August 22, 1999
Nicaragua: case of fired Union leaders at Chih Hsing

NICARAGUA / CHIH HSING UPDATE:
Labor Ministry Refuses Appeal of Union Officer

The following is information on the situation of fired union leaders at Chih Hsing garment factory in Nicaragua, posted August 22, 1999 by the Campaign for Labor Rights. Background information on the case from two earlier reports follows this brief update.

[Information provided by the Nicaragua Network: (202) 544-9355,
<nicanet@igc.org>

The corporate-friendly Nicaraguan Ministry of Labor has refused to accept
the appeal of Eunice Montoya, who was fired by management of the Chih Hsing
garment factory in Managua's Las Mercedes Free Trade Zone. Ms. Montoya was
one of 12 elected union officers recently laid off by the company and the
only one who did not accept an offer of double severance pay. She has filed
suit in Managua Labor Court demanding that the Taiwanese company re-hire
her. Her firing was illegal under Nicaragua labor law, which mandates
protection of elected officers of a legally recognized union from being laid
off in the period following the organization of the union.

The Labor Court has thirty days in which to rule. Whichever way the Court
decides there will be appeals and the case is likely to drag on for three or
four months. Meanwhile, Ms. Montoya is not earning her usual salary which,
including overtime and weekends, usually came to about US$100 per month.

In order to induce the Chih Hsing union officers to accept their lay-offs,
the company offered them double severance pay packages that ranged from
US$300 to over US$1,000 per worker, depending on the number of years each
had worked at the factory. These are substantial sums in Nicaragua. The
company's willingness to offer double severance reflects a cynical strategy
of spending comparatively large sums in disposing of a limited number of
union leaders, in order to break the union and avoid the much greater
expense of making a modest increase in the pay of its total workforce.

The union has elected a new board of officers which includes Ms. Montoya.
The officers presented a list of demands to the Labor Ministry preparatory
to beginning collective bargaining talks with the factory management. The
union continues to have the support of the workers at the factory.
Two-thirds of them signed the list of demands presented to the Labor Ministry.

Solidarity activists around the world signed letters to the Nicaraguan
Minister of Labor and the Managua representative of the company which owns
Chih Hsing. (These letters were included as an action request in our August
9 update.) The union is not requesting any new solidarity actions at this
time. However, future calls for solidarity are likely as events continue to
develop.

earlier information on this case

August 2, 1999
<<<<<
SUPPORT FIRED UNION LEADERS IN NICARAGUA!

Workers at the Taiwanese-owned Chih Hsing factory in Nicaragua's Las
Mercedes Free Trade Zone have asked for international support in their
struggle to organize a union in the factory. Workers are demanding the
reinstatement of fired union officers and recognition of their freedom to
organize. The eight hundred workers at the factory carried out a four-day
strike last week after twelve union leaders were fired by management. Over
1400 workers at the Chentex factory, owned by the same company which owns
Chih Hsing, held a brief sympathy strike last week as well. The Nicaraguan
Ministry of Labor issued a ministerial resolution ordering the company to
reinstate the first four fired workers but the company has appealed the
resolution. On July 28, the company and all 12 fired workers agreed to
respect the labor code until the Labor Ministry decision on the appeal,
which is expected very soon.

Union organizers are requesting that letters asking for prompt denial of the
Chih Hsing appeal and confirming the order for reinstatement of the fired
Chih Hsing workers be faxed to the Minister of Labor in Managua. (See below
for a sample letter.)

The new union at the Chih Hsing factory was formally organized under the
auspices of the CST (Sandinista Workers' Central) on July 16. Sixty workers
signed up as members, substantially more than the 20 members required by law
to form a union. Ten union officers were elected.

On July 20, the petition for legal recognition of the union was filed with
the Ministry of Labor and the union was recognized that day. That same day,
the company fired the first workers. In protest, the other workers turned
off their machines in a peaceful work stoppage. On the morning of July 21,
the workers came to work and continued the strike, staying at their work
stations with their machines turned off. That afternoon the Labor Ministry
declared the strike illegal because the workers had not submitted a petition
to the Ministry explaining why they were on strike and what their demands
were. According to Nicaraguan law, if a strike is declared illegal, workers
have 48 hours to return to work before they can be fired.

On Thursday morning workers arrived to find the names of more fired workers
tacked to the door of the factory. The total had risen to twelve. Factory
management distributed the list of fired workers to all the other factories
in the Las Mercedes Free Trade Zone. The workers would be blacklisted and
prevented from ever working again in any of the 16 factories in the zone.
The workers say that the firing is illegal because, under Nicaraguan law, if
a union is legally recognized by the Ministry of Labor, its members cannot
be fired for 90 days afterward.

On Monday, July 26, the workers returned to work, thus complying with the 48
hour limit given by the Ministry of Labor. On July 28, Lucas Wei Huang,
manager of the factory, promised the Ministry that the company would respect
its decision on the case.

Workers at the Chih Hsing factory make only about 11 cents for every $14.99
pair of Arizona Jeans they sew for JC Penney, averaging between 24 and 27
cents per hour. They often are required to work 70 hours a week and are
cheated on their overtime pay. Workers are routinely denied permission to
use the Social Security health clinic, though money is deducted from their
wages for this service. Pregnant women are fired in an effort to avoid
paying maternity benefits.

<<<<<
ACTION REQUEST

Please copy, sign and fax the Spanish language version of this letter to
Nicaragua's Ministry of Labor (see translation below) and send the signature
portion of the letter, with your name and address (not this entire alert!),
to Campaign for Labor Rights at <CLR@igc.org or fax: (541) 431-0523.

IF YOU DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO A FAX, you can email us your name and address,
which we will add to a sign-on letter being sent to the Ministry of Labor by
the Nicaragua Network. If you want your name added to the letter sent by the
Nicaragua Network, please indicate that clearly in your response.

Dr. Wilfredo Navarro
Ministro del Trabajo
Managua, Nicaragua
Fax: 011-505-228-4029

Estimado Dr. Navarro:

Por medio de la presente carta, quiero expresar mi profunda preocupacion por
la situacion de los trabajadores despedidos de la Fabrica Chih Hsing en la
Zona Franca Las Mercedes en Managua. Doce trabajadores han sido despedidos
ilegalmente por apoyar la organizacion de un sindicato en la fabrica. Este
sindicato fue legalmente reconocido por sus Ministerio. A pesar de eso, la
gerencia se niega a reintegrarlos a sus puestos de trabajo. Le insto a negar
la apelacion de la gerencia de la Fabrica Chih Hsing a su resolucion
ministerial que mandaba la reintegracion de los trabajadores despedidos.
Espero que sea reconocido el derecho a la libre sindicalizacion y que los
dirigentes sindicales pronto esten de nuevo en sus puestos de trabajo.

Atentamente,

NAME:
ADDRESS:

English translation:

Dr. Wilfredo Navarro
Minister of Labor
Managua, Nicaragua
Fax: 011-505-228-4029

Dear Dr. Navarro:

I am writing to express my profound concern about the situation of the
workers at the Chih Hsing factory in the Las Mercedes Free Trade Zone in
Managua. Twelve workers have been illegally fired for supporting the
formation of a union in the factory. This union has been recognized legally
by your Ministry. In spite of this, management refuses to rehire the fired
workers. I urge you to deny the appeal of Chih Hsing management of your
ministerial order that mandated the rehiring of the fired workers. I hope
that the right to organize freely will be recognized and that the fired
workers will soon be back on the job.

Sincerely,

NAME:
ADDRESS:

<<<<<
LABOR DEFENSE NETWORK

The Labor Defense Network (LDN) was mobilized around the crisis at Chih
Hsing. LDN is an emergency response system, sending faxes in the name of its
member subscribers when there is a labor rights emergency in Mexico, Central
America or the Caribbean. To have 6 faxes sent in your name during the year,
send $25. For12 faxes, send $50. Members receive the monthly Urgent Action
newsletter, which details all the recent mobilizations. To join, write a
check to Labor Defense Network for $25 (6 messages) or $50 (12 messages) and
send it to 1247 "E" Street SE, Washington, DC 20003. For more information,
call (202) 544-9355 or write to <ern@igc.org.

posted August 9, 1999

In this alert:
Chih Hsing update
Action request: new sign-on letters
CLR sweatshop activist organizing packet

<<<<<
CHIH HSING UPDATE

[Compiled by the Nicaragua Network (202) 544-9355, <nicanet@igc.org from
information provided by the Federation of Garment and Textile Workers in
Managua]

The Nicaraguan Ministry of Labor ruled last week against the workers at the
Chih Hsing garment factory in Managua's Las Mercedes Free Trade Zone. The
Ministry accepted the appeal of the company against an earlier ministerial
resolution that had ordered the rehiring of 12 fired workers. Among these
workers was the entire executive committee of the new union at the factory.
The workers had been fired after they organized a union that was legally
recognized by the Ministry of Labor in the middle of July. The eight hundred
workers at the factory carried out a four-day strike after the union leaders
were fired by management. Over 1400 workers at the Chentex factory, owned by
the same company which owns Chih Hsing, held a brief sympathy strike as well.

Although eleven of the twelve fired workers, out of economic necessity,
accepted the double severance pay offered by the company, one worker, Eunice
Montoya, has appealed the decision of the Ministry and is continuing to
demand that she be rehired at the factory. If the Ministry rules against
her, she will take her case to the Labor Court. The Federation of Textile
and Garment Workers is asking for letters of support for Ms. Montoya to the
Minister of Labor and to the representative in Managua of the Nien Hsing
Consortium which owns Chih Hsing and three other factories in the Free Trade
Zone.

On August 4, the workers elected a new board of officers to replace those
who had been fired. (Eunice Montoya remains on the board). They have
introduced a petition with their demands to the Labor Ministry in order to
begin the process of negotiating a collective bargaining agreement.
Meanwhile, the company is threatening to close down one line of production
at the Chih Hsing factory and another at the Chentex plant. Union organizers
emphasize that the ruling of the Labor Ministry in favor of the company
indicates its partiality toward foreign investors over the interests of the
Nicaragua's own workers.