Your help is needed NOW to get the Haitian Codevi workers
their jobs back and ensure that their rights are respected!
What are Levi’s and the IFC doing
for the Codevi workers?
Dear Friends,
July 2004, Since we last updated you in June on the Codevi case
in Haiti the situation has not improved for the garment workers
there who produce jeans for Levi Strauss. On June 11th Grupo M
fired 254 workers at the World Bank IFC-funded facility, including
six of seven union committee members.
 Instead
of reinstating the workers, Grupo M has moved part of its production
from Codevi to the factories they have in the Dominican Republic.
Although the company claimed “low productivity” was
forcing a temporary transfer of Levi’s work to their Dominican
factory, the workers were told the layoff was permanent. Since
the layoff, workers still working at Codevi (under difficult conditions)
have been told that the 254 were fired “to punish them”
for their participation in union activities. Since these massive
firings on June 11th, production targets at Codevi have been doubled!
Workers who have complained about the new production system have
been dismissed.
The Clean Clothes Campaign has acknowledged the action taken by
Levi’s to push for reinstatement of workers unjustly dismissed
from Codevi earlier on in this case, however Levi’s is not
doing enough NOW to get the Codevi workers their jobs back and ensure
that their rights are respected. Instead they are allowing Grupo
M to produce their jeans elsewhere and get away with punishing workers
for trying to exercise their rights. Workers who stitch Levi Strauss
jeans are supposed to be able to freely associate – at least,
that’s what the Levi’s Sourcing Guidelines say. Instead,
these Haitian workers have had to endure numerous rights violations,
and those who have been unjustly dismissed and are out of work are
struggling to feed themselves and their families.
Actions targetting Levi Strauss in Europe
To voice their dissatisfaction with this state of affairs,
CCC activists in France and Belgium have taken to the streets
to help raise consumer awareness of the case and of Levi’s
responsibility to ensure that the rights of the Codevi workers
are respected:
July 10, Angers, France:
Participants in the “Summer University of International Solidarity”,
a five day event that brought together representatives of more
than 50 French NGOs, took part in a leafleting action at a Levi’s
store in Angers. The action was organized by Peuples-Solidaires,
a member organization of the French CCC. Yannick Etienne, of ESPM-Batay
Ouvyrie, the union federation that SOKOWA is affiliated to, was
also in Angers for the action. In addition to distributing 1000
leaflets, activists collected nearly 400 signatures in support
of the Codevi workers, which were faxed to Paul Mason, head of
Levi’s Europe. So far Peuples-Solidaries has not received
a response from Levi’s.
Leafleting action in front of Levi’s
European headquarters June 12, 2004 |
July 12, Brussels, Belgium:
Representatives from the FGTB, SETCA, CSC, CNE trade unions, the
CRIOC-OIVO consumer organization, and the NGOs Solidarite Mondiale,
Oxfam Magasins due Monde, Oxfam Solidarite, CNCD, Peuples Solidaires,
and GRESEA participated in a leafleting action in front of Levi’s
European headquarters. Yannick Etienne, of ESPM-Batay Ouvyrie
also participated in this action. The French-speaking Belgian
CCC, which organized the action, sought to arrange a meeting for
Etienne with Levi Strauss representatives, but this did not happen.
A representative of the Levi’s Corporate Affairs department
was willing to receive only a representative of the Belgian CCC;
they refused to allow Etienne to join the delegation, so the CCC
refused to meet. Following a press conference, the case of the
Codevi workers received extensive coverage in the Belgian media.
Coverage included articles in Le Soir and La Libre Belgique, the
two main French language newspapers in Belgium; stories on Radio
Contact and Radio One, the public news station; and a dispatch
written by Belga, the national press agency. To read the CCC appeal
on this case in French and send a protest letter to Levi Strauss,
see the following link: http://www.madeindignity.be/public/09.htm.
A follow-up message was sent to Levi Strauss the next day on behalf
of the Belgian CCC and the CCC International Secretariat, so far
no response has been received.
Your
help is needed NOW to get the Codevi workers their jobs back and
ensure that their rights are respected!
Please
first read the updates on this case!
Please adapt and send the messages below
to Levi Strauss and to the World Bank today. Please send copies
of all your letters and responses to Batay Ouvriye batay at batayouvriye.org
ACTION REQUEST
1. Contact Levi
Strauss (contact information)
Tell Levi Strauss that they still have
a role to play in resolving the labor dispute at their supplier
in Codevi.
Tell them that you expect them to take
steps to see that:
- Grupo M reinstates all fired Codevi
workers
- Grupo M moves production that has been
moved from Haiti to the Dominican Republic back to Haiti
- Grupo M returns the production level
at Codevi back to original levels (10 modules)
- Grupo M negotiates in good faith with
SOKOWA
2. Contact the
World Bank Executive Director Representing your Country (Contact
information)
Grupo M was given a $20 million loan from
the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC)
to set up the Codevi facility; one of the conditions was that
they ensure that workers’ rights are respected. For more
information on this aspect of the case, please see the previous
update (http://www.cleanclothes.org/urgent/04-06-08.htm).
Grupo M has violated the conditions of this loan agreement, therefore
the union has requested that pressure be put on the World Bank’s
IFC to immediately recall this loan.
Tell your representative at the World Bank
about your concerns with the rights violations at Codevi and your
support for the union’s demand that the loan be recalled.
Sample letter:
Dear [insert name of
the WB Executive Director representing your country],
I am writing to you in relation to the
US $20 million loan made by the World Bank’s International
Finance Corporation (IFC) to Grupo M, a manufacturing group based
in the Dominican Republic, to finance the development of the Codevi
free trade zone in Ouanaminthe, Haiti.
This loan was made conditional upon Grupo
M’s respect for employees’ rights to free association
and collective bargaining. These conditions were set due to past
reports of serious labor rights violations at Grupo M’s factories
elsewhere. I have been informed that just months after the loan
was granted to Grupo M, serious labor rights violations were committed
at the Codevi facility. These violations include intimidation,
beatings, and illegal dismissals of workers. Grupo M is not in
compliance with international labor standards, Haitian law, and
the terms of their loan agreement and therefore I understand that
the union has requested that the loan be recalled. Grupo M appears
to be in default of their agreement with the IFC and therefore
I support the union's demand.
In March when workers at Codevi formed
a union (SOKOWA) many of these workers were dismissed. When workers
went on strike management reportedly brought in armed thugs to
arrest and beat the leaders. These leaders were eventually released,
and following an international campaign the unionists were reinstated.
But since then management has engaged in other tactics to try
to prevent workers from exercising their rights, including locking
them out. Most recently, on June 11, Grupo M fired 254 workers,
including six of seven union committee members. They told remaining
workers that this was done to punish the workers for their union
activities.
Grupo M has been the focus of an international
solidarity campaign to reinstate these workers and respect union
rights; instead they have moved production to their factories
in the Dominican Republic. Despite the reduced workforce, production
targets at Codevi have been raised; workers who complain are being
dismissed.
Though the IFC has been made aware of this
situation, it seems that they are not taking concerted action
to see that the workers are reinstated and that conditions at
Codevi improve. The World Bank facilitated the funds for a known
labor-rights violator, Grupo M, to set up Codevi. Now the World
Bank has a responsibility to follow up on this very serious situation.
I request that as an executive director to the World Bank you
investigate this matter.
Grupo M must:
- reinstate all fired Codevi workers,
- move production that has been relocated
to the Dominican Republic back to Haiti,
- return production levels at Codevi
back to the original 10 modules, and
- negotiate in good faith with SOKOWA.
Please inform me of the action you take
to see that the rights of workers at Codevi are respected.
Sincerely,
[insert name here]
Contact information: Levi Strauss:
Michael Kobori
Director, Global Code of Conduct
Levi Strauss & Co.
1155 Battery St.
San Francisco, CA 94111
Tel: (415)501-1459
Fax: (415)501-1485
e-mail: mkobori@levi.com
Cc: Miriam Rodriguez, Regional Compliance Manager
e-mail: Mrodriguez@levi.com
Contact information: World Bank Executive Directors:
Representing Belgium , contact:
Gino Alzetta
MC 12-541
World Bank Group
1818 H Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20433, USA
Tel: 202-473-6840
Email: galzetta@worldbank.org
Representing Austria, Belarus, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia,
and Turkey , contact:
Kurt Bayer
e-mail: klayer@worldbank.org
Gino Alzetta
e-mail: galzetta@worldbank.org
Representing Spain , contact:
Maria Jesus Fernandez
e-mail: mjesusfernandez@worldbank.org
Representing Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Netherlands, Romania ,
contact:
Ad Melkert, MC 13-433
World Bank Group
1818 H Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20433, USA
Tel: 202-458-2052 Fax: 202-522-1572
e-mail: amelkert@worldbank.org
Representing Canada and Ireland , contact:
Marcel Masse
e-mail: mmasse@worldbank.org
Representing Greece, Italy, and Portugal , contact:
Biagio Bossone,
e-mail: bbossone@worldbank.org
Nuno Mota Pinto
e-mail: nmotapinto@worldbank.org
Representing Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden , contact:
Thorsteinn Ingolfsson
e-mail: tingolfsson@worldbank.org
Inkeri Hirvensalo
E-mail: ihirvensalo@worldbank.org
Representing Poland, Sebia and Montenegro, and Switzerland ,
contact:
Pietro Veglio
E-mail: pveglio@worldbank.org
Jakub Karnowski
e-mail : jkarnowski@worldbank.org
Representing France , contact:
Pierre Duquesne, IMF 13-118
IMF, 700 19th Street, Washington, DC 20433, USA
Tel: 202-623-6505 Fax: 202-623-4951
Email: pduquesne@worldbank.org
Representing Germany , contact:
Eckhard Deutscher, MC 11-125
World Bank Group
1818 H Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20433, USA
Tel: 202-458-1183 Fax: 202-477-7849
Email: edeutscher@worldbank.org
For contact information for other WB Executive Directors representing
countries not listed above, please see the list posted at the
following website:
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/BODINT/Resources/b-eds.pdf
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