From: "Vera M. Britto" <fiatlux@umich.edu>
Next time you go shopping remember this...
>
> >** Written 5:36 PM Nov 15, 1997 by wnu in cdp:reg.nicaragua **
> >[The following are the press release and supplementary materials
> >from the November 11-13 Hard Copy and National Labor Committee
> >(NLC) expose on workshops in Nicaragua. The full materials are
> >available on the NLC website, www.nlcnet.org, along with
> >information about this and other NLC campaigns. Or write the NLC
> >for a printed version. Please note that the NLC has provided
> >addresses and phone numbers for Wal-Mart/ K-Mart/ JC Penney. These
> >appear at the end of the document.--Weekly News Update]
> >
> >Gary Rosen
> >Hard Copy
> >LB Lipman Public Relations
> >(212)977-6990
> >
> >Ellen Braune
> >National Labor Committee
> >(212)242-3002
> >
> >18 MONTHS AFTER THE KATHIE LEE GIFFORD SCANDAL
> >SWEAT SHOP CONDITIONS ARE WORSE THAN EVER;
> >TOP AMERICAN COMPANIES EXPOSED
> >
> >"They Hit You...They Hit You in the Head...To Make You Work
> >Faster," says Nicaraguan Factory Worker Jolena Rodriguez.
> >
> >A HARD COPY/National Labor Committee Joint Investigation Airdate -
> >Tuesday, November 11; Wednesday, November 12; and Thursday,
> >November 13 Wal-Mart, K-Mart, and JC Penney exposed in Nicaraguan
> >sweat shop investigation
> >
> >Workers making these garments are paid a base wage of 15 cents per
> >hour; compared to the base wage of 31 cents per hour Honduran
> >workers were paid in the Kathie Lee Gifford scandal.
> >
> >Child workers as young as 15, working 13 hour days, seven days a
> >week. "We young people have the capacity to work more and be more
> >efficient for them," says Karla, a worker, "never has anyone been
> >fired for being underaged."
> >
> >Workers allege verbal, physical and sexual abuse by supervisors. "I
> >refused his offer to have sex...He moved me to another (production)
> >line to see what they could do to me; if they could fire me," says
> >factory worker, Carla Beltran.
> >
> >Factories surrounded by barbed wire, under armed guard.
> >
> >Tin and stick shacks, with cardboard walls and dirt floors;
> >housing entire families in a space the size of two cubicles; as
> >many as five people are crammed into one bed.
> >
> >Los Angeles, November 11, 1997 -- Tonight, HARD COPY's Hard
> >Target investigative unit, led by correspondent Ed Miller, joins
> >forces with National Labor Committee Executive Director Charles
> >Kernaghan, the man who broke the Kathie Lee Gifford sweat shop
> >scandal. HARD COPY and Kernaghan travel to the sweat shops of
> >Nicaragua in an undercover investigation. The investigation
> >implicates some of America's biggest stores and most popular brand
> >names. The three-part HARD COPY report will air tonight, Tuesday,
> >November 11; Wednesday, November 12; and Thursday, November 13.
> >
> >HARD COPY and the National Labor Committee uncovered garments
> >being produced which include brands such as Faded Glory for Wal-
> >Mart, Arizona for JC Penney, Route 66 for K-Mart. Workers making
> >these garments are paid a base wage of 15 cents per hour; compared
> >to the base wage of 31 cents per hour Honduran workers were paid in
> >the Kathie Lee Gifford scandal. Many of the workers are underage;
> >workers allege being physically and sexually abused; they are
> >exposed dangerous chemicals from solvents; the workers take
> >megadoses of vitamins in order to work faster and stay awake; and
> >they are forced to work overtime without additional pay.
> >
> >The HARD COPY investigation took place in a Free Trade Zone (FTZ)
> >near Managua, Nicaragua from October 23-25. FTZ's are areas set up
> >around the world which were originally established and built using
> >American tax dollars. Manufactured goods produced within the FTZ
> >are shipped to the United States and are subject to reduced tariffs
> >or no tariffs. The FTZ HARD COPY visited uses barbed wire fences
> >and armed guards to keep the workers in and visitors out. The
> >Nicaraguan FTZ contains about a dozen companies owned by
> >manufacturers of different nationalities. The HARD COPY
> >investigative team went to Nicaragua and posed as blue jeans
> >buyers. They found workers who begin work as young as 15 years old.
> >We young people have the capacity to work more and be more
> >efficient for them, says Karla, a teenaged worker, never has anyone
> >been fired for being underaged. The workers are crammed into
> >overflowing school buses, literally hanging from the outside of the
> >buses which are going in excess of 35 mph. The workers are shipped
> >from their homes to work, behind the barbed wire gates manned by
> >armed guards.
> >
> >Workers are paid hourly, but they have daily quotas of production
> >they must meet. Overtime is mandatory and does not pay time and a
> >half. One worker, Olga Maria Condoza, says, "They make us work
> >overtime. They make us stay. Anybody who doesn't stay gets a
> >warning, and three warnings and you are fired." The workers work as
> >much as 13 hours each day, seven days a week. The long hours force
> >the workers to take megadoses of vitamins to stay awake and work
> >faster. The pills are purchased inside the FTZ. Maria, a factory
> >worker who produced Faded Glory jackets for Wal-Mart, was asked if
> >lots of workers take the pills. Maria said, "Many people take these
> >pills...they make us work faster." According to the HARD COPY
> >report, the workers are so malnourished that high doses of vitamins
> >keep them awake and make them work faster.
> >
> >Once they arrive at work, employees allege they are subjected to
> >verbal, physical, and sexual abuse. One worker, Jolena Rodriguez,
> >states, "They hit you...they hit you in the head...to make you work
> >faster." Another worker, Maria, makes less then $12 per week. Maria
> >commented on the abuse by saying, "When the work doesn't come
> >out...they go around and scream at everybody." Supervisors, under
> >the pretense of checking for stolen goods, allegedly touch and feel
> >the workers. A female worker says, "They take me into another room
> >and search us all over. They touch us all over, including them
> >lifting up our skirts to look underneath." One worker, Carla
> >Beltran, says she was fired for refusing to have sex with her
> >supervisor. Beltran says, "I refused his offer to have sex...he
> >moved me to another line to see what they could do to me; if they
> >could fire me."
> >
> >The investigation also shows the housing conditions in which the
> >workers live. The huts have tin and thatch roofs, fabric doors,
> >dirt floors and cardboard walls. The houses do not have running
> >water and propane tanks are used for cooking when the families can
> >afford to buy fuel; open fires are used when there is no money for
> >propane. The report shows multiple families living in the cramped,
> >tiny spaces. The conditions are so bad, that one family of five is
> >forced to sleep on one boxed spring bed that has no mattress.
> >
> >Furthermore, the investigation uncovers environmental abuses by the
> >manufacturers. Bleaches, solvents and dyes are washed into outdoor,
> >open pits. Empty, rusted barrels of chemicals are stored out in the
> >open, not in a controlled area. Workers also complain that they
> >burn their hands with the bleach and chemicals used to make stone
> >washed jeans.
> >
> >According to the American Textile Manufacturers Institute, 60
> >percent of the $184 billion a year that is spent in the U.S. on
> >apparel purchases is for imports. And, according to the American
> >Apparel Manufacturers Association, since 1990, the Caribbean
> >Basin's share of U.S. apparel imports has grown from 12 percent to
> >22 percent.
> >
> >After the Kathie Lee Gifford/Wal-Mart scandal involving Honduran
> >workers, Wal-Mart and JC Penney strengthened and began to seriously
> >implement existing human rights codes of conduct. These companies
> >pledged to police their subcontractors to ensure the human rights
> >codes of conduct were observed. Wal-Mart stopped its production in
> >Honduras in 1996, at the time of the scandal, and shifted much of
> >its operations to Nicaragua. Production has resumed in Honduras
> >since that time. In the aftermath of the scandal, Gifford became a
> >strong proponent of ending the abuses of the sweat shops,
> >especially the use of child labor.
> >
> >Another result of the previous scandal was an endorsement in
> >April of an apparel industry human rights code of conduct by
> >President Clinton. The code of conduct bars the use of child
> >labor in factories around the world that make shoes and clothing
> >for the U.S. market. Additionally, President Clinton created the
> >White House Apparel Industry Partnership. The task force is a
> >coalition of labor, religious, and garment representatives created
> >to develop industry-wide standards and monitoring procedures. The
> >group is scheduled to make its final report at the end of November.
> >
> >At press time, JC Pennney, K-Mart and Wal-Mart are looking into the
> >allegations.
> >
> >HARD COPY is produced and distributed by Paramount Domestic
> >Television. The Paramount Television Group is part of the
> >entertainment operations of Viacom Inc.
> >
> >Nicaraguan Comparison of Sales and Budget
> >Nicaraguan Government Budget Compared to U.S. Employers/Importers
> >in Country
> >
> >Nicaraguan government budget = 585 million U.S. $
> >J.C. Penney sales = 24.3 billion U.S. $
> >KMart sales = 31.4 billion U.S. $
> >Wal-Mart = 105 billion U.S. $
> >
> >Source: 1997 Securities and Exchange Commission filings and
> >Government of Nicaragua
> >
> >NLC: Anatomy of Exploitation, J.C. Penney
> >
> >Anatomy of Exploitation:
> >J.C. Penney "Arizona" Jeans produced at Chentex
> >The information below highlights the costs involved in producing
> >Arizona jeans by J.C. Penney and focuses on the wages and
> >exploitation of production workers in Nicaragua.
> >
> >You pay $14.99 to purchase a pair of J.C. Penney Arizona Jeans. The
> >young women in Nicaragua who made those pants were paid just 11
> >cents.
> >
> >Is this right?
> >
> >J.C. Penney sources production of its popular private label
> >Arizona Jeans to a Taiwanese-owned Chentex Factory in a free
> >trade zone in Nicaragua. The jeans sell for $14.99 in the U.S.
> >
> >At the Chentex Factory, a line of 200 sewers must complete a
> >daily production goal of 3,500 pants. There are four workers
> >doing each operation.
> >
> >The base wage at the Chentex factory is 19 cents an hour, or
> >$9.12 a week. However, by meeting production goals their average
> >wage in the factory in 23 cents an hour, or $1.84 for an eight-
> >hour day.
> >
> >Two hundred sewers earn $1.84 each a day, which amounts to $368 in
> >direct labor costs. The 3,500 pairs of Arizona jeans they produce
> >each day would sell for $52,265 at J. C. Penney stores in the U.S.
> >This means that the direct labor cost for sewing these jeans comes
> >to only 7/10ths of one percent of the sales price. In other words,
> >the women in Nicaragua receive just 11 cents; for every $14.99 pair
> >of Arizona jeans they sew.
> >
> >Since J.C. Penney leaves just 11 cents behind in Nicaragua in
> >direct labor costs, one wonders what happens to the other $14.88-
> >-99.3 percent of the sales price? (14.99-.11=$14.88)
> >
> >By comparison, if J.C, Penney made these jeans in the U.S., the
> >labor cost would be approximately 10 percent of the sales price, or
> >$1.50.
> >
> >Could J.C. Penney afford to do better? After all, 23 cents an
> >hour, or $11.04 a week is a sub-subsistence wage in Nicaragua, on
> >which no one can survive.
> >
> >In 1996, J. C. Penney's sales totaled $24.3 billion, while their
> >profits were $565 million. It is striking that J.C. Penney's annual
> >sales are actually 42 times greater than the entire national budget
> >of Nicaragua, which is only $585 million. In fact, in 1996, J.C.
> >Penney spent $988 million on advertising alone, which in itself is
> >1.7 times as the national budget of Nicaragua. Yet, J.C. Penney
> >pays no taxes in Nicaragua--no corporate taxes, no municipal,
> >state, sales or income taxes, since they operate in a Free Trade
> >Zone.
> >
> >The women in Nicaragua told us that they could survive on a wage of
> >88 cents an hour, $42.37 a week. They are not talking about living
> >a middle class existence. They know they will always be poor, but
> >with these wages they and their children, could climb out of misery
> >and into poverty. An 88 cent wage would still be only 1/10th of the
> >average U.S. apparel wage of $8.31 per hour. So Nicaragua, as a
> >developing country, would clearly maintain its "competitive
> >advantage."
> >
> >What would happen if J.C. Penney paid the women in Nicaragua 88
> >cent an hour? Would the sky fall in on J.C. Penney's financial
> >viability?
> >
> >With an 88 cent-an-hour wage, the direct labor cost to sew a pair
> >of Arizona Jeans would amount to just 42 cents--or less than 3
> >percent of the $14.99 sales price. This would leave J.C. Penney in
> >control of $14.57, or 97 percent of the sales price.
> >
> >It is a very legitimate question to ask J.C. Penney: How can they
> >not make a very good profit when the company, and its contractors,
> >would still control 97 percent of the sales price of the garment?
> >
> >They should explain this to us.
> >
> >NLC: Race to the Bottom
> >
> >This document contains a comparison of the costs involved in
> >making identical jeans in the U.S. and in Nicaragua based on
> >production of Britannia Relaxed Fit boys jeans.
> >
> >The story of two pairs of jeans--exactly the same--one made in the
> >United States, and the other made in Nicaragua.
> >
> >Two pairs of Britannia Relaxed Fit boys jeans were purchased in
> >Kmart. (The Britannia label, which was owned by Levi Strauss, has
> >recently been sold to the VF Corporation.)
> >
> >Made in the USA
> >
> >Made in Nicaragua
> >
> >Retail price $17.99
> >
> >Retail price $17.99
> >
> >Average U.S. apparel wage $8.31/hour
> >
> >The highest apparel wage in Nicaragua (which few workers make)-- 43
> >cent/hour
> >
> >Sewing time--15 minutes
> >
> >Sewing time--20 minutes
> >
> >Labor cost--$2.08 ($2.0775)
> >($8.31/hr x 15 minutes = $2.0775)
> >
> >Labor cost--14 cents ($0.14332)
> >($.43/hr x 20 minutes = $0.143332)
> >
> >(Here we have increased production time five minutes--a full 33%-
> >-to compensate for the workers' malnourishment, excessively long
> >working hours and extreme heat.)
> >
> >Labor cost as percentage of retail price:</LI>
> >11.5 percent
> >
> >Labor cost as percentage of retail price:
> >8/10ths of one percent
> >
> >How it all adds up:
> >
> >Made in the USA:
> >Made in Nicaragua:
> >
> >--retail price: $17.99
> >
> >--retail price: $17.99
> >
> >--labor cost: $ 2.08
> >
> >--labor cost $ 0.14
> >
> >So, the company saves $1.93 in labor cost on each pair of jeans.
> >($2.08 - $0.14 = $1.93)
> >
> >For example, the Chentex factory in Las Mercedes free trade zone
> >has 4 production lines of 200 sewers each. One line produces 3,500
> >pairs of jeans a day. All 800 sewers produce 14,000 jeans a day.
> >14,000 pairs of jeans multiplied by $1.93 each in savings on lower
> >labor costs equals $27,020 in savings to the company each day. For
> >a typical six day work week, the total savings would be $162,120.
> >In a year, this would add up to $8,430,240.
> >
> >Who Gains?
> >
> >In November 1997, Levi Strauss is closing 11 plants in the U.S.,
> >slashing 6,395 jobs--1/3 of its entire U.S. workforce.
> >
> >It would take a worker in Nicaragua an entire week's wage to
> >purchase one pair of jeans--despite the fact that, in effect,
> >each worker sews 17.5 pairs of pants each day --(two hundred
> >sewers on a line produce 3,500 pants per day; 3,500/200 = 17.5)--
> >which sell for $314.83. The workers earn $3.44 a day. No one can
> >live on such wages, which are well below subsistence levels.--So,
> >obviously, they are unable to purchase anything made in the U.S.
> >NLC: Chentex Pay Envelope A Chentex Pay Envelope $2.48 for a
> >Ten-Hour Day -- 24 Cents an Hour
> >
> >This document presents wage and earnings information based on a pay
> >stub for a worker at Chentex, one of the largest clothing
> >subcontractors in the La Mercedes Free Trade Zone in Managua,
> >Nicaragua and site of production for several major U.S. companies
> >including J.C. Penney, Kmart, and others.
> >
> >Chentex produces:
> >
> >* Arizona, for J.C. Penney
> >* Route 66, for Kmart
> >
> >* Bugle Boy
> >* Gloria Vanderbilt
> >
> >* No Excuses
> >
> >This woman earned 299.04 cordobas for 14 days work making these
> >well-know U.S. labels. At 9.8 cordobas to the U.S. dollar, this
> >comes to $30.51--or $2.18 a day. (299.04/9.8 = $30.51; 30.51/14 =
> >$2.18) The workday is from 7 a.m. to 5:15 p.m., with a single
> >half-hour break for lunch--9 hours 15 minutes. So, she earned 22 an
> >hour.
> >
> >She also worked seven hours of overtime, increasing her wage
> >(including all benefits) to 340 cordobas--$34.69, or 24¢ an
> >hour. (340/9.8 = $34.69; $34.69/14 days = $2.48/day; $2.48/10
> >hours, 10 minutes = 24¢/hour fully loaded wage.)
> >
> >Copy pay stub available upon request
> >
> >(Note that this check gives no indication of the number of
> >regular hours worked, nor whether the 7th day bonus is paid. And
> >none of it is in Spanish, making it quite easy to cheat a young
> >teenaged girl.)
> >
> >Barons International
> >La Mercedes Free Trade Zone, Managua
> >
> >This document presents wage and earnings information based on a pay
> >stub for a worker at Barons International a producer for Wal- Mart
> >in the La Mercedes Free Trade Zone in Managua, Nicaragua.
> >
> >Base Wage:
> >10 cents an Hour
> >
> >Fully Loaded Wage:
> >$6.54 for a 48-hour work week--14 cents/hour
> >
> >Produces:
> >Faded Glory for Wal-Mart
> >
> >The base wage is 66.75 cordobas a week--or, 9.5357 cordobas a
> >day, which comes to U.S. 97 cents a day. Working from 7:00 a.m. to
> >5:15 p.m. with one half-hour break for lunch, this amounts to 10
> >cents an hour. (66.75/7 = 9.5357; 9.5357/9.8 = 97 cents; 97 cents/9
> >hrs, 45 min = 10 cents/hour.)
> >
> >The fully-loaded take-home wage for this young woman was 64.08
> >cordobas--$6.54 for the week, or 14 cents an hour.
> >
> >Copy of Pay Stub available upon request
> >
> >NLC: Istmo Textile and Pay Stub
> >
> >Istmo Textile, SA
> >La Mercedes Free Trade Zone, Managua
> >
> >This document presents wage and earnings information based on a pay
> >stub for a worker at Istmo Textile, SA in the La Mercedes Free
> >Trade Zone in Managua, Nicaragua.
> >
> >Base Wage:
> >10 cents an Hour
> >
> >Fully Loaded Wage:
> >$13.78 for a 67-hour work week--21 cents/hour
> >
> >Produces:
> >Honors label for Target/Dayton Hudson Co.
> >
> >The base wage including the 7th Day attendance bonus is 66
> >cordobas, or 9.43 cordobas a day--96 cents.
> >
> >The workshift is from 7 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. But the workers must be
> >at their sewing machines by 6:45 a.m. There is one half-hour break
> >for lunch, making the workday a total of 9 hours, 45 minutes. This
> >puts the hourly wage at 10 cents!
> >
> >For a 67 hour work week, this young woman earned just 135
> >cordobas, $13.78, amounting to a fully loaded wage (including 7th
> >day bonus, transportation and food incentives) of less than 21
> >cents an hour.
> >
> >Her work week was:
> >Monday: 7:00 a.m. -- 7:00 p.m. Tuesday: 7:00 a.m. -- 7:00 p.m.
> >Wednesday: 7:00 a.m. -- 8:00 p.m. Thursday 7:00 a.m. -- 8:00 p.m.
> >Friday 7:00 a.m. -- 5:00 p.m. Saturday 7:00 a.m. -- 5:30 p.m. Copy
> >of Pay Stub Available upon request
> >
> >NLC: Science of Starvation Wages
> >
> >The Science of Starvation Wages
> >--down to the last 1/1000th of a cent--
> >
> >This document presents information to the 1/1000th of a cent on how
> >workers efforts are tracked and compensation determined based on
> >bar coding each bundle of goods a worker produces.
> >
> >The U.S. companies know a lot more than they let on...
> >The U.S. companies sourcing production in Nicaragua set very
> >precise time values and piece rate labor costs for each operation
> >involved in sewing a garment.
> >
> >The piece rate wages a worker will receive for each operation is
> >set, down to the last 1/1000th of a cent!...complete with
> >computerized bar codes. Tickets are attached to each 100-piece
> >bundle that the worker must assemble. This ticket (copy available
> >upon request) shows that a woman worker sewing jeans in Nicaragua
> >will be paid 9.1666 cordobas to close the inside seams on 100 pairs
> >of pants. There are 9.8 cordobas to a dollar. So, for closing 100
> >seams the worker would earn $.93536--or, 93 and 536/1000ths cents.
> >
> >If the operator closed 400 seams in one day--50 seams an hour;
> >nearly one per minute--she would earn $3.74 for an eight hour day.
> >
> >Contact Information: Wal-Mart/ K-Mart/ JC Penney
> >Write Wal-Mart now and put pressure on them to respond to our
> >Challenge. Clearly not much has changed at Wal-Mart since the
> >Kathie Lee Gifford Campaign.
> >
> >Wal-Mart
> >President / CEO: Mr. David Glass
> >Address: Wal-Mart Home Office Headquarters
> >702 SW 8th Street
> >Bentonville, Arkansas 72716
> >Phone: General: 1-800-WALMART
> >Switchboard: 501-273-4000
> >e-mail: cserve@wal-mart.com
> >web site: www.wal-mart.com
> >
> >K-Mart
> >CEO: Mr. Floyd Hall
> >Address: K-Mart Corporation
> >International Headquarters
> >3100 West Big Beaver
> >Troy, Michigan 48084
> >Phone: 248-643-1000
> >web site: www.kmart.com
> >
> >JC Penney
> >Customer Relations Manager: Jane Carter
> >Address: P.O. Box 10001
> >Dallas, Texas 75024
> >Phone: 972-431-1000
> >web site: www.JCPenney.com
> >===================================================================
> >==== Weekly News Update on the Americas * Nicaragua Solidarity
> >Network of NY 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012 * 212-674-9499
> >fax: 212-674-9139 http://home.earthlink.net/~dbwilson/wnuhome.html
> > * wnu@igc.apc.org
> >===================================================================
> >====
> >
> >** End of text from cdp:reg.nicaragua **
> >
> >*******************************************************************
> >******** This material came from PeaceNet, a non-profit progressive
> >networking service. For more information, send a message to
> >peacenet-info@igc.apc.org
> >*******************************************************************
> >********
Vera Britto
Le Bret: Si tu laissais un peu ton ame mousquetaire, la fortune et la gloire... Cyrano: Et que faudrait-il faire? Chercher un protecteur puissant, prendre un patron, et, comme un lierre obscur que circonvient un tronc et s'en fait un tuteur en lui lechant l'ecorce, grimper par ruse au lieu de s'elever par force? Non, merci! Non, merci! Non, merci! Mais... chanter, rever, rire, passer, etre seul, etre libre... oui. "Cyrano de Bergerac" - Edmond Rostand __________________________ Radio4All: http://www.radio4all.org/ The A-Infos Radio Project: http://www.radio4all.org/radio http://radio4all.web.net/
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