Vietnamese workers in American Samoa win partial victories
Exploited Vietnamese immigrants in the u.$. territory of
American Samoa recently won a few victories. As we reported
in MIM Notes 230 (15 March 2001), 250 wimmin paid to travel
to American Samoa and work for an official wage of less
than $2.55 per hour at Daewoosa Samoa, which contracts with
major Amerikan retailers JC Penny, Sears, Wal-Mart, and
Target. Once there, the wimmin worked and lived in terrible
conditions and were not paid even the wage they were
promised. When they organized to receive back wages, goons
hired by Daewoosa beat them.
As of the end of March, JC Penny agreed to pay back wages
for the wimmin. Furthermore, Daewoosa's owner, Kilsoo Lee,
was arrested in Hawaii and charged with holding the workers
under conditions of "involuntary servitude and forced
labor." These victories came after a publicity campaign
launched by various reformist groups (1) and supported by
MIM exposed the situation at Daewoosa and demanded that
Amerikan retailers to pay back wages.
Wal-Mart Sears, and Target have not agreed to pay back
wages. MIM continues to support calls to put pressure on
these retailers. And beyond this particular struggle, MIM
supports broad reforms aimed at securing basic rights for
workers ITAL internationally END, such as such as the right
to organize freely, an international minimum wage, and an
international maximum work week length.
The scope of the problem can be seen in the chart on this
page [of MIM Notes 231]. Workers in American Samoa or
Saipan are not the only ones exploited by imperialism. It
if is denied a cheap labor force here or there, Amerikan
monopoly capital will scour the globe looking for another.
At this time there are plenty wannabe middlemen or
"gatekeepers" willing to keep "their" workers down
with force for a share in the imperialists' profits. So the
monopoly capitalists don't have to look to far to find
cheap labor.
This is why MIM thinks it will take more than "pressure
from civil society" against individual capitalists to
secure survival rights for workers. Reforms at the
government level -- the level of organized force -- will be
much more effective. While MIM sees some possibility for
reforms such as an international minimum wage even under
bourgeois rule,(2) ultimately only socialism and
proletarian rule will ensure basic survival rights for the
proletariat. Under proletarian rule the right to property
will be clearly subordinated to rights to food, clothing,
shelter, education, etc.
The chart also illustrates the great disparity in wages
between oppressor and oppressed countries. MIM has shown
that this disparity -- even greater when one considers that
the apparel industry is relatively low-paid in the unites
$tates -- is the result of imperialist super-
exploitation.(3) The profits the imperialists make abroad
can be spent at home buying the allegiance of the "workers"
at home.
In order to ensure that our activism benefits the
oppressed, MIM does not raise the wage demands of
oppressor-nation "workers." Instead, we organize these
imperialist-country middle forces around inherently
internationalist issues, like militarism, environmental
destruction, and international super-exploitation. 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."(4)
MIM is gathering agitational materials 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.
Notes:
1. Vietnam Labor Watch, www.vlw.org; National Labor Committee,
www.nlcnet.org.
2. Imperialism and its Class Structure 1997, sections C.4.
and C.6., http://www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext/mt/imp97
/
3. MIM Theory 1, MIM Theory 10, Imperialism and its Class
Structure 1997, and elsewhere.
4. David L Lewis ed., W.E.B. Du Bois: A Reader, (NY: Henry
Holt and Company, 1995), p. 593.
TAKE ACTION!
Please continue send letters to Sears, Wal-Mart, and
Target, urging their immediate attention to resolving the
workers' situation. The workers demand to be fairly paid
for their work. These companies have policies (e.g.
http://www.walmartstores.com/supplier/vstand_current_standa
rds.html) allegedly precluding them from doing business
with sweatshop-type operations. They should not be allowed
to talk sweet yet act despicably.
* Target Corporation
Robert Ulrich,
Chairman, CEO
777 Nicollet Mall
Minneapolis, MN 55402
* Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
S. Robson Walton
Chairman
702 Southwest 8th Street
Bentonville, AR 72716
* 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. Martinez (Mr. Ulrich, Mr. Walton):
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,