Charleston,WV, September 28, 2004-10 hour drive from New York
Joint USWA-PACE regional conference with over 200 participants; meeting with former Congressman David Bonior
The tour started with a 10-hour drive from New York to Charleston, West Virginia for a meeting with the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) and the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union (PACE). To our surprise, former Congressman David Bonior was also there and we had a long and productive meeting with the former House Whip.
When the workers spoke to the unionists, you could hear a pin drop. They described how they are treated in their factories, making clothing for Wal-Mart and laid out their modest demands for one day a week off because they are sick and exhausted, an end to the beatings and physical abuse, that they receive their legal maternity leave of three months with full pay, and that they be paid the proper double-time rate for overtime, rather than being routinely cheated by some of the largest companies in the world. In their wildest dreams, they would have the right to organize and would earn 37 cents an hour, which would allow them to climb out of misery and into poverty. Surely Wal-Mart could afford this. The company made a $9.1 billion profit last year, the Walton family is worth $90 billion and CEO Lee Scott pays himself $240,000 a week. On the other hand, Robina, who sews Faded Glory cargo pants for Wal-Mart earns just 13 cents an hour, $1.04 a day and less than $6.50 a week.
At the end, the workers received a standing ovation. Some were so moved there were tears in their eyes. There was a 100% commitment to help these workers win their rights and to finally call for legislation that will hold corporations accountable to respect human, women's and workers rights and prohibit the import into the U.S. of products made under harsh sweatshop conditions. Currently, under the WTO, the product and trademark are protected by enforceable laws backed up by sanctions. But there is no such protection for the worker, the sixteen-year-old girl who made the product.
Fox TV News covered the entire event.
On the way to Charleston we told the workers that this was their first meeting, but they didn't need to be frightened because they would be among friends, that these were among the most progressive union people in the country. The workers responded, "If these are union people, we belong to them and they belong to us." And so it was.
Right after the event, we jumped in our van and began the several-hour drive to Denison College east of Columbus, Ohio. We left elated.
Denison College, Granville, Ohio, September 28:
At Denison we had a private meeting over dinner with the student activists who organized that evening's event. When we got to the auditorium, we were stunned to see that it was already overflowing with students. The president of the university was there and very supportive, along with professor David Woodyard, who for decades has inspired the students at Denison with a call to social justice. Needless to say, it was a very powerful meeting, which went on for over 2 1/2 hours-the students wouldn't leave, questions kept pouring in, strategy discussions broke out. Denison's student anti-sweatshop chapter grew by several dozen and over 150 people signed up to join the NLC's activist email list. Ohio Public Radio covered the event.
Cincinatti, September 29:
The next morning we left early to drive to Cincinnati, where we had three events-two high schools, followed by an event at Xavier University that night.
At Moeller, a Marianist boys school, the entire student body of 1,000 students attended the event. Many students had already seen the video on Bangladesh, "Hidden Face of Globalization." But even the most committed faculty were stunned at how their students sat focused listening to the workers' presentations. When we explained that the workers would be blacklisted upon their return to Bangladesh for daring to speak the truth in the U.S., and that there could possibly be physical threats against them, all 1,000 boys gathered around the workers, Sk. Nazma and Rafiq for a picture to send the message that if anyone even thinks of harming these workers, they will have to deal with the students as well.
We left Moeller and went immediately to Ursuline Academy, a Catholic girls' high school, where we were met with another enormous meeting of 500 to 600 students.
NBC Dateline filmed this event for a program that will air in November.
Several faculty members had used "Hidden Face of Globalization" in their classes, and students had written essays on how it made them feel to see their sisters in Bangladesh living and working under such conditions.
Once again at the end of the meeting, there was a torrent of questions, and the high school student organizers told us they were planning an all-night meeting with several high schools to discuss the abuse of teenaged workers in factories across the developing world and what U.S. students can do. These students were young, but they are already really impressive organizers.
At the end, there was an incredible scene of high school students gathered around the workers, hugging them. The students all said they would be more than willing to pay 25 cents more per garment if this would allow the Bangladeshi workers to climb out of misery and buy decent food for their children.
Currently, workers in Bangladesh are paid just 26 cents for each shirt they sew for Wal-Mart. If Wal-Mart and the other companies would pay just 25 cents more per garment, the workers could make the 37 cents an hour they say they would need to live with a modicum of dignity. But the companies have been too greedy to do this, so perhaps the only hope lies in the American people, consumers demanding justice.
By that afternoon, emails were shooting back and forth among the students of Moeller and Ursuline, full of excitement and drawing up plans as to what they are going to do.
Even at this stage of the tour, we could see that the potential for a large high school anti-sweatshop movement led by students is alive and very possible. There is perhaps no segment of society that the companies are more afraid of.
We capped the day off that evening with an excellent meeting at Xavier University, attended by well over 150 students, which was also filmed by NBC-Dateline.
What has surprised us so far on the trip are the number of high school and university faculty who are using "Zoned for Slavery," "Mickey Mouse Goes to Haiti," "Something to Hide," and especially "Hidden Face of Globalization" in their classes, together with NLC reports and campaign materials. This is helping to create a widespread base of knowledge on workers abuses in the global economy. Another observation: the more involved even a small group of faculty is in social justice is, the stronger the student movements are on these campuses.
Cincinnati and Columbus, September 30:
The following morning we were at another Marianist high school in Cincinnati, Purcell Marian. But this one was more of an inner city school, with a very diverse student body. On very short notice, over 100 students volunteered to attend the assembly, and they were stunned by what they heard. They'd had no idea that other young people, roughly their same age were sewing their clothing in countries like Bangladesh, forced to work 18 hours a day, seven days a week from 8 in the morning until 10 at night with just 10 days off a year. The students looked shocked when the workers talked about the all-night, 19-hour shifts from 8:00 a.m. straight through to 3:00 a.m. the next morning-after which they would sleep slumped over their sewing machines. You could hear many of the students gasp when the workers described being physically beaten and kicked, and how they earn just 13 to 18 cents an hour making our clothing, leaving them trapped in misery. It is extraordinary to watch the bonding take place between young workers and high school students across such different cultures.
Keeping up the relentless pace, we drove from Cincinnati back to Columbus, Ohio, where the delegation spoke at Otterbein College-which was founded by the Brethren as one of the very first universities open to women and Afro-American students.
Faculty and students crowded into a beautiful meeting room with carved woodwork and stained glass windows in one of the oldest buildings on campus. The impact of the workers' testimonies was the same, with a wide-open discussion of "what we can do." Everyone is shocked that the label and the product are protected in the global economy, but not the human being who makes the product, because the corporations say that affording similar protections for the rights of the sixteen-year-old who made the product would be an "impediment to free trade." No one accepts this.
From Otterbein, we jumped into our rented van and headed for Dayton, Ohio to speak at the University of Dayton. When we got there we were totally shocked. The auditorium was already packed, and the event had to be delayed to allow students to join us on the stage, where they sat on the floor all around the delegation. Students sat on the stage steps, in the aisles and out the door, where they stood straining to hear. The meeting could only be described as awesome and was, we were told, the largest social justice meeting ever at the school.
Again, you could have heard a pin drop as the students sat, riveted by the workers' testimony. A discussion broke out in which Sk. Nazma and the workers explained that a boycott is not the answer-the workers desperately need these jobs, but they are certainly not asking for more sweatshops. They want their basic rights respected, and they want to be paid at least a subsistence-level wage, even if that is as low as 37 cents an hour, in the case of Bangladesh. The right strategy is to put pressure on the North American companies to keep work in the factory, NOT to pull out, while at the same time working with the local contractor to clean up the plant so the workers' rights are finally respected. This is what the workers are asking us to do. Here too, more than 200 students signed up to join the ongoing campaign, and the local USAS chapter took a big leap in growth as people flooded to their table to join.
Throughout the entire tour, despite the fact that they were speaking to very large audiences, the workers have never felt fear, and have spoken with great emotion and clarity. Before this, these workers had never spoken publicly before and in fact, due to the poverty of their families, have not had the chance to go to school and cannot read or write. They are just two teenage workers, but they know they are speaking for all 1.8 million garment workers in Bangladesh-85 percent of them young women like themselves-and here they are, speaking at some of the finest universities in the country.
Robina and Maksuda would have to work 99 years to be able to afford to one of these schools for a single year, and that's if they didn't eat or pay rent.
At Dayton there is apparently a shuttle to take the students to the local Wal-Mart. After hearing the workers' testimonies, the students intend to challenge this.
October 1-Louisville, Kentucky, UFCW & Presbyterian Center:
The next stop was Louisville, Kentucky where we had an excellent meeting with members of UFCW Local 227, which still represents many garment workers, though their job losses have been staggering as work has gone offshore. These were garment workers and knew immediately what the women were talking about. The president of Local 227 said that he and his members are committed to the struggle to bring social justice to the global economy, no matter what it takes.
That afternoon, the delegation had a meeting at the Presbyterian Church Center, the church's U.S. headquarters, with many of the key staff involved in the church's international social justice and women's issues. The Presbyterian Church has a long history of leading and participating in campaigns for justice and women's rights in the global economy, and in fact has been at the forefront of many of the shareholder actions that challenge the corporations on these issues.
At each event, the discussion has always turned to the question of what we can do to change these conditions. The tour is building a broad base of support to promote anti-sweatshop legislation to guarantee respect for human and worker rights in the global economy. The legislative campaign will be launched in January.
Over the weekend our Bangladeshi friends had the chance to walk the trails of Cumberland Falls State Park in Kentucky. It was beautiful. Though afterward they said their legs hurt.
Monday, October 4, Knoxville, Tennessee: USWA-PACE Conference
On Monday, we were in Knoxville, Tennessee for another terrific event with the USWA and PACE, another regional Rapid Response conference. In Knoxville, there were more than 300 unionists participating. As in the first USWA-PACE meeting., feelings ran deep after the workers spoke. People were angry and sad at the same time, and the workers left with enormous support and tons of new friends. Everyone in the hall signed up for the new campaign. The conference session was followed by a march and rally to defend jobs and worker rights in the U.S. and abroad. Jim English, secretary treasurer of the Steelworkers was at the meeting along with international vice-presidents from both the Steelworkers and PACE.
From Knoxville we had to drive 500 miles to St. Louis, Missouri.
Tuesday, October 5-St. Louis
The following morning, we started out with another unbelievable event in St. Louis at Vianney High School, another Marianist school. But something truly unique was organized. In attendance were 600 students from ten different schools, including public schools. So, there is an incredible organized high school base in St. Louis, and they intend to use this base to take up the sweatshop/child labor issue. First, they want to go after their school uniforms to be sure they were not made under sweatshop conditions. We have never seen such coordination before. We did an interview with the major Metro Radio station. Labor press also covered the event. The story of the abusive conditions under which our clothing is produced in Bangladesh and other countries-and especially Wal-Mart's total lack of concern for even the most fundamental human, women's and worker rights-is getting out. Again, the number of people signing up to participate in the campaign keeps surging ahead at every stop.
That afternoon we met with labor, religious and high school student activists at the Central Reform Congregation in St. Louis. Representatives of the UFCW, Machinists, UNITE and the president of the Central Labor Council were there. The temple's rabbi, Susan Talve, passed up a meeting with Teresa Heinz Kerry in order to host the meeting.
We ended the day at St. Louis University where, despite a St. Louis Cardinals playoff game and the vice presidential debates more than 60 students turned out for another terrific event. Anti-sweatshop activist students from Washington University also attended.
Wednesday, October 6: Iowa City
The following day we drove another eight hours to Iowa City for an event at the University of Iowa. The USAS students, with the support of faculty, organized another blockbuster event with the auditorium packed to capacity. The event was also filmed, both by public access TV (which we were told would be aired repeatedly across Iowa) and by the university for use in classrooms. Once again, the USAS chapter had a surge of new recruits joining their committee. No one wanted to leave and the event actually lasted from 6:00 p.m. until 9:30 p.m.! The discussion was lively.
Many people expressed concern for the safety of the workers, Sk. Nazma and Rafiq once they return to Bangladesh. We explained that the workers will be protected by the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity, the National Garment Workers Federation, the Institute for Integrated Rural Development and other partner organizations in Bangladesh. We know that the workers will be blacklisted for daring to speak the truth in the United States. So, we need to raise the money to replace their salaries so that they can become women's and workers rights organizers doing outreach and training among the 1.8 million garment workers. These students, like everyone else who has met the workers during the tour, committed to monitor the workers safety upon their return to Bangladesh. If there are any threats against any of them, there will be an enormous outpouring of support-which will reach Wal-Mart, the Bangladeshi government and the U.S. Embassy. We will not let these workers be harmed.
By the time the event ended, the only place left open to eat was a pizza restaurant. When we went in, we ran into the key organizers of the event, and the discussion continued for another hour.
October 7-8, Milwaukee & Madison, Wisconsin
At 6:00 the next morning, the delegation left the University tired, but thrilled, and with many new friends. Before us was a 300-mile drive to Milwaukee where we met with students of the Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC). This meeting was going to be very different. MATC is a very large, two-year, technical college, where the median student age is 33. The students are also holding down full-time jobs and raising families. We had a 1:00 o'clock meeting scheduled and we had no idea what to expect in terms of attendance. To our amazement, the auditorium was mobbed, filled to capacity with over 250 students-and the event was simultaneously interactive-broadcast to an overflow room and two other MATC campuses. These student-workers knew what it was like to be abused and thrown out of their jobs when their work was taken offshore in the race to the bottom in the global economy. They rattled off the names of dozens of factories that have shut down in the last few years and taken their work to China or Mexico. The ensuing discussion was one of anger, sympathy and pledges of solidarity to support the workers in Bangladesh.
After the event, one woman came over to us to confide that she worked at a Wal-Mart store in the area and that everything the workers said was true, because in the United States, Wal-Mart also treats its workers "as if they are slaves."
Professor Michael Rosen, president of MATC's American Federation of Teachers local, was instrumental in organizing the event. Moreover, many of the faculty told us that they use NLC videos and reports as part of their curriculum. We had no idea our material was being used so widely on college campuses and in high schools across the country.
We jumped back in the van and drove on to Madison, for an evening event at the University of Wisconsin. The meeting's principal sponsor was the Women's Studies program and opened by professor Jane Collins who has written widely on the sweatshop issue and spoke very glowingly about the NLC's efforts to put a human face on the global economy.
On Friday, it was back to Milwaukee to speak at Marquette University at an annual conference on social justice. Faculty from a number of schools were participating along with students. It was an excellent meeting, and in fact, we were invited back to speak at other area colleges.
We were also in for a rare treat. The Milwaukee artist Therese Agnew was at the meeting, and she invited us to come back to her home to view the 8-foot by 10-foot mural quilt she has been working on for the last two years. It is an image of a young Bangladeshi woman, sitting in a crowded factory hunched over her sewing machine intensely concentrating on her work. The image is eloquent, filled with great dignity and sadness. It is made entirely out of clothing labels. It is strikingly beautiful. More than 1,000 people from all over the world have written to the artist and sent her tens of thousands of labels they have cut from their clothes. The quilt goes on display on January 28, 2005.
The workers asked for many pictures of themselves to be taken in front of the mural. This was the first time in their lives that these workers had seen a work of art, and it was about them. They were incredibly happy.
Friday ended with a long and exciting interview with The Progressive magazine, based in Madison.
Just two weeks into the tour, we have already driven 3,400 miles. The next stop is Chicago. We have three weeks to go. At the end, we will have spoken at more than 35 universities and dozens more high schools, labor, religious and community events.