Photo: Workers in Bangladesh organize for better conditions. Christie Miedema

Dear Friends,

It has been a while since we’ve been in touch, but as you’ll see, we’ve been very busy over the past few months. In our fall Update, we profile a number of campaigns and initiatives in which MSN has been actively involved. We offer links to additional information and actions you can take to support global and national campaigns.

Before launching into our Update, we want to mention that our dear friend and compañera, Blanca Velázquez Díaz, passed away on September 25 after a long battle with cancer. Blanca was the founder of the Worker Support Centre (CAT) in Puebla, Mexico, and a fierce and courageous fighter for workers’ rights. We join others in honouring Blanca and her incredible work (see more below).

Agreement reached on new International Accord

On August 25, after a year of negotiations and campaigning, agreement was reached between Global Unions and major international apparel brands on a new International Health and Safety Accord that preserves the legally binding requirements of the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety. The agreement also makes it possible for the highly successful model to be expanded to other countries. MSN is one of four NGO Witness Signatories to the new International Accord. As of October 4, over 130 brands have signed the International Accord.

Photo: Workers organize after the Ali Enterprises fire. Clean Clothes Campaign

Call for expansion of Accord to Pakistan

September 11 marked the ninth anniversary of the Ali Enterprises factory fire in Pakistan in which over 250 workers were killed. Honouring the victims of the garment industry's deadliest factory fire, MSN joined with Pakistani trade unions and international labour rights organizations in calling for the expansion of the new International Health and Safety Accord to Pakistan.

Photo: Workers and allies call on Disney to #payyourworkers.

Disney owes Salvadoran workers $1.3 million

In El Salvador, workers at the Industrias Florenzi factory sewed Grey’s Anatomy scrubs for more than 15 years. At the start of the pandemic, after the Salvadoran government ordered nonessential businesses to temporarily shut down operations, the factory began laying off workers. In July 2020, Industrias Florenzi closed permanently.

More than a year later, the workers are still waiting for the $1.3 million in unpaid wages and severance they’re owed under Salvadoran law. As a new season of Grey's Anatomy starts this month, workers and their allies are calling on Disney and Grey's Anatomy to ensure their scrubs are made with dignity.

For more information:

• Video - "Workers who sewed Grey’s Anatomy scrubs for Barco Uniforms and Disney faced wage theft"
  
• Workers Rights Consortium blog about the Industrias Florenzi case
  

Nike Day of Action

On October 6, Nike investors have their Annual General Meeting. Nike has made billions during the pandemic, but has failed to ensure workers' rights are upheld in supplier factories. Workers that suffered wage theft in 2020 in the Violet Apparel and Hong Seng factories are still awaiting compensation and Nike has failed to sign a binding agreement that would ensure respect for workers' rights through the pandemic crisis.

If you haven't already, please sign and share the #PayYourWorkers petition asking Nike and other brands to ensure their workers are paid full wages and labour rights are respected in their factories. Over 40,000 people have signed the petition so far and the goal is to reach 45,000 this week. You can also share this video asking people to sign the petition and participate in asking Nike to #RespectLabourRights.

More on #PayYourWorkers

MSN continues to play an active role in the #PayYourWorkers campaign at the global level and in national campaigns for wage assurance and safe workplaces in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Cambodia and Central America. More than 240 trade union and other civil society organizations around the world have endorsed the campaign, which is calling on apparel brands and manufacturers to guarantee that workers making their products receive full regular wages throughout the pandemic and legal severance pay when factories close.

For more information:

• Joint letter calling on brands and governments to better protect Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi garment workers as Covid-19 spreads
  
• Efforts to address wage theft and other labour rights violations in Cambodia
  

Photo: Vote at GM assembly plant. Secretaría del Trabajo y Previsión Social

Workers reject protection contract at GM plant in Mexico

On August 17 and 18, workers at the General Motors (GM) assembly plant in Silao, Mexico voted to reject an employer protection contract that had been signed by an affiliate of Mexico’s largest union confederation, the CTM. Four months earlier, an initial vote on the contract was suspended by the Ministry of Labour after inspectors discovered destroyed ballots in the union office. Under Mexico’s labour justice reform, workers can vote to accept or reject existing collective bargaining agreements (CBAs), the vast majority of which were signed by corrupt union leaders or lawyers without workers’ knowledge or consent.

In October, MSN will be publishing an analysis and tracking tool on the CBA legitimation process.

Companies and Brands research tool

On July 1, MSN published an updated Companies and Brands research tool to assist trade unions and worker rights organizations in identifying points of leverage to pressure apparel companies to remediate labour rights violations in supplier factories. The research tool links international apparel companies with the brands they own and helps identify possible strategies for campaigns.

Photo: Worker rights defender Blanca Velázquez Diaz

Honouring Blanca Velázquez Díaz

On September 25, our dear friend and compañera, Blanca Velázquez Díaz, passed away after a long battle with cancer. Blanca was the founder of the Worker Support Centre (CAT) in Puebla, Mexico, and a fierce and courageous fighter for workers’ rights. MSN collaborated with Blanca and the CAT on many campaigns over two decades in support of garment workers’ struggles to win the right to be represented by independent, democratic unions. We will greatly miss her, as will Mexican women and men whose rights she worked tirelessly to defend.