It is well known that wall mart exploit labours. But Indian Government including the communist rulers of West Bengal are about to give a red carpet welcome to India camouflaged with Bharatia, its Indian face. What happened to the slogan, "workers of the world unite"? - Proutist Universal
Feb 21: Worker Rights Consortium Report released. (Read More)
UPDATE Jan 9: Strikers encounter another Another Attack on Jan 9 (Read More)
Workers at Chong Won Fashion International, a Wal-Mart factory in the Philippines, go on strike September 25, 2006 . (Read Press Release)
Since 2004 the workers at Chong Won Fashion International in the Philippines have fought for the right to bargain with management and yet they have continued to be ignored and pushed to the side. The workers sought support from the International Labor Rights Fund and Maquila Solidarity Network. ILRF and MSN immediately contacted Wal-Mart as the primary buyer at the factory. MSN clearly stated what the expectations of Wal-Mart were which included meeting with the union leaders and a local NGO Worker's Assistance Center.
Unfortunately Wal-Mart continued to play its usual games where they say one thing and do the total opposite.
- When Wal-Mart said it would talk to union leaders before they did an unannounced audit, they instead found 3 union leaders at the end of the audit visit and interviewed them while inside the factory.
- The Wal-Mart auditor on at least 2 occasions even alluded to the idea that Wal-Mart might pull their orders out of the factory and later corrected herself (as ILRF and MSN are sure that only after MSN continued to bring this to Wal-Mart's attention, did Wal-Mart bother to correct this major communications problem).
- The Wal-Mart auditor even stated that Wal-Mart wasn't responsible for what happens inside of the factory because they order through a middleman One-Step-Up.
- Finally Wal-Mart claims to audit every single factory once a year where their private brands are being produced and yet Wal-Mart hadn't bothered to get the results of a recent audit done by Intertek in February 2006 at Chong Won. During this audit, workers reported concerns about the way that factory management was violating freedom of association.
In addition to clear violations of freedom of association, workers have alleged being forced to work 24 hours shifts and not being allowed to drink water or go to the bathroom. Unfortunately because the overwhelming majority of the audits done by Wal-Mart are announced, Chong Won management takes down the signs regarding bathroom usage and tells workers how to respond to the questions that Wal-Mart asks them.
The Chong Won Fashion union members have requested international solidarity as they struggle against their factory management for the rights they deserve. Even worse, the primary company at the factory, Wal-Mart, has done the opposite of what they agreed upon and even threatened to pull orders out of the factory. Even the factory management is threatening that they will close the factory and move else where. Workers have reported working 24 hours shifts, being paid about half of what is considered a living wage, not being allowed to drink water or use the bathroom during work hours, and only beigh allowed to leave after they have requested permission to leave the factory.
Make your voice heard! Send an email to Wal-Mart demanding that they mediate between the factory management and workers towards contract negotiations and they keep their word about maintaining orders at Chong Won Fashion.
(Source : http://www.laborrights.org/projects/corporate/walmart/chongwon0906.htm)
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