MIM Notes 230                   March 15, 2001

Vietnamese workers in American Samoa face sweatshop conditions

The Maoist Internationalist Movement (MIM) supports the call for 
letters protesting the treatment of 250 Vietnamese wimmin by a 
sweatshop on American Samoa (see sidebar).

The wimmin paid $4000-$8000 to travel to American Samoa and work 
for an official wage of less than $2.55 per hour for Daewoosa 
Samoa, which contracts with major Amerikan retailers JC Penny and 
Sears. Once there, the wimmin worked and lived in terrible 
conditions and were not paid even the $2.55 they were promised. 
Daewoosa has now closed its doors, stranding many of the wimmin in 
American Samoa without jobs of money to get back home.(1) 

The wimmin sewed garments carrying the J.C. Penney, Sears and MV 
Sport labels, among others. None of these corporations are known 
to have taken any action to guarantee the workers their unpaid 
wages.

Vietnam Labor Watch released a report in February 2001 which 
describes the conditions that the Vietnamese garment workers 
experienced while working for Daewoosa Samoa.(1) The report's 
findings include the following:

* As a result of company's refusal to pay the workers and not 
honor the terms of the contracts, many workers reported that their 
family's homes and farms have been repossessed by creditors 
because they were not able to repay the loan for the recruitment 
fee to come to American Samoa.

* According to the u.$. Department of Labor, Daewoosa "has 
exhibited a pattern of abuse to women, including assault and 
invasion of privacy. ... Female employees allege that the owner of 
the company routinely enters their barracks to watch them shower 
and dress."

* On November 26, 2000, the workers were given some partial wage 
payments for the August-October period. Realizing that they would 
never be paid correctly, many workers stopped working. Two days 
later, on November 28, there was a violent confrontation at the 
Daewoosa compound. According to the interviews with workers, 
security guards were ordered by the company to force the workers 
to go back to work. The security guards used physical force and 
violence broke out. Many young women were beaten up by security 
guards. One of them was blinded in one eye.

* A Christian missionary witnessed the abuse at Daewoosa first-
hand: "Upon arriving at Daewoosa, we observed three or four girls 
sitting immediately inside the security gate. The Korean guards 
began kicking and hitting the girls. About five minutes later, 
approximately thirty Vietnamese girls came to the gate crying and 
begging for help. Many of the young women were scratched, bruised, 
and bloody. When I asked what was going on, the guards started 
hitting the girls again."

* Another worker described the retaliation they have faced. "Those 
who know some English to protest these treatments or talk back 
become targets for harassment and intimidation. Those who took 
part in the trial, [the boss] ordered work not [to be] given [to] 
them." 

* Even though the bank account of Daewoosa showed a balance of 
$538, on December 7, 2000, according to a Department of Labor 
report (Dec 14, 2000), during a meeting with OSHA & DOL 
investigators, Mr. Kil-Soo Lee, the owner of Daewoosa, "produced a 
paper bag of money and proceeded to spread stacks of bills across 
the front of his desk." 

American Samoa is a U.$. territory, so the clothes these workers 
sew carry "Made in the USA" labels. This is a foxy bit of PR by 
the sweatshops and the retailers who buy the finished clothes. It 
appears as if the workers were granted the benefits of u.$. 
minimum wage and workplace safety laws, when they were not.

In fact, the Government of American Samoa (ASG) plays a major role 
in the exploitation and abuse of the Vietnamese export workers. 
According to Vietnam Labor Watch, "The governor of American Samoa 
has even insulted the worker, Ms. Duyen, who was blinded after the 
November 28 incident in a statement to the press. It is clear ... 
that the ASG plays an active role in Daewoosa's efforts to 
intimidate workers by detaining and deporting those who complained 
about labor abuses, even though complaining about one's labor 
conditions is a federally guaranteed civil right. ... Without the 
ASG being an enforcer of Daewoosa's labor policy, we believe that 
Daewoosa would not be able to force so many workers to work for so 
long under such harsh conditions without pay."(1)

The U.$. Department of Labor investigated and criticized Daewoosa, 
but did little to protect the workers there. Management simply 
ignored their orders.

All workers, internationally, should have certain basic rights 
protected, such as the right to organize freely, an international 
minimum wage and an international maximum work week length. 
Workers in the oppressed countries do not enjoy these rights and 
work in conditions of semi-slavery. 

Individual struggles and broad reforms aimed at securing these 
rights are just, winnable, and progressive. Reforms which realize 
ITAL international END rights weaken imperialism and contribute to 
ITAL real END unity between the peoples in oppressed and oppressor 
countries. As W.E.B. Du Bois wrote, "The white workers of Europe 
and America... can gain black allies only and insofar as they 
frankly, fairly, and completely abolish the Color Line."(2)

MIM is gathering agitational materials on this and other 
progressive labor struggles in oppressed countries. If you would 
like to help in this and future campaigns, or want to suggest a 
campaign you think MIM should support, contact us at mim@mim.org 
or MIM Distributors, PO Box 29670, Los Angeles CA 90029.
Note:
1. http://www.vlw.org.
2. David L Lewis ed., W.E.B. Du Bois: A Reader, (NY: Henry Holt 
and Company, 1995), p. 593.

TAKE ACTION!


Please send letters to the following retailers, urging their 
immediate attention to resolving the workers' situation. The 
workers are demanding to be fairly paid for their work, and some 
wish to return home to Vietnam. 

* J.C. Penney Company, Inc.
Allen Questrom, Chief Executive Officer
6501 Legacy Drive Plano, TX 75024
Fax: (972) 431-1362 Tel: (972) 431-1000 

* Sears Roebuck & Company 
Arthur C. Martinez, Chairman/CEO
3333 Beverly Rd.
Hoffman Estates, IL 60179
Fax: (847) 286-7829 Tel: (847) 286-2500

SAMPLE LETTER

Dear [Mr. Questrom / Mr. Martinez]:

I am writing to express my concern about sweatshop conditions and 
labor abuses on the island of American Samoa. I understand that 
workers at the Daewoosa Samoa garment factory sewed J.C. Penney 
clothing without receiving minimum wage or overtime pay, and in 
some cases, no pay at all. I urge you to make sure these workers 
are fairly paid and to protect the rights of all workers who sew 
your clothes. Because Daewoosa has shut down, leaving workers 
stranded without work, food or the means to return to their 
homeland of Vietnam, I also urge you to ensure the safety and 
well-being of these workers. I thank you for your attention to 
this urgent matter and look forward to hearing your response. 

Sincerely,