A-Infos (en) Salvadoran unionists fired

["Shawn Ewald" <shawn@wilshire.net>]

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Labor Alerts: a service of Campaign for Labor Rights
To receive our email labor alerts, send a message to CLR@igc.apc.org
Phone: (541) 344-5410       Web site: http://www.compugraph.com/clr
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Leaders of New Salvadoran Maquila Union Fired
February 6, 1998
 
[Information for this alert comes from the Committee in Solidarity with the
People of El Salvador (CISPES): (212) 229-1290, <cispesnatl@igc.org>.]
 
On January 6, 1998, three members of the leadership of the recently
organized Textile Industry Workers' Union (STIT) local were fired at the
Megatex maquila, along with about 150 other employees.  Two days later,
around 30 more workers were fired, including the remaining members of the
union's local leadership.
 
The STIT chapter was organized at Megatex, and its legal existence was
recognized by the Ministry of Labor in December 1997.  It is one of only
three recognized labor unions in Central American maquiladoras: one in
Guatemala and two in Nicaragua.  Megatex is a garment factory located in the
"Export Salva" Free Trade Zone in western El Salvador.  Between 800 and
1,000 workers are employed in the South Korean-owned factory, producing
clothing for export to the U.S.  It has been in operation since August 1994.  
 
The fired workers report a number of examples of mistreatment and
irregularities.  Workers at the factory are subject to forced overtime:
arriving at work at 7:30 am, they are expected to remain until 9:45 p.m.  If
they leave earlier, they are forbidden to work for a day.  Also, workers
suffer from poor ventilation and contaminated drinking water.  They often
are not granted permission to go to the health clinic, and supervisors count
the number of times the workers use bathroom facilities.  
 
In December 1997, workers experienced an irregularity with regards to their
vacation pay: according to Salvadoran labor law, a worker employed by a firm
for one year has the right to 15 days vacation, with vacation pay equal to
30% of their monthly salary.  When the workers were sent on vacation in
December, they received only a little over half of what they were due.
 
Management reportedly threatened to black-list the fired union members if
they took their case to the Labor Ministry, thus preventing them from future
employment in any other company in the Free Trade Zone.  This clearly
violates the workers' right to free association.  They were also accused of
being members of the FMLN, which constitutes a threat, since the FMLN has
recently been falsely accused of attempting to destroy the maquila sector.
 
ACTION:
Fax letters to the Ministry of Labor:
Dr. Eduardo Tomasino
Ministro de Trabajo
San Salvador, El Salvador
Fax: 011-503-263-5438
Please fax a CC to Nack Jung Kim, Megatex: 011-503-338-4636
 
In your letter (either English or Spanish is okay), please include the
following demands of the workers:
 
1) Reinstatement of the union members and payment of the salaries owed to them;
2) Explanation for deductions from workers' paychecks of taxes that minimum
wage earners are not normally subject to;
3) Payment of overdue vacation pay;
4) An end to deductions from workers' salaries for time taken to use the
health clinic;
5) An end to mistreatment and abuse of workers by both the Salvadoran and
Korean managers of Megatex and their legal representatives; and
6) Improvement of health and safety conditions in the plant.
 
Add that you are concerned that the lawyer for Megatex management is asking
for cancellation of the legal recognition of the union.  Ask that the Labor
Minister not allow this to happen.
 
[Note from Campaign for Labor Rights: Many people do not have access to a
fax machine. Also, many labor rights violations are crises requiring an
immediate reaction. To find out how to subscribe to the Labor Defense
Network (which will send faxes in your name in response to violations of
workers' rights in Mexico and Central America), contact (202) 544-9355 or
<ern@igc.apc.org>.]


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