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Oct. 8— Workers at the Tarrant blue jean factory in Ajalpan, Mexico who are attempting to organize an independent union are facing management harassment, illegal firings, and the refusal of the local labour board to recognize their union. Meanwhile, in other Tarrant-owned factories in the Tehuacan Valley, the company is dismissing hundreds of workers without following proper legal procedures or providing full, legally required severance pay.

On June 10, 800 of the approximately 1,000 workers employed at the Ajalpan Tarrant factory staged a work stoppage to protest bad treatment and management’s failure to pay their legally required profit-sharing benefits.

On June 16, eight members of the negotiating committee whom the workers had chosen to negotiate a resolution to the dispute were fired.

On Aug. 5, management began to fire additional workers, claiming a lack of orders, and over the next two-week period, over 150 workers were dismissed.

Despite the firings, by Aug. 7, over 70 percent of the workers had signed up as members of an independent union, SUITTAR.

On Sept. 15, the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) released an interim report, based on interviews with Tarrant workers in Ajalpan, confirming that the workers have been illegally dismissed and that their right to freedom of association is being violated. The WRC is a US non-profit organization created by universities, students and labor rights experts to implement University No Sweat purchasing policies.

On Oct. 6, the Local Conciliation and Arbitration Board (JLCA) gave the workers the bureaucratic shuffle, rejecting their application for union registration on the grounds that the workers didn’t provide sufficient copies of their application, that the union executive was elected on the same day as the union was formed, and that one worker’s name was spelled incorrectly. The workers are now discussing next steps to challenge the decision and/or pursue other strategies to win recognition of their union and to win reinstatement of the illegally fired union supporters.

The Ajalpan factory is owned by the Los Angeles-based Tarrant Apparel Group, and produces for a number of major US brands, including Levi Strauss, The Limited, Tommy Hilfiger, Federated Department Stores, Charming Shoppes, and The Wet Seal. Recent reports indicate that Tarrant may be shifting formal ownership of the factory to United Apparel Ventures or Azteca Production International, two closely related companies owned by members of the same family. Workers fear this is an attempt to get rid of the union.

In response to lobbying efforts of the Worker Support Center (CAT) in Puebla, Mexico; MSN in Canada; US/LEAP, Sweatshop Watch and United Students Against Sweatshops in the US; and the UK’s Central American Womens Network (CAWN), some of the brands sourcing from the factory are now putting pressure on Tarrant to respect the workers’ right to freedom of association. Other brands, including Wet Seal, Federated Department Stores, and Charming Shoppes have so far failed to respond positively to requests for action. Tommy Hilfiger has announced it is cutting and running from its responsibilities to the workers, without acknowledging there are any problems at the factory.

SUITTAR and the Worker Support Center (CAT) are calling on their supporters around the world to pressure Tarrant’s major buyers to take immediate steps to ensure that the workers’ right to be represented by their independent union is respected. They are also calling for letters to the Mexican government, protesting the unjust decision of the Local Conciliation and Arbitration Board.

Meanwhile, in the City of Tehuacan, the Human and Labor Rights Commission of the Tehuacan Valley is condemning Tarrant for laying off workers, including pregnant women, at the company’s four Tehuacan plants, without providing written notice or full, legally required severance pay. The Commission is also calling for international pressure on Tarrant to respect its Mexican workers’ rights. Tarrant workers in Tehuacan have formed a coalition called the Union of Tehuacan Workers and have been staging protests at local labor board offices and at the Tarrant plants.

Source: Maquila Solidarity Network

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Oct. 15— Vancouver’s now-unionized squeegee people held a demonstration during rush hour on Fri., Oct. 10 to protest what they call police and government discrimination against the poor in Vancouver.

In the face of new bylaws limiting squeegeeing in the city, the squeegee workers have created the Squeegee Council to advance their concerns and have also joined the International Workers of the World (IWW) labor organization to garner further support for their cause. Other poverty organizations pledged their support for the protest.

“The squeegee youth can stomach no more and have unionized with the Vancouver Industrial Workers of the World branch,” a press release says. “As unionized workers we will struggle to have our rights respected. We demand an end to the petty police harassment of the poor.“

In the past, the IWW has campaigned on behalf of bike couriers and sex trade workers in the city. Founded in 1905 and aligned with numerous international anarchist organizations, the IWW has as its goal “the historic mission of the working class to do away with capitalism. The army of production must be organized, not only for everyday struggle with capitalists, but also to carry on production when capitalism shall have been overthrown. By organizing industrially we are forming the structure of the new society within the shell of the old.”

The IWW says the workers are now being issued $86 jaywalking tickets by police in an effort to control intersections. It says those unable to pay the fines are being jailed.

City councilors are planning on holding a public forum about aggressive panhandlers at the suggestion of NPA Councilor Peter Ladner. In making the motion, Ladner said aggressive panhandling, squats on public land, drug dealing and other crimes are a growing problem in Vancouver.

The protesters say cleaning the windshields of stopped cars is legitimate work and police shouldn’t be handing out tickets to them without just cause.

Trench O’Neil, who attended Friday’s rally, said he’s been plying his squeegee business for eight years and has met a lot of people who don’t want his services. But he doesn’t think it’s fair that he got fined $86 two weeks ago for offering them.

“I was just trying to make money for food for my wife and I,” he said.

O’Neil said he told a traffic court judge he doesn’t have the money for the fine, and the judge told him if he doesn’t pay he could go to jail.

According to its press release, the Council “decided to organize to fight the collection of tickets and court dates, and to create a power that will free us from police beatings and jailing.

“Our way of acting is very open and respectful of everybody’s choice of tactics,” the statement continues. “We want our actions to be creative because we are tired of protest as usual and we want to inspire other oppressed people so they will create their own union and action.”