a visit to Mataramos and scheduled
meetings with CAT, the workers and of course the owner and his
staff. The investigation is presently continuing and we can
expect a statement from CAT about the results next week. In
the meantime the CAT thanks everyone for their support and informs
us that it is essential that we keep the pressure up!!
If Puma truly supports freedom of association they must communicate
this clearly to management and workers at Matamoros and all
their contract facilities. Severing their ties with facilities
where workers stand up for their rights punishes the very workers
who are attempting to enforce their rights (which are outlined
in Mexican labor law and the Puma code of conduct).
Action Request
Puma should resume production at this facility and ensure that
their code and internationally recognized labour standards are
respected. A system for indepently verifying compliance with
these standards needs to be set up which includes workers and
their organizations, such as CAT. The fact that the audit of
September found no violations at this facility is a clear indication
of the failure of Puma's internal monitoring system. Please
send a message to Reiner Hengstmann, global head of environmental
and social affairs at Puma, today based on these demands.
Dr. Reiner Hengstmann
Global Head Environmental & Social Affairs
Puma AG
Germany
Fax: 011-49-9132-81-2246
e-mail: reiner.hengstmann@puma.com
