The Maoist Internationalist Movement (MIM) supports the
following call for letters protesting the treatment of 250
Vietnamese wimmin by a sweatshop on American Samoa.
The wimmin paid $4000-$8000 to travel to American Samoa and
work for an official wage of less than $2.55 per hour for
Daewoosa Samoa, which contracts with major Amerikan
retailers JC Penny and Sears. Once there, the wimmin worked
and lived in terrible conditions and were not paid even the
$2.55 they were promised. Daewoosa has now closed its
doors, stranding many of the wimmin in American Samoa
without jobs of money to get back home.
All workers, internationally, should have certain basic
rights protected, such as the right to organize freely, an
international minimum wage and an international maximum
work week length. Individual struggles and broad reforms
aimed at securing these rights are just, winnable, and
progressive.
[email protected]
MIM homepage: www.etext.org/Poltics/MIM
CA events homepage: www.etext.org/Poltics/MIM/cal
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ACTION ALERT!
February 6, 2001
Troubled Garment Factory on American Samoa Shuts Down
Leaving Workers Stranded without Work or Food
Court Trial Continues for 250 Vietnamese Women Alleging
Sweatshop Conditions on American Samoa
***LETTERS needed (see below)***
Information provided by Vietnam Labor Watch and Sweatshop
Watch.
250 courageous Vietnamese women garment workers began their
court trial in American Samoa (a US territory in the South
Pacific) seeking justice for the sweatshop conditions and
human rights violations they endured. As the trial began,
the workers learned that the company they sew for [Daewoosa
Samoa] shut down, announcing it had only $500+ in its bank
account and could not continue operating. The Vietnamese
women live in a compound owned by Daewoosa, which also
provided their meals. Local charities have stepped in to
provide the workers with food, but some fear these
charitable sources will not last much longer. The company's
other workers, who are Samoan, are also left without work.
The workers sewed garments carrying the J.C. Penney, Sears
and MV Sport labels, among others. None of the corporations
are known to have taken any action to guarantee the workers
their unpaid wages.
Advocates say American Samoa may become the next Saipan,
another U.S. island littered with sweatshops, where young
immigrant women are also toiling for poverty wages under
slave-like conditions. The retailers who profit off the
backs of these women workers must ensure they are paid
fairly, and they must protect against this type of abuse.
Daewoosa Samoa opened in late 1998; it is currently the
only garment factory on the island. The factory contracts
with a "management" company in Vietnam to provide labor.
Young Vietnamese women pay recruitment fees of up to
US$5,000 for the opportunity of a job; and their families
sometimes mortgage their houses or farms to send their
family member to work in Samoa. The company withholds money
for inedible, substandard food and crowded, pest-infested
housing. At times the workers labor for several months
without any pay at all. Yet, because American Samoa is a
U.S. territory, the clothes these workers sew carry "Made
in the USA" labels.
Vietnam Labor Watch released a new report which describes
the conditions that the Vietnamese garment workers
experienced while working for Daewoosa Samoa. The report
was compiled from interviews with over 70 workers, and can
be found at
http://samoa.saigon.com or
http://www.vlw.org.
Some of the report's findings include the following:
* As a result of company's refusal to pay the workers and
not honor the terms of the contracts, many workers reported
that their family's homes and farms have been repossessed
by creditors because they were not able to repay the loan
for the recruitment fee to come to American Samoa.
* A Christian missionary witnessed the abuse at Daewoosa
first-hand: "Upon arriving at Daewoosa, we observed three
or four girls sitting immediately inside the security gate.
The Korean guards began kicking and hitting the girls.
About five minutes later, approximately thirty Vietnamese
girls came to the gate crying and begging for help. Many of
the young women were scratched, bruised, and bloody. When I
asked what was going on, the guards started hitting the
girls again."
* Another worker described the retaliation they have faced.
"Those who know some English to protest these treatments or
talk back become targets for harassment and intimidation.
Those who took part in the trial, [the boss] ordered work
not [to be] given [to] them."
* Even though the bank account of Daewoosa showed a balance
of $538, on December 7, 2000, according to a Department of
Labor report (Dec 14, 2000), during a meeting with OSHA &
DOL investigators, Mr. Kil-Soo Lee, the owner of Daewoosa,
"produced a paper bag of money and proceeded to spread
stacks of bills across the front of his desk."
The workers' struggle began in March 1999, when the women
organized a work stoppage after enduring nearly 8 weeks
without pay. Four women were labeled as "trouble-makers"
and fired. The compound was locked, but one woman was able
to escape and begin raising awareness about their plight.
In December 1999, the workers filed a class-action lawsuit
against Daewoosa seeking unpaid wages of over $325,000 and
justice for the violations of human rights and labor law
they endured. The workers are represented by attorneys
Virginia Sudbury and Christa Lin, based in Samoa. The
trial, which began on January 18, is expected to continue
into February.
Daewoosa's labor problems are well known to the U.S.
Department of Labor (DOL). In 1999, the DOL investigated
the factory and fined Daewoosa $24,140 and ordered them to
pay $151,500 in back wages. In June 2000, the DOL fined
Daewoosa $213,000 for repeated violations of the Fair Labor
Standards Act (FLSA), which includes minimum wage &
overtime standards, and ordered them to pay $367,000 to 213
workers. In December 2000, the DOL confiscated Daewoosa's
garments, under the "hot goods" provision of the FLSA,
which prohibits the selling or shipping of goods made in
violation of the FLSA. The DOL investigation is continuing,
and the Justice Department recently began its own
investigation.
Daewoosa is in a receivership, and may be taken over by
another company, New York-based Morgan Cooper. Some workers
may continue to stay in Samoa and work if the factory re-
opens. Other workers wish to return home to Vietnam, but
face retaliation if they break their three-year work
contract. Vietnam Labor Watch and Sweatshop Watch are
working to ensure the workers' safety and well-being and
are raising funds to help provide for their basic needs,
including food.
WEB SITES: Additional information is available at
http://samoa.saigon.com,
http://www.vlw.org, and
http://www.sweatshopwatch.org.
LIST SERV: The samoaviet list serv provides regular updates
on the Vietnamese workers' situation in Samoa. To
subscribe, visit
http://www.egroups.com/subscribe/SamoaViet. To view the
archives, visit
http://www.mail-
archive.com/
[email protected]
ACTION REQUEST
Please send letters to the following retailers, urging
their immediate attention to resolving the workers'
situation. The workers are demanding to be fairly paid for
their work, and some wish to return home to Vietnam.
* J.C. Penney Company, Inc.
* Sears Roebuck & Company
---
SAMPLE LETTERS
J.C. Penney Company, Inc.
Allen Questrom, Chief Executive Officer
6501 Legacy Drive Plano, TX 75024
Fax: (972) 431-1362 Tel: (972) 431-1000
Dear Mr. Questrom:
I am writing to express my concern about sweatshop
conditions and labor abuses on the island of American
Samoa. I understand that workers at the Daewoosa Samoa
garment factory sewed J.C. Penney clothing without
receiving minimum wage or overtime pay, and in some cases,
no pay at all. I urge you to make sure these workers are
fairly paid and to protect the rights of all workers who
sew your clothes. Because Daewoosa has shut down, leaving
workers stranded without work, food or the means to return
to their homeland of Vietnam, I also urge you to ensure the
safety and well-being of these workers. I thank you for
your attention to this urgent matter and look forward to
hearing your response.
Sincerely,
---
Sears Roebuck & Company
Arthur C. Martinez, Chairman/CEO
3333 Beverly Rd.
Hoffman Estates, IL 60179
Fax: (847) 286-7829 Tel: (847) 286-2500
Dear Mr. Martinez:
I am writing to express my concern about sweatshop
conditions and labor abuses on the island of American
Samoa. I understand that workers at the Daewoosa Samoa
garment factory sewed Sears clothing without receiving
minimum wage or overtime pay, and in some cases, no pay at
all. I urge you to make sure these workers are fairly paid
and to protect the rights of all workers who sew your
clothes. Because Daewoosa has shut down, leaving workers
stranded without work, food or the means to return to their
homeland of Vietnam, I also urge you to ensure the safety
and well-being of these workers. I thank you for your
attention to this urgent matter and look forward to hearing
your response.
Sincerely,
