Lajat Bosses Make Late-Night Visits to Workers’ Homes

Levi’s, Aeropostale and Mudd Jeans

Brands Play Games While Workers Go Hungry

Lajat Update -- October 17, 2005

Developments in Gomez Palacio

Last week several managers from Lajat began visiting workers’ homes at night. The group  of five included the HR manager, Ignacio Salcido, and the new plant manager, Torres Pereyra, who had attacked a woman worker named Eduviges. They carried a briefcase full of money to pay off workers who agreed to quit but also threatened them. At Eduviges’s house, Salcido told her,

“The company doesn’t want you anymore, so for the safety of your children it’s better for you to accept severance pay.”

She refused and demanded that they back work to the plant and pay the workers their full salary.

When they got to the house of a worker named Laura, they offered her 35,000 pesos (about $3500) as severance. Laura refused, telling them,

“My dignity is not for sale. We are fighting for our work and better conditions. I don’t want charity.”

The visits and the intimidation continue, but no one has resigned. 

Salcido is also offering security guards 3000 pesos for each worker they can convince to quit. Guards told workers arriving at the plant,

“Salcido is waiting for you in the office with your severance. You’d better take it because Lajat is going to close the plant and you will have nothing”

None of the workers accepted. They all told the guards that they want work returned to the plant, and they want Lajat to respect their right to organize their own union.

Laura and Eduviges filed charges with the police for intimidation and Salcido was ordered to appear in court last Friday October 14th. Eduviges had previously filed assault charges against Pereyra, and he too was summoned.  (Salcido and Pereyra – Click on Links To See Reports)

Both appeared on the 14th, and in front of the chief of police, Laura confronted them explaining that she’s a single mother, that she must leave for work at 6:00 AM while it’s still dark. She has to leave her daughters alone, and because of the managers midnight visit, she’s now afraid something could happen to them. She said she wanted the authorities to know this in case anything happens to the children. 

Salcido admitted the visit but said it wasn’t that late. Both men denied everything else.  Workers argued that the Conciliation and Arbitration Board (CAB) should resolve the issue not house visits. The chief told Salcido and Pereyra that he was ordering then to cease the house visits. They would be arrested if the visits continue.

Lajat’s Game

It’s a familiar game Lajat is playing. It’s called union busting by any means necessary. Lajat thinks it’s got all the high cards up its sleeve: money, influence, government, and corrupt unions, and when all these are insufficient to stop the workers, their endgame is to invent a plant closing and mass firing making a union election irrelevant.

Despite this, the Lajat workers remain strong and united. They have a few cards too. They are in communication with workers at other Lajat plants.  (The Police Arrives – Click on Link To See Picture)  They have taken their struggle into the streets of Gomez Palacio to inform the community of their plight. (Click Here To See Picture) They have been protesting in political events. (Click Here To See Picture of Protest)  They are getting support across North America. Their economic situation is, however, critical with medical benefits eliminated and wages cut in half to $35 a week. They’re trying to earn extra money by selling food on the street. Working Made a Fundraiser.   (Click on Link To See Workers  At The Fundraiser) They need your help.

The Games the Brands Play

CJM’s Action Committee in the US and Canada has been trying to work with the customers of Lajat since last spring. Each one has its own game. Here’s a run-down:

The Game of Passive-Aggressive – Levi’s Strauss:  Levi’s has been willing to acknowledge its responsibility to enforce its Global Sourcing and Operating Guidelines and sent an inspector in April who determined that Lajat was violating their contract by producing in the Gomez Palacio plant which had not been certified. They were helpful in forcing Lajat to reinstate fired workers with back pay. Since then they say they have told Lajat to respect labor law and not interfere in the workers’ right to form an independent union. They continue to produce in Lajat’s Torreon plant and alternately acknowledge further responsibility and refuse it claiming that since they have no production in Gomez, they can’t do anything. We think this isn’t good enough. Lajat is shifting production around to bust unions, and Levi’s, as a Lajat customer, must insist that its code applies to this behavior no matter where jeans are produced within the company. We hope to meet with Levi’s again soon and bring a worker. Levi’s claims they have been working closely with us. We want some results and we want open transparent dealings where all the players are at the table.

The Shell Game – Aeropostale:  When we first contacted Aeropostale they denied any relationship with Lajat but acknowledged that they had a code of conduct for suppliers which covered freedom of association. After we sent them labels and production sheets from the Gomez plant and targeted them in an alert, their attorney threatened to sue us for libel. Finally we were contacted by their code enforcement subcontractor, the Texas-based Intertex Group, which had discovered that an Aeropostale contractor, (Click Here To See Proof Of Production) Siete Leguas, had subcontracted work to Lajat without telling them. (Click Here To See Aeropostale Labels) They promised to take “prompt and decisive action to insure that our standards are not compromised by the actions of third parties. . . Unfortunately, while we share your concern for the injustices . . . we can only demonstrate our displeasure financially.  . . only market forces will change this specific situation.” So at this point, Aeropostale appears to be willing only to instruct Siete Leguas to cancel production at Lajat. This will solve nothing but neatly shifts responsibility for improving standards away from their company. We want a meeting with Intertex, Aeropostale, and Siete Leguas.

The Game of Deception – Mudd:  Last Spring Mudd, although it appears to have no Code of Conduct at all, followed Levi’s lead and helped pressure Lajat, even writing an open letter countering Lajat ‘s lies that if the workers voted for an independent union, they’d cancel their contract. Since then, their compliance person is referring all correspondence to company President Conrad Lung. He claims in letters that Mudd has not produced at Lajat since April when it did cancel its contract. This is belied by workers’ testimony that Mudd products are still being worked and production sheets and labels workers provided from August.  (Click Here To See Mudd Labels and Here To See Reports) If Mudd continues its denial, we will bring a worker to New York and we will demonstrate at Mudd headquarters. If necessary we will also demonstrate at stores which sell Mudd Jeans until they take responsibility. Cutting and running is not an option.

Pressure on the Mexican Government

CJM members and allies have begun visiting Mexican consulates in the US. In Kansas City we got an appointment and asked the Vice-Consul to communicate our concerns to both federal and state governments. It’s clear that Mexican labor law is being violated in numerous ways, from the refusal to call an election, to the intimidation of workers, to the closing of the Gomez plant. We plan visits in other cities: Chicago, Washington, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Antonio. Let us know if you can help.  

Lalo y Normita (Please Click on the Link)

Focus on Lajat Worker, Lalo Gonzales

Lalo Gonzáles an 11 year maintenance worker has a 9-year-old daughter named Normita who was born with congenital defects and needs a heart and lung transplant. Since Lajat shut down production at the Gomez plant, Lalo’s wages are reduced to $35 per week. It’s really less because Lajat continues to deduct 25% for his INFONAVIT house mortgage (even though Lajat has stopped passing this money on to Infonavit). With taxes and union dues he only takes home 200 pesos a week ($20). Normita needs oxygen all the time. He can’t afford it on his reduced income. Lalo is desperate and holds Lajat responsible if his daughter dies.

Lajat Workers Demands:

 

How you can help them: 

 

Sample Letters

Conrad Lung
Mudd Jeans
CLung335@aol.com 
Phone: 212-730-0404
Fax: 212-730-2289

Dear Conrad Lung:

Your claim that Mudd has has not done business with Lajat since April and your denial of responsibility in the violations of workers rights at your sub contractor Lajat in Torreon and Gomez Palacio Mexico won’t hold up. The workers say Lajat is still producing for Mudd and have obtained production sheets and labels from August.

Besides, in an open letter to the workers in July Mudd’s lawyer sent a letter indicating Mudd’s support for the Lajat workers’ freedom of association and promising that Mudd would not cancel its contract so long as Lajat honored the workers’ right to organize.

The workers need you to honor that pledge and pressure Lajat to Demand that Lajat send Mudd Jeans production to the Gomez Palacio plant with all the workers returned to work at full pay, that they stop their interference in the workers’ fundamental human right to freedom of association, and that they stop intimidating and harassing them. CJM has a requested a meeting with you to discuss the Lajat situation. Please meet with them.

The situation is dire. Lajat has cut wages to starvation levels at the Gomez plant and illegally stopped paying for health care. One worker with 11 years seniority producing blue jeans at Lajat Gomez has a child with birth defects who cannot get the oxygen she needs because her father now makes only $35 a week and has no health coverage. Management is threatening workers if they don’t resign. Please act before someone is killed, disappeared or seriously injured, before a child dies for lack of healthcare, before workers suffer the dire consequences and desperation of the blacklist.

Sincerely,

 

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Michael Kobori
Levi Strauss & Co
mkobari@levi.com
Phone : 415-501-1459
Fax: 415-501-7112

Dear Michael Kobori:

While we appreciate the work that Levi’s Strauss has done in the past to enforce its Global Sourcing and Operating Guidelines and your willingness to meet again with representatives of the workers, we need you to do more.

The situation is dire. Lajat has cut wages to starvation levels at the Gomez plant and illegally stopped paying for health care. One worker with 11 years seniority producing blue jeans at Lajat Gomez has a child with birth defects who cannot get the oxygen she needs because her father now makes only $35 a week and has no health coverage. Management is threatening workers in their homes if they don’t resign.

Whether or not you had production in the Gomez plant is irrelevant. Lajat shifts production around to intimidate workers into surrendering their right to freedom of association. In doing so, they violate your guidelines and put Levis’s reputation at risk.

The workers need you to meet with all the parties: Lajat, CJM and the workers at the same table to work out a solution. We’re tired of closed communications. We need a settlement of this problem before someone gets hurt, before a child dies for lack of healthcare, before workers suffer the dire consequences and desperation of the blacklist.

Sincerely,

 

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Jim Thompson
The Intertex Group
jim@theintertexgroup.com
Cc: Edward M. Slezak, Aeropostale, Inc., ESlezak@aeropostale.com
Phone: 646-452-1851, Fax: 646-619-4873

Dear Jim Thompson:

The situation for the Lajat workers in Gomez Palacio is dire. Lajat has cut wages to starvation levels and illegally stopped paying for health care. One worker with 11 years seniority producing blue jeans at Lajat Gomez has a child with birth defects who cannot get the oxygen she needs because her father now makes only $35 a week and has no health coverage. Management is threatening workers in their homes if they don’t resign.

We have been informed that you handle compliance with Aeropostale’s sourcing guidelines and that you have been informed of the situation at Lajat. Whether or not Aeropostale directly contracts with Lajat is immaterial to the issue of violation of Aeropostale’s guidelines on freedom of association. Simply instructing your subcontractor, Siete Leguas, to source from companies which meet your guidelines fails to address this issue and will do nothing to resolve the problem.

International corporate responsibility is not fulfilled by cutting and running. It is only fulfilled when you make a maximum effort to insure that workers’ rights are respected. We therefore urge you to directly work with Siete Leguas and Lajat to insure protection of the rights of the workers, to restore production at the Gomez plant and reinstate all workers at full pay and benefits, and to pressure Lajat to respect the workers right to organize and stop intimidation and harassment of the workers. We think it would be useful for you to meet with a worker representative and The Coaltion for Justice in the Maquiladoras to discuss this further.

Sincerely,

 

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Vicente Fox Quezada
Email: foxcontigo@presidencia.gob.mx, vicente.fox.quesada@presidencia.gob.mx
Cc: Secretaria  de  Trabajo  y  Previsión  Social  STPS Francisco  Javier  Salazar  Sáenz
Email:  correo@stps.gob.mx
Cc: Gobernador  de  Durango Ismael  Alfredo  Hernández  Deras
Email: parti@durango.gob.mx
Cc: Presidente de la Junta de Conciliación y Arbitraje, Francisco Cobarruvias
Email: franciscojaviercobarruvias@prodigy.net.mx

 

Send this translation

Estimado Sr. Presidente,

Estamos muy preocupados por la impune violación a los derechos laborales de las y los trabajadores de Manufacturas Lajat en Gomes Palacios Durango. Los cuales demandaron la titularidad del contrato colectivo al sindicato que lo sustenta. La empresa, y las autoridades laborales conjuntamente han incurrido en una serie de violaciones a sus derechos en cuanto a la libre asociación. Incluso la empresa acordó cerrar la planta temporalmente para evadir las elecciones sindicales. Los trabajadores demandaron el embargo precautorio y hasta el momento la JCA no ha respondido a sus demandas. Los trabajadores han padecido desde violaciones a sus derechos hasta amenazas, sobornos, listas negras, incluyendo violencia física contra una trabajadora por parte del gerente. La JCA el 7 de octubre dio curso a la audiencia, sin haber notificado a los trabajadores y la empresa les negó el permiso a los trabajadores para que asistieran.

Hace 12 años el TLCAN llego con la promesa de que los derechos humanos y laborales  serian respetados, sin embargo el caso de los trabajadores de Lajat es un ejemplo irrefutable de esta constante violación.  Si bien es verdad que este asunto es de competencia local y estatal. También es cierto que estas prácticas son producto de sus políticas comerciales las cuales garantizan la impunidad de las multinacionales a costa de los derechos de las y los trabajadores.

Urge que intervenga para que las y los trabajadores de Lajat en Gómez Palacio obtengan Justicia.

Atentamente

[Translation

Dear President Fox:

We are concerned about a blatant violation of workers rights currently going on in Gomez Palacio Durango in the cast of the Lajat workers who have petitioned the Conciliation and Arbitration Board to establish representation by their union, the National Union of Garment and Clothing. The company, the local CAB and the CTM have all conspired to violate the Federal Labor Law to insure that these workers remain under total control even to the extent of closing the plant as a pretext to avoid an election. There has been a variety of illegal activity including use of the blacklist, threats, bribes and even violence against workers by a supervisor. Yet the local CAB doesn’t even bother to have an appearance of neutrality. It holds hearings without notifying the workers legal representatives and without allowing them to speak.

Please intervene. It is now almost twelve years since the implementation of NAFTA in which your government promised to respect worker rights and its own labor laws. Why is this still happening?

Sincerely,]

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