Dear NikeWatch Supporter

Welcome to NikeWatch Quarterly. In this edition we are excited to announce the I am not a sweatshop bag is now available to purchase. We bring you news about the repression of a union in two Indonesian factories making football kits and update you on the ex-Spotec workers waiting for adidas to fulfil their commitments. We bring you good news about the successful end to the Fiber & Fabrics International case in India as well as the release of Mehedi, the Bangladeshi labour activist. However, there’s more to do in Bangladesh to stop the repression of labour advocates and trade unions.

The bags are available now in shops around Australia or you can purchase the bags online and support the cooperative. The bags are large enough to fit a laptop, your lunch and your books!

Manop Kaewpaga, a solidarity cooperative member says “In this place, there is no boss hanging over or taking advantage of us. There is no threat and insult. Most importantly, we are in a factory of our own.”
 
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On the 1st of February 170 workers and union members were locked out of their factory and told they were dismissed after they tried to negotiate their right to permanent employment with factory management. The factory, called Perfect Plus (formerly BPG III), is located close to Jakarta, Indonesia and makes sportswear including football kits for teams in the United Kingdom.

This mass dismissal comes on top of ongoing suppression of workers rights at Perfect Plus and at the BPG I factory (featured in our Offside! report). Both factories have the same owner. Union leaders of the Garment Textile and Shoes union (SBGTS) at both factories were suspended last year because they contacted brands about labour rights violations at the factories. Violations included: the abuse of contract work; lack of freedom of association and forced overtime at the factories. Rather than addressing the problems, management have systematically undermined the union.

At the request of workers, Oxfam Australia and the Clean Clothes Campaign are contacting brands being manufactured in the factories including FILA, Le Coq Sportif, Surridge, Target USA and Converse. Watch This Space in next month’s edition – Your action may be needed to help press these brands to take action.

 
Over the past months we have asked you to take action by sending a fax to G-STAR on the case of the labour activists who were sued by FFI/JKPL after they spoke out against labour rights abuses in India. International arrest warrants had been put out on 7 Dutch activists, an internet provider and gag orders issued again local NGOs, unions and women organisations.

Good news! All charges have been dropped and the right to freedom of speech and freedom to organise has been restored. Therefore, this case is considered closed. Please see the statement here. 

There is growing confusion and disillusionment amongst the ex-Spotec workers who are still waiting to get new work making adidas after losing their jobs at the end of 2006.

Over the past months, five hundred supporters have called on adidas to improve the human rights of workers who produce adidas’ products. Many of these letters have called on adidas to uphold their commitment to a fair and transparent process in prioritising hiring the ex-Spotec workers into the new Ching Luh adidas supplier in Indonesia.

While we wait to hear back from adidas, we understand that the Ching Luh factory has now received machinery and may be ready to start production next month. We understand that none of the union officials from Spotec have been called for interviews at Ching Luh.

If you haven’t already, please write to adidas calling on them to ensure that ex-Spotec workers are hired into Ching Luh.

On January 24 Mehedi Hasan, a field investigator for Worker Rights Consortium (an independent labour rights monitoring organisation based in the USA) was arrested by the Bangladesh security forces. After 10 days of sustained pressure from human and labour rights activists around the world the Bangladeshi authorities released Mr Hasan from custody on Sunday, February 3. The release is a great outcome and an example of what international pressure can achieve, but the arrest highlights that worker rights advocates in Bangladesh are under serious threat.

Since January 2007 the Bangladeshi government has banned political and trade union activities and given itself "state of emergency" powers which severely limit civil rights. In recent weeks, the government appears to be intensifying its crackdown on workers and labour activists.  Mr Hasan wa just one of many individuals put under surveillance, interrogated or detained.  According to Human Rights Watch, police report that a number of international organisations and their staff members are being monitored for allegedly engineering or inciting "subversive" activities.

Call on Bangladeshi Authorities to Stop Repression of Labour Rights Advocates and Trade Unions
Click here for more information on the situation in the the Bangladeshi garment industry