NYers Protest Sweatshop Valentine, 2/14/01 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Local Contact: Laura Castro, Global Sweatshop Coalition, 212-674-9499, National Contact: Martha Ojeda, Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras, 210-732-8957 NY Activists Join National Protests at Hallmark Stores To Support Mexican Workers Seeking Independent Union Activists from the Global Sweatshop Coalition will protest at the Hallmark Card Store at 488 Madison Avenue (at 51st Street) on Valentine's Day, Wednesday, February 14, at 5 pm. They will join activists in cities from coast to coast protesting at Hallmark stores during the height of Valentine's shopping. Hallmark is the largest customer of the Duro Bag maquiladora factory in Rio Bravo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. The factory's twelve hundred workers are paid $5 to $6 per day - far below the Mexican poverty level. They are exposed to toxic substances with little or no protective gear, and have lost fingers in cutting machines that have no guards. They recount beatings and other physical and sexual abuses by management. They organized an independent union to try to improve these conditions. But they were met with over 150 firings, beatings and arrests by police, the fire-bombing of their leader's house, and government red tape aimed at breaking their union. Since January 26, 30 more workers have been fired for union organizing, and police are currently stalking one of the organizers apparently to arrest him on unknown charges. Hallmark has a code of conduct that supposedly requires its suppliers to abide by fair labor practices and respect the right of workers to freely form unions. But Duro consistently violates Hallmark's code of conduct and Hallmark seems to be looking the other way. Activists focused on justice in the global economy want to put Hallmark on notice that it must take its code of conduct seriously. They emphasize that Hallmark must not cut and run from the Duro situation. Instead the company must use its leverage to see that workers' rights are respected. Sites of protests at Hallmark stores include Albany NY, Boston MA, Cincinatti OH, Clarksville TN, Cleveland OH, Columbus OH, Detroit MI, Eugene OR, Indianapolis IN, Iowa City IA, Kansas City MO, Lansing MI, Los Angeles CA, Milwaukee WI, Minneapolis MN, Monterrey Mexico, Mt Pleasant MI, New Haven CT, New York NY, Philadelphia PA, Pittsburgh PA, Portland OR, San Francisco CA, St. Louis MO, Tampa FL, Toronto ON, Tucson AZ, among other cities. Duro is a Kentucky-based maker of gift bags for Hallmark, Neiman Marcus and others. The Duro workers are receiving support from a variety of U.S., Mexican, and Canadian organizations allied in the Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras, based in San Antonio, Texas and from the Washington, DC-based Campaign for Labor Rights. NOTE: After the leafleting, we will join a "Purple Valentine" demo that the GABRIELA Network is holding nearby to protest the global sex trade in Filipino women and children. The GABRIELA demo will start at the Philippine consulate at 5th Ave and 46th St at about 5:30 pm, and then begin marching to the UN at 6 pm. We will join them as they start to march. ============================================================= Global Sweatshop Coalition - "Solidarity with the Oppressed" PO Box 748, Village Station, New York, NY 10014 212-674-9499 * fax 212-674-9139 * ============================================================= ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytcamer-02.14.01-05:00:29-2050