TITLE: Leaders in Kuk Dong Struggle to Attempt a Return to the Factory

AUTHOR:

ORG: USAS

DATE: February 16, 2001

Defining Moment of Campaign to Happen Early Next Week; Nike Must to Publicly Call on Kuk Dong to Renege on Threats of Arrests, Physical Harm and Accept Workers to their Original Positions at the Factory United Students Against Sweatshops has received reports from our representatives in Mexico that some of the five workers who were originally fired in early January for their leadership in the struggle for an independent union at the Kuk Dong factory in Atlixco de Puebla, Mexico will attempt to return to work early next week, perhaps as early as 7 am Monday morning. This is a defining moment in the campaign, as their return would encourage perhaps hundreds of workers who are afraid or unsure to go back in to work at the moment because of fear of company intimidation tactics. Kuk Dong management, through its security chief has threatened physical harm against the leaders of the independent union effort and has not publicly denied reports that they still have warrants out for the arrests of five workers and one organizer who have been at the lead of the campaign. Furthermore, despite the fact that threats to these workers are in direct violation of the principles of freedom of association in university codes of conduct and its own code, Nike has not publicly taken a position specifically calling for the safe return of the five leaders oringinally fired, nor has it called for the charges to be dropped against them. Kuk Dong has been the site of a month-long struggle for freedom of association, just wages and benefits, fair conditions, and an end to physical and verbal abuse as well as forced overtime. The workers make an average of 75-cents per hour, far below the cost of living for a family in the region, and are forced to eat rancid food supplied by the company in its cafeteria. The struggle was initiated when all of the 850 workers in the factory went on a wildcat strike on January 9th after 5 workers were fired at the factory for being leaders in a campaign to organize an independent union at the factory. Days later, as the workers occupied the factory grounds, 200 riot police raided the factory raided the strike, and thugs hired by the company and it's undemocratic union, the FROC CROC beat several workers, sending 15 to the hospital. Two days later, an agreement was reached to allow the strikers to return to work without reprisals, but shortly after hundreds of returning workers were either fired or forced to resign. After an escalation in pressure in Puebla and internationally, the company signed a second agreement on January 25th stating that all workers could return to their jobs unconditionally and without reprisal. The return of these 5 leaders of the union effort was strongly recommended in the results of both the independent investigation of the Worker Rights Consortium but also the independent mediator Nike originally dispatched to the conflict, Arturo Alcalde. The International Labor Rights Fund, who also participated in drafting the Alcalde report, said it best: "We believe that the crisis at the Kukdong factory can be resolved if action is taken swiftly to re-employ all the workers who were on strike. When it comes to union representation, justice delayed is justice denied. Furthermore, other violations of freedom of association continue at the factory: - Because of an arbitrary and illegal deadline set by management at Kuk Dong for workers to return to their jobs, all employees illegally fired during the strike are currently being rehired as new employees. This is a clear violation of the agreement signed by Kuk Dong to allow workers back to the factory unconditionally under the terms of their previous employment. Hence, the previous salaries, positions, and seniority of returning workers are revoked, and all workers are being forced to sign statements of loyalty to the FROC CROC. - Kuk Dong management has isolated workers who it believes are leaders of the independent union effort to actively discourage organizing among workers in the factory. Below in this message is a statement from one of the leaders of the strike who has been forced to be locked up in an office, away from his normal position and the rest of the employees, since he has been brought back to the factory. - Last week, over 70 workers were not allowed to return immediately to the factory. Rather, they were told by Kuk Dong officials that management would get back to them days later after reviewing their files, since "nobody could be trusted" and the company would only hire those workers that were "convenient." Although they were told they would receive telegrams detailing their status early this week, it still is not clear to this point that all of the workers have been allowed back to the factory. - USAS representatives report that the company is now physically dividing up the factory and telling workers that they are now working for multiple owners and multiple companies. This is a clear union-busting tactic. - Kuk Dong has not dropped its contract with the FROC CROC which was found by Nike's own independent mediator, Arturo Alcalde, to be illegal and invalid because it did not incorporate a salary structure. Yet Nike has allied itself with the FROC CROC by falsely insisting that under Mexican law, workers must sign statements of support for the company union before getting their jobs back (which they would not have to do if they were not being brought back under the classification of new employees). - Nike has not committed yet to have a continual presence of independent external monitors at the factory during the crucial next few weeks to see to it that intimidation toward the workers does not increase. Throughout this struggle, Nike has fully participated in a "scorched earth" strategy by delaying, delaying, and delaying again at every turn. When five workers were originally fired at the factory, Nike stood by and did nothing. When police attacked the subsequent worker occupation of the factory grounds, sending 15 people to the hospital, Nike stood by and did nothing. When Kuk Dong management illegally fired or forced the resignation of more than 200 more workers the following week, Nike stood by and did nothing. It said it had an independent mediator studying the issue, and that it would not act until he found the facts. When both that independent mediator and the WRC uncovered serious violations of freedom of association at Kuk Dong and other violations of the Nike and collegiate codes of conduct, Nike decided to call for another investigation because it did not like the results of the first two. While Nike stands by, continuing to research and refusing to act, serious violations of freedom of association continue, workers are forced to find other work, and consequently those who originally supported the union are fired de facto, weakening the organizing effort and the freedom of the workforce to choose their own representatives. Nike has not been just a buyer in the wrong place at the wrong time; rather, it is a fully complicit participant in a strategy to undermine workers' right to organize. Please take the following action before next Monday to help ensure the safe return of the leaders of the struggle for an independent union effort at Kuk Dong: (1) Contact Nike and Kuk Dong before Monday, telling them to: A. Publicly guarantee the safe and unconditional return of the 5 leaders originally fired in the Kuk Dong struggle, and to renounce the earlier threats to their physical safety and the issuing of warrants for their arrest. Demand that they reaffirm their commitment that all workers should be rehired to Kuk Dong unconditionally and without reprisal, and to increase their pressure on Kuk Dong management to see that this is carried out. B. Publicly call on Kuk Dong to rehire all returning workers unconditionally and under the same salary, position, and seniority of their previous employment, including guarantees that all leaders of the independent union effort will not continue to be isolated from other workers at the factory. C. Publicly call on Kuk Dong to discontinue the illegal process of forcing returning workers to sign statements of loyalty to the FROC CROC, and urge Kuk Dong to drop its illegal and invalid "protection contract" with the FROC CROC. D. Commit to the continual presence of mutually agreed upon local independent monitors at the factory to ensure there is a free and fair climate for an election at Kuk Dong where the workers can secure a union that represents their voices. E. Publicly reaffirm their commitment to continue the same levels of production at Kuk Dong - Mexico as it has since the factory opened and see to it that Kuk Dong remains in Atlixco de Puebla. Remind them that their actions to date have been insufficient to ensure that worker rights are respected at the Kuk Dong factory, and that justice delayed is justice denied. Contact: Philip H. Knight, Chairman and CEO, Nike Corporation, One Bowerman Drive, Beaverton, OR 97003-6433 Phone: (503) 671-6453 Fax: (503) 671-6300 Email: phil.knight@nike.com Add a cc to: Dusty Kidd, Global Director for Labor Practices, Nike Corporation, One Bowerman Drive, Beaverton, OR 97003, Phone: (503) 671-6453, Fax: (503) 532-0440 Email: Dusty.Kidd@nike.com Kukdong International Mexico S.A. de C.V., Retorno de Ave. Continentes Num. 38, Rancho Los Soles, Atlixco de Puebla, Mexico, Tel: 011-52-244-61020~3, Fax: 011-52-244-61024 Email: kukdong.@rpc.com.mx Kukdong Corporation (Korea), Kukdong Building 229-3 Young Dap-Dong, Sungdong-Ku, Seoul, Korea, Tel: (02) 3407-7701~7905 Fax: (02) 2249-5915, 2243-7776, Email: kukdong@kd.co.kr 2) Urge university presidents with Nike contracts and licensing codes of conduct to publicly call on Nike to enforce the freedom of association of the codes by complying with the five above demands. 3) Contact the Mexican Labor Secretary: Urge the Labor Secretary to use this conflict as an opportunity to prove that Mexico is a fair and stable place for people to work without violent intimidation, and that all workers enjoy the right to organize independent unions. Contact: Lic. Carlos Abascal Carranza, Secretaría del Trabajo y Previsión Social, Periférico Sur No. 4271 Edif. A, piso 4 Col. Fuentes del Pedregal C.P. 14149., Phone: 011-52-5-645-2962, Fax: 011-52-5-645-5594 Email: cabascal@stps.gob.mx ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Statement of Ivan de Erick Diaz Xolo: Strike Leader Isolated from Other Workers at the Factory My name is Ivan de Erick Diaz Xolo. I am one of the workers at Kuk Dong who participated in the stoppage. When I went to ask for a job, or rather, to be reinstated, I was rejected until the fourth time I went, when I was admitted but I was placed in an office position. I never told them I wanted to be there. I simply wanted and still want to be in my previous position, which was "Inspection." I tell them every day to allow me in my work area and they do not pay attention. They say that this order was given by the "President of the Company". This is what Hugo de la Peña says to me. I thought they were going to honor the agreement they made with Conciliation and Arbitration Board that people were going to be reinstated to their work areas. They do not even allow me to enter the factory, and if I want to enter I need to be accompanied by someone from security. These orders were given by Hugo de la Peña. Sincerely, [Signature] Ivan de Erick Diaz Xolo Prol. 11 Sur #2505 "A" Col. Valle Sur Mi nombre es Ivan de Erick Diaz Xolo. Soy uno de los trabajadores de Kuk Dong que participaron en el paro. Cuando iba a pedir trabajo o mas bien a reingresar a la empresa me rechazaban hasta que a la cuarta vez que fui me admitieron pero me pusieron en un puesto de oficina cual yo nunca les dije que queria estar alli. Yo simplemente queria y quiero estar en mi puesto anterior que era el de "Inspeccion" cual a ellos les digo cada dia que me bajen a mi area y no me hacen caso. Dicen que esa orden la dio el "Presidente de la Empresa." Eso me lo dice el Lic. Hugo de la Peña.Yo pensaba que iban a respetar el convenio que hicieron con la Junta de Conciliacion y Arbitraje de que se iba a reintegrar a sus areas de trabajo. No me dejan ni entrar a la nave y que si quiero entrar necesito or con uno de seguridad, esas ordenes las dio el Lic. Hugo de la Peña. Atentamente, [Firma] Ivan de Erick Diaz Xolo Prol. 11 Sur #2505 "A" Col. Valle Sur ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Findings of the Worker Rights Consortium regarding the illegal firings of the five original leaders of the independent union effort: "On January 3, 2001, Kukdong fired five supervisory workers who were leaders of a drive to replace the CROC with a new union. The purportedly legitimate grounds for dismissal - asserted post hoc by Kukdong managers - were utterly incredible (and contradictory) and therefore pretextual. After the dismissals, managers on some occasions accused the five workers of embezzling garments on unspecified dates well before the date on which they were concurrently discharged; and on other occasions accused the supervisory workers of failing to give lunch coupons to rank-and-file workers, or of taking away these coupons, on a date well before the date of discharge. These accusations were not made at any time before the firing. In sum, there is substantial credible evidence that when Kukdong managers fired the five supervisory workers, the managers were motivated exclusively by their hostility to the workers' exercise of their right of free association. END top