insideVolume 14 No. 3 • Dec. 2009

Honduras in crisis:The untold story of a risingpopular movement

Asia Floor Wage Campaign explores new strategy toachieve decent wages

Mexico’s double standardGovernment busts independentpower workers’ union whilefraudulent protectionunions multiply

Korean women’s union celebrates ten years of action andprogress. A Nicaraguanwomen’s leader joins themto reflect on lessons learned

Made in ChinaThat’s all HBC is telling usabout its Vancouver 2010Olympic wear

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� see ‘Russell campaign..’ p.8

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On November 14 an unprecedented agreement was struck betweenRussell Athletic and the union representing unjustly laid off workersat its former Jerzees de Honduras (JDH) factory.

“For Honduran workersthis agreement representsreal hope, especially in themidst of an unemploymentcrisis in our country,” saidEvangelina Argueta,Coordinator of the HonduranGeneral Workers’Confederation (CGT) inCholoma, which spearheadedthe fight for the former JDHworkers. “The fired workers

haven’t had income to sup-port their families. Now theycan be assured that they willhave a job – this is the mostvaluable thing to come out ofthe agreement.”

Russell Athletic was underconsiderable pressure torepair the damage caused byits decision to close the JDHfactory last January, which

RUSSELL HASagreed to open anew facility in the

Choloma area, re-hire and pro-vide substantial economic assis-tance to the 1,200 former JDHworkers, institute a joint union-management training programon freedom of association andcommit to a position of neutrali-ty with respect to unionization,which will open the door forunion representation at all ofFruit of the Loom’s Honduranfacilities (Russell Athletic isowned by Fruit of the Loom).

“This agreement representsone of the most significantadvances for fundamentalworkplace rights in the twenty-year history of apparel industrycodes of conduct,” said ScottNova of the Worker RightsConsortium (WRC), which con-ducted independent investiga-tions into violations of freedomof association at JDH. “It is hardto overstate the significance ofthis breakthrough.”

Historic victoryJerzees de Honduras workers winbreak-through agreement

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Rick Medlin, Executive VP of Russell Athletic (far left) and EvangelinaArgueta, Coordinator, CGT Choloma Region (far right) sign agreement

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AS WE GO TO PRINT, IT APPEARS unlikely that an October 29 agreementbetween ousted Honduran presidentManuel Zelaya and the defacto gov-ernment of Roberto Micheletti willlead to the restoration of the electedpresident to office. Zelaya was forciblyremoved from office in a military coupfour months earlier.

The Maquila Solidarity Update is published in Englishand Spanish by the Maquila Solidarity Network(MSN). MSN includes over 400 organizations and indi-viduals across Canada. MSN is a labour and women’srights advocacy organization working to improve con-ditions in maquiladora factories and export processingzones worldwide. MSN acts as the secretariat forCanada’s Ethical Trading Action Group (ETAG).

Editorial Staff: Elsa ArismendiFernando CabreraAna EnriquezBob JeffcottKevin ThomasLynda YanzTranslation: Aníbal Vitón

Maquila Solidarity Network606 Shaw Street Toronto, ON, M6G 3L6 CanadaPhone: 416-532-8584 Fax: 416-532-7688

Special thanks to OPSEU forprinting the Update at no cost.

www.maquilasolidarity.org

Honduras in crisis: the untold story of a rising popular movement

According to MaritzaParedes of the HonduranIndependent Monitoring Team(EMIH), an MSN partner defend-ing maquila workers’ rights,“after what has happened inthese four months, there aremany wounds that will not beclosed by decree; elections donot guarantee peace or a reso-lution to the crisis.”

Paredes notes that “thecoup has brought to light thepowers that decide the fate ofthis country – the businessand political elite, the military,the church hierarchy, transna-tional companies, as well as itsweak institutional framework.”

Significantly, the dailymobilizations of the PopularResistance that brings togeth-er workers, campesinos, pro-

fessionals, citizen artists andwomen are not only callingfor the restoration of theelected president, but also fordemocratic reforms to theconstitution in order toentrench the rights of themajority of the population.

“Any changes that havebeen introduced to the consti-tution in the past havefavoured an oligarchy that hasremained lodged in the histo-ry of the peoples of theAmericas,” says Paredes. “As aLiberal Party member statedduring the resistance, ‘it seemsthat politicians believe thatHonduras is a private estatewhich they pass down to theirsons, wives and relatives’.”

As a consequence, repres-sion carried out by Army and

However, whateverthe outcome ofthe agreement,the popular resist-

ance movement that arosein response to the coup willcontinue to mobilize forfundamental democraticreforms to the country’sconstitution.

Underlying issues ignoredThe international media

has largely portrayed the con-flict in Honduras as a disputeover whether the electedpresident could change theconstitution to extend histerm in office, but events onthe ground point to a deepercrisis of legitimacy forHonduras’ political, militaryand judicial institutions.

PHOTO: QUINTAS DE DEBATE

police forces under the defacto government has target-ed not only Zelaya loyalists,but also the leaders of theindependent women’s move-ment, the trade unions, humanrights organizations, and thecampesino movement.

Increased repressionIn a preliminary report

based on its August 17 on-sitevisit to Honduras, the Inter-American Commission onHuman Rights (IACHR) docu-ments numerous violations ofhuman rights and civil libertiesunder the de facto govern-ment, including repression ofdemonstrations, excessive useof force against demonstrators,extrajudicial killings, arbitrary

� see ‘Honduras rising’ p.8

PHOTO: MIMUNDO.ORG

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ON OCTOBER 7, WORKER RIGHTS groups in over a dozen countries through-out Asia, Europe and the Americas partici-pated in the public launch of the AsiaFloor Wage Campaign (AFWC). The mainlaunch of the AFWC took place in NewDelhi, India October 6-7.

The campaign is demanding a com-mon floor wage for garment workersacross the Asian region, in order to stopthe destructive race to the bottom onwages and labour standards as compa-nies shift production between countriesin the region in search of ever-cheaperlabour costs.

The AFWC has developed a formula tocalculate a minimum living wage (AsiaFloor Wage) for each major garment-pro-ducing country in the region. Thesecountries include India, Bangladesh,Cambodia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand,China and Hong Kong.

Implementation of the AFW wouldmean that workers in different countries inthe region would earn a sufficient base

wage to purchase the same level of goodsand services, which would prevent manu-facturers in each country from gaining acompetitive advantage by providing alower living standardto their workers.

Speaking at thelaunch, labour lawprofessor Chang Kaiof the BeijingUniversity calledthe regional floorwage concept, aswell the contribu-tions made by theparticipating organ-izations, “a signifi-cant stride in pro-tecting workers’rights and interestsin the Asian gar-ment industry.”

The Campaignwill lobby apparel brands and major sup-pliers to commit to meeting the AFW

within their Asian supply factories. Tradeunions at the local level also intend topush for the AFW from the bottom upthrough collective bargaining with factorymanagement and popular campaigns.

Economics Professor CPChandrasekhar at Jawaharlal NehruUniversity in New Delhi called the cam-paign’s goal of “negotiating a just wage atthe level of an industry across theregion… not just ambitious but alsoinnovative.”

Little progress on wagesAlthough small improvements have

been made on working conditions in thegarment industry in recent years, theapparel industry has continually failed toseriously address the problem of povertywages — arguing that abiding by localminimum wage laws is all that can bedemanded of suppliers and/or that thereis no consensus on how to calculate a liv-ing wage.

The fact is that legal national mini-mum wages set for workers in the appar-el industry fail to provide enough incomefor workers to maintain their familiesabove national poverty levels. Povertywages push many workers into debt, leadto malnutrition, compel workers to toilexcessively long hours of overtime, causehealth problems, and make workers and

their families extreme-ly vulnerable shouldthey face suddenunemployment,health problems ordisabilities.

The Asia Floor WageCampaign challengesthese industry excusesby calculating a meas-urable floor wagethroughout Asia thatcan be met without sig-nificantly reducingindustry profits.

About the Asia Floor Wage Campaign

The AFWC wasformed by union leaders and labour

Worker rights groupslaunch Asia Floor WageCampaign

What is the Asia Floor Wage?

The Asia Floor Wage (AFW) figure isbased on “the income required for asingle earner to support a family offour (2 adults and 2 children) by work-ing a legal maximum working week(no longer than 48 hours), excludingany payment for overtime or otherbonuses/allowances.” It should pro-vide enough income in local currencyto pay for food and other essential liv-ing costs such as healthcare, housing,clothing, childcare, transportation,fuel, education, etc.

More info: www.asiafloorwage.org

� see ‘Challenging industry excuses’ p.8

AFWC International Steering Committee members celebrate the campaign launch

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MaquilaSolidarity Update

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AS DELEGATESto an interna-tional forum onMultinationalCorporationsand Protection

Contracts gathered in MexicoCity on October 15, they wereforced to turn their attentionto the plight of over 44,000members of MexicanElectrical Workers’ Union(SME) who were marchingthat day to protest MexicanPresident Felipe Calderon’sdecision to terminate the Luzy Fuerza del Centro (LyFC)power company and elimi-nate their freely negotiatedcollective agreement.

On October 10, in the mid-dle of the night, Mexican fed-eral police occupied dozensof LyFC electrical installationsacross central Mexico andexpelled the workers underorders from Calderon to ter-minate the company and putthe installations under thecontrol of the FederalElectricity Commission. Atthat moment SME memberswere stripped of one of thebest collective agreements inMexico and left without jobs.

The government’s actions

International Forum denounces Mexico’s support offraudulent unions, attack on legitimate union

were in stark contrast to itsopen tolerance of illegitimateunions and their so-called‘protection contracts,’ thetopic that brought interna-tional labour rights organiza-tions and unions to theMexico City forum. At theforum the connectionbetween multinationals andthe widespread use of theseprotection contracts wascalled one of the major barri-ers to freedom of associationin Mexico.

Protection contracts arecollective agreements signedbetween a company-friendlyunion or an individual lawyerand an employer without theaffected workers’ knowledgeor consent. Such contractsusually keep wages and bene-fits at or below the legal mini-mum and protect the employ-er from the threat of workersorganizing a legitimate, dem-ocratic union to negotiate forbetter conditions.

Francisco HernándezJuárez, a recently elected rep-resentative to Mexico’s nation-al congress and leader of theNational Union of Workers(UNT), opened the forum bydeclaring that a staggering

Mexico’s

MaquilaSolidarity

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“90% of collective agree-ments in Mexico are protec-tion contracts. These con-tracts are made in open com-plicity with the authorities,”he added.

According to HernándezJuárez, the invasion of Mexicoby multinational corporationsbeginning in the 1990s, whenthe federal government de-regulated industries such astelephone services, exacer-bated the situation. “Thesecompanies came with collec-tive agreements alreadysigned before they got toMexico; the workers did noteven know which companiesthey were going to work forand already they had collec-tive agreements and unionsin place,” he explained.

An example of this type ofgovernment complicity is thecase of Mexican “protectioncontract tsar” Ramon Gamezwho holds the title to over2,000 collective agreementsregistered with local and fed-eral conciliation and arbitra-tion boards. In 2005 Gamezwas arrested and chargedwith “corruption of minors,”but was controversiallyallowed to walk out of jail bya judge who absolved him ofall charges. This decision waslater overturned by a highercourt which sentencedGamez to 16 years; he hasbeen evading the authoritiesever since.

“Although a fugitive fromjustice, Gamez was handedthree more protection con-tracts for call centres a monthago,” noted Hernández Juárez.“The police cannot find him

to put him in jail, but still hemanages to register new pro-tection contracts.”

The forum examined threecases in which protection con-tracts at facilities owned bymultinational corporations areimpeding workers exercisingtheir right to organize demo-cratic unions. These includedJohnson Controls International,a major auto parts manufactur-er, in Puebla, Nokia in Reynosa,Tamaulipas, and ATENTO inMexico City. ATENTO is theMexican subsidiary of Spanishtelecom giant Telefonica, whichruns call centres employingover 18,000 youths in Mexico.

Eduardo Vargas, an exATENTO worker who was firedfor his organizing efforts,spoke on behalf of the ATEN-TO call centre workers’ inde-pendent coalition. Hedescribed the classic situationof an illegitimate union with aprotection contract in placethat no worker had knowl-edge of or access to. It was

not until workers began toorganize that the unionappeared on the scene, andonly then to demand thatnew employees could not behired unless they joined theirprotection union.

“The protection unionfunctions as a kind of policeforce dedicated to detectingand disposing of workers whoare trying to organize or whocomplain about the precari-ous situation that we liveevery day,” said Vargas.

Fortunately, with supportof the Mexican TelephoneWorkers’ Union (STRM) andthe AFL-CIO Solidarity Center,workers at ATENTO have man-aged to register their ownunion as an affiliate of STRM.

As Ben Davis of theSolidarity Center explained,“pressure from Spanish unionson the parent company(Telefonica) which in turn putpressure on its subsidiary”made it possible for this tohappen.

“Here is an example of thepotential of international soli-darity targeting multinationalcorporations in support oflocal struggles in Mexicoagainst protection contracts.”

The victory at ATENTO isstill not assured. The protec-tion union, run by none otherthan the protection contractTsar himself - Ramon Gamez -is still in place. The independ-ent union is now preparing toface the difficult challenge ofwinning the union represen-tation election (recuento),which will determine whichunion will gain title to the col-lective agreement.

The forum onMultinational Corporationsand Protection Contracts inMexico took place inside theMexican Chamber ofRepresentatives (the MexicanCongress’ lower house). Itwas co-sponsored by theFreidrich Ebert Foundation,the Service Employees

International Union(SEIU), the AFL-CIOSolidarity Center, theNetherlands TradeUnion Confederation(FNV) and the MaquilaSolidarity Network.

On October 16,forum participantsheld a press confer-ence to express theirsolidarity with mem-bers of the SME and to

denounce PresidentCalderon’s anti-union behav-iour as being in violation ofILO Conventions 87 and 98 onthe right of workers to freelyassociate and bargain collec-tively. �

What should brands do?

MSN HAS BEEN ENGAGING WITH BRANDS that source goods in Mexico to identify con-crete steps that international buyers can taketo ensure that workers in their Mexican suppli-er factories can exercise their rights to free-dom of association and collective bargaining.

While brands should not be expected toreplace the role of governments or to judgethe legitimacy of any union, there are proactive steps theyshould take to encourage respect for freedom of association andprevent violations from taking place.

Our new publication, What can brands do to support freedomof association in Mexico? sets out some of these steps in detail.The publication can be downloaded for free atwww.maquilasolidarity.org/node/882.

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ON SEPTEMBER 12-15, 25 REPRESENTATIVES FROMwomen worker organizations from around theworld gathered in Seoul, South Korea to celebratethe 10th anniversary of the Korean Women’s TradeUnion (KWTU) and to exchange and assess innova-tive organizing strategies.

Korean women’s conference exploresinnovative organizing strategies

Although Koreahas a strong and mili-tant labour move-ment in some male-dominated sectors, ithas a very low overallunionization rate.About half of itslabour force – and aneven greater percent-age of women – aretemporary workers.

Sandra Ramos,founder and director ofNicaragua’s Maria ElenaCuadra Movement of Workingand Unemployed Women(MEC), a long-term MSN part-ner, and Ana Enriquez fromMSN both attended the meet-ing, and then participated in athree-day exchange program

to gain a more in-depthunderstanding of the work ofthe KWTU and the WWA.

Sandra presented one offive organizational case stud-ies discussed at the confer-ence, sharing the highlightsand strategic thinking thathas informed MEC’s 15-year

history of organizing andadvocating on behalf ofwomen workers in themaquila and other sectors inNicaragua. MEC currently hasover 70,000 members.

The Tokyo YoungContingent Workers’ Union,which has been successful at

THE CONFERENCE WASco-hosted by theKWTU and its sisterorganization the

Working Women Academy(WWA). Participants camefrom Japan, Hong Kong, China,Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia,Laos, Cambodia, South Africa,Mexico, Nicaragua and Korea.

In its ten years, the KWTU’smembership has grown from400 to 6,000 workers, the vastmajority of whom are women.The union is internationally rec-ognized for developing innova-tive strategies to organize andrepresent women workersemployed in temporary, lowwage and/or informal jobs, sec-tors usually ignored by tradi-tional trade unions.

I’VE LEARNED SO MUCH FROM THE RICH HISTORY OF WOMEN workers in Korea, about their role in the struggles of garmentworkers over the last 30 years, and their fight to win a place in the

union movement. These exchanges are critical. In an era of globalization and particu-

larly in this moment of economic crisis, there is an increasing need forwomen to share organizing strategies and disseminate best practices.

Women continue to bear the brunt of economic downturns facingincreasingly precarious conditions in part-time, temporary, or out-sourced jobs, while always under the threat of loosing their jobs tofactory relocations if they make any attempts to organize.

Globalization challenges us to come up with common strategies totackle these universal problems we are all facing. It creates the needto find new and innovative ways of organizing, particularly informaland part-time workers

Sandra Ramos, Maria Elena Cuadra Movement of Working and Unemployed Women

Namhee Park, president of the KWTU leads women workers in a rally for an increase toKorea’s minimum wage, May 2009

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“MADE IN CHINA” IS ABOUT ASmuch information as we’re goingto get from the Hudson’s BayCompany (HBC) about its much-publicized 2010 Olympic-brand-ed merchandise.

While the iconic Canadianretailer takes pride in its devel-opment of a social complianceprogram for its suppliers, and inits cooperation with theVancouver OrganizingCommittee’s (VANOC’s) ownlicensee compliance program,neither HBC nor VANOC hasbeen willing to disclose thewhereabouts of the factories

making the company’s Olympic goods. In response to a three-year campaign by MSN and its Canadian

Ethical Trading Action Group (ETAG) partners, VANOC adopted aground-breaking ethical purchasing program that requireslicensees like HBC to agree to meet minimum labour standards andsubmit to external audits of their factories. The program is the firstof its kind for the Olympic Games.

However VANOC’s program stops short of providing informationto the public on factory locations or the results of factory audits, asrequested by MSN and ETAG. That lack of transparency leaves con-sumers reliant on the company’s and VANOC’s word that labourstandards are being met, with little opportunity for local labourrights groups to verify those claims.

Despite this fundamental flaw in VANOC’s program, MSN is sup-porting efforts to make ethical purchasing a regular feature of theOlympic Games.

This past spring, MSN, along with campaigners from the UK’sLabour Behind the Label, met with London 2012 organizers to dis-cuss ways to improve on VANOC’s program – including building trans-parency into the upcoming London Games’ ethical sourcing program.

Watch this space: Sportswear brands respond

In the run-up to the Vancouver 2010 games, MSN and the Play Fairat the Olympics campaign will be publishing an online report showinghow sportswear brands measure up on key labour rights issues.

Based on responses from brands like adidas, Nike, Puma andNew Balance to Play Fair’s top labour rights demands, the newonline tool will allow viewers to compare each brand’s commitment(or lack thereof) to clearing four major hurdles to improving work-ing conditions in their supply chains.

The four hurdles include: the negative climate for trade unions,precarious employment, poverty wages, and factory closures.

We’ll post a link at www.maquilasolidarity.org once the tool isup and running. �

MaquilaSolidarity

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Checking theOlympic Label

organizing young part-timeworkers employed mostly inthe service sector, exemplifiedinnovative efforts of youngworkers to organize.

Like other countries repre-sented at the conference,Japan has seen its temporaryworkforce greatly increaseover the last decades, particu-larly since neoliberal reformswere implemented after thecountry’s decade-long reces-sion in the 1990s.

These workers foundthemselves excluded andalienated from the traditionallabour unions and chose tocreate their own organization.Rather than organize by work-place, the union organizesindividual temporary workersacross a range of companiesincluding fast food restaurantsand corner stores. Union rep-resentatives represent theirmembers by confrontingemployers and negotiating onthe workers’ behalf. Thesenegotiations often take placeon street corners.

“I was very surprised bythe experience of the youth inJapan and the increased pre-cariousness they are facing,”said Sandra. “In my mindJapan is a rich, developedcountry, so I was shocked tohear that youth sometimesdon’t even have enough toeat, and that all of that indus-trial capacity doesn’t translateinto benefits for its citizens.”

Conference participantsalso learned about the workbeing done in South Africa’sagricultural sector. Sikhula

Sonke, whichmeans “we growtogether,” was setup to improve theliving and workingconditions ofwomen migrant andseasonal agriculturalworkers, many ofwhom labour in thevineyards of SouthAfrica’s booming wineexport industry.

Sikhula Sonke hasbeen successful innegotiating with farmowners and government togain benefits for its membersand has also been active inorganizing campaigns againstevictions of farm workers andgender-based violence.

At one of the last exchangemeetings before returning toManagua, Sandra had theopportunity to learn moreabout the work of the KoreanWomen’s Academy. This wasof particular interest to Sandrabecause she has been work-ing to set up a similar acade-my in Nicaragua. The vision forthe Korean academy camefrom Maria Rhie, another long-time leader in the workingwomen’s movement.

Sandra’s final thoughts onthe exchange: “We are conti-nents apart, but we are obvi-ously on the same wavelength. These exchanges rein-force for me that there ismuch to learn from our differ-ent contexts and struggles,and much we can learn fromeach other.”�

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detentions, torture, sexualharassment, rape and abuse ofwomen, and detentions, physi-cal assaults and death threatsagainst journalists.

In addition, the Hondurashuman rights organizations,COFADEH (Families of theDetained and Disappeared)has documented 21 extrajudi-cial killings, 3,033 arbitrarydetentions, and 818 beatingsor other forms of cruel andinhumane treatment.

According to Paredes, the

return of president Zelaya tooffice would have an impor-tant meaning because itwould reverse the coup. “Itwould send a message that20th century coups will not betolerated.”

She notes, however, that ifZelaya is not reinstated, “thecrisis may deepen, even tothe point of a popular insur-rection in Honduras, whichwill necessarily affect theother countries of CentralAmerica.”�

Apparel brands speak out for democracy in Honduras

ON JULY 27, FOUR MAJOR APPAREL BRANDS WHOSE PRODUCTS AREmade in Honduras released a joint Open Letter to US Secretary ofState Hillary Clinton expressing their support for a return to democ-racy in Honduras and respect for human rights and civil liberties.

The letter, which was signed by adidas, Gap, Nike and KnightsApparel, came in response to a request from MSN. It states:

“We are also very concerned about the continuation of vio-lence if this dispute is not resolved immediately, and with restric-tions on civil liberties under the July 1 Emergency Decree. We urgefor an immediate resolution to the crisis and that civil liberties,including freedom of the press, freedom of speech, freedom ofmovement, freedom of assembly, and freedom of association befully respected.”

By agreeing to sign the joint Open Letter, the four companiesbroke rank with their competitors and industry associations thateither publicly supported the coup or remained silent. �

rights activists in Asia’s majorgarment producing countriesthat came together in 2005 toexplore union-based Asianstrategies to improve workingconditions in the global gar-ment industry. During initialdiscussions wages emerged asthe major concern, and the

Honduras rising

Challenging industry excuses

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was widely condemned as anattempt to destroy a newlyformed union (see last issueof the Update for details).

At the urging of students,unions and labour rightsorganizations, includingUnited Students AgainstSweatshops and MSN, over100 universities in Canadaand the US that have adoptedethical purchasing policieseither withdrew their licens-ing agreements with the com-pany or threatened to do sounless it took action to reme-diate the violations. Retailersand other Russell consumerswere also approached.

Talks between the unionand the company finallybegan after Russell Athletic’smembership in the Fair LaborAssociation (FLA) was put on“Special Review” status lastJune. An FLA investigationcarried out in response to acomplaint filed by the CGT,the Clean Clothes Campaignand MSN confirmed the WRC’s

finding that the presence ofthe union was a significantfactor in the FLA membercompany’s decision to closethe JDH factory.

The FLA told the companyit had to negotiate remedia-tion with the local union(SITRAJERZEESH) and the CGT,and engage with MSN andthe WRC.

Fruit of the Loom is thelargest private sector employ-er in Honduras, owning eightfactories that employ over10,000 workers, making theimpact of this agreement

extremely significant.“The partnership being

created between a large pri-vate employer and an inde-pendent union federation isunprecedented in the historyof the apparel sector inHonduras and in CentralAmerica,” said Nova.

Implementation of theagreement will be monitoredby a joint union-managementcommittee, with an agree-ment to enter into bindingarbitration in the case of dis-putes over implementation orinterpretation.

Russell campaign victory� continued from page 1

“We feel that the companyacted in good faith during thenegotiations, and this has tobe recognized,” said Argueta.“Relations between workers,the union and the companyhave been strengthened, andthis will be reflected when thenew factory is opened.”

“All the support wereceived from groups like theWRC, MSN and from all of theuniversity students was funda-mental and we are very grate-ful,” said Argueta. “The sup-port of international organiza-tions is very important.” �

concept of an Asia Floor Wagewas conceived and refinedover the next two years.

What began as an Asia-based process has nowexpanded to become an inter-national alliance whichincludes support from labourrights groups around theworld, including the Clean

Clothes Campaign, theInternational Labor RightsForum, the Maquila SolidarityNetwork, and many others.

As a member of the cam-paign, MSN is approachingapparel and footwear brandswith which we are in contact totake action to increase wageswithin their supply chains. �