Call # 265 (from 30 October 2003 to 25 December 2003)

A large number of civil campaigns led by associations and trade unions have forced leading brands in the textile and toy industries to undertake to observe workers’ rights on their production sites. Yet many violations of these rights are still being reported throughout the world. In Indonesia 166 workers at Le Coq sportif lost their jobs simply for daring to demand the right to organize and to negotiate better working and living conditions. If it is to live up to its international reputation, in the run-up to the Olympic Games, Le Coq sportif will also have to score points regarding workers’ rights in the contracts it signs with sub-contractors.

The company Busana Prima Global has three factories in Indonesia, near Djakarta. Its main customers are leading textile companies such as Head, Lotto, Bear USA, Ecko Unlt and le Coq Sportif.

On 19 May 2003, after a one-day strike in its Bogor factory(1), management agreed to some of the workers’ demands, including the right to organize. There was already a "house union" in the firm but most of the workers refused to recognize it. On 1 June, 900 workers formed a new union, the SBTP affiliated to the ABGteks(2). The factory management immediately did everything in its power to discourage the unionists: it moved the union leaders’ workstations to isolate them in the factory; it multiplied various forms of control; and it cut the wages of the most active militants. Eventually, on 24 July two of the new union’s leaders were suspended without any clear reason, for an indefinite period, and management launched procedures to dismiss them.

For union rights

On the morning of 11 July, as the factory opened, 300 workers went on strike. They demanded that management meet its commitments taken on 19 May and put an end to intimidation. As a result, these workers were immediately isolated from their colleagues who were accompanied by police cordons from the bus stop outside the factory to their workstations. The next day the strikers were urged to resume work and 70 of them did so. In the following days a few dozen more gave in to pressure and also returned to work. On 15 June the Indonesian industry ministry organized mediation between the factory managers and representatives of the strikers.

Management’s strong-arm response

The factory management undertook not to take retaliatory measures against the remaining workers involved in the strike. But at 7 a.m. the next morning, as the said workers arrived at the factory, vigilantes prevented them from entering the premises. In the ensuing confusion two workers were accused of violence and taken to the police station. The other workers barred from entering the factory accompanied them and organized a demonstration. That afternoon Busana Prima Global sacked 166 workers, by virtue of an Indonesian law allowing dismissal after five consecutive days of unjustified absence. The local labour inspectorate unfortunately endorsed this decision. The appeal launched by the union is likely to be a long drawn-out procedure and no final decision can be expected for two years.

Faced with this stalemate, on 14 August the union ABGteks wrote to Busana Prima Global’s contractors to ask them to intervene. The union noted that "if leading brands cared as much for the fate of the labourers working for them as they do for the quality of the products they produce, they would not be in this position". The union also appealed to international solidarity to insist on the application of international labour standards and to ensure that the leading brands concerned don’t shirk their responsibilities by relocating production of their prestigious products to other countries.

(1) Bogor is 65km south of Djakarta

(2) Textile and Garment Workers Association, created in 1997.

Call in liaison with:

Clean Clothes Campaign (Europe) www.cleanclothes.org

Campaign for labor rights (USA) www.campaignforlaborrights.org

And supported by the Collectif de l’Ethique sur l’Etiquette: www.ethique-sur-etiquette.org

The Collectif de l’Ethique sur l’Etiquette ("brand ethics collective") proposes that companies adopt a code of conduct, a complementary tool to other initiatives aimed at promoting social progress in the world. This code of conduct is intended to work towards improving the conditions in which clothes, shoes and toys are produced, both in France and abroad. It refers to the main conventions drawn up by the International Labour Organization and should apply to all stages of production and hence to all actors participating in the process. By adopting the code of conduct, French firms undertake to sell only clothes, shoes and toys produced in decent conditions.

What to do ?

By letter: copy or download the standard letter (in french) below by clicking here.

Don’t forget to date and sign your letter and to add your name and address.

Reaction time: As soon as you receive this call, or until end-October 2003.

Letter to:

M. Gérard BOOTZ

Président Directeur Général

LE COQ SPORTIF

GALLO FRANCE S.A.

57 bis, rue des Romains

68390 SAUSHEIM

Date :

Monsieur le Président,

J’ai été informé(e) par Réseau-Solidarité (10, quai de Richemont 35000 RENNES) de la situation à l’usine de Bogor appartenant à la société Busana Prima Global.

Malgré la médiation du Ministère du Travail indonésien, cette entreprise, dont vous êtes l’un des donneurs d’ordre, se refuse à respecter les normes fondamentales du travail, notamment les conventions 87 et 98 de l’Organisation Internationale du Travail qui concernent le droit syndical et les négociations collectives.

Je vous demande donc instamment d’intervenir auprès de votre sous-traitant pour qu’il ré-intègre le personnel injustement licencié après une grève légale, le 11 juillet 2003.

Je crois par ailleurs qu’une entreprise comme la vôtre a un rôle à jouer pour le respect des droits de l’homme au travail dans le monde. C’est pourquoi je vous demande de ne pas rompre vos relations commerciales avec la société Busana Prima Global, mais plutôt de chercher, avec elle, à améliorer les conditions de travail de son personnel.

Au-delà de ce problème spécifique, je vous encourage à adopter un code de conduite conforme à ce que préconisent les principales organisations françaises et européennes qui travaillent sur ce sujet.

Vous remerciant de cette intervention, je vous prie de croire en l’expression de mes sentiments distingués.

Translation:

Mr. Gérard BOOTZ

Managing Director

LE COQ SPORTIF

GALLO FRANCE S.A.

57 bis, rue des Romains

68390 SAUSHEIM

(Date)

Dear Sir,

I have been informed by Réseau-Solidarité (10, quai de Richemont 35000 Rennes, France) of the situation at the Bogor factory owned by the company Busana Prima Global.

Despite mediation by the Indonesian labour ministry, this company, one of your sub-contractors, refuses to observe the most basic labour standards, i.e. Conventions 87 and 98 of the International Labour Organization concerning trade union rights and collective bargaining.

I urge you to do everything in your power to ensure that your sub-contractor reemploys the workers unfairly dismissed on 11 July 2003 after a legal strike.

I believe that a firm like yours has a role to play in promoting labour rights throughout the world. This I why I ask you not to withdraw your business from the company Busana Prima Global but rather to try, with it, to improve its employees’ working conditions.

Apart from this specific problem, I wish to encourage you to adopt a code of conduct corresponding to the recommendations of the main French and European organizations working on the subject.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Yours faithfully,

(Name)