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NIKE Cutting and Running: 150 Workers suspended at BJ&B in the DR!
NIKE is cutting and running again! 150 Workers were just suspended at the BJ&B factory in the Dominican Republic because of a lack of orders. Nike is slowly but surely cutting and running from this factory that had an historic victory in 2003 and was the first factory with an independent union in the caribbean basin. It is imperative that NIKE make a commitment to factories where workers have improved conditions and provide steady orders at fair prices to the factory. In a global race to the bottom- BJ&B is being cut out of the industry.
Tell NIKE TO STOP CUTTING AND RUNNING FROM BJ&B NOW!
| Sample Letter for Campaign |
Subject: Suspension at BJ&B
Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,
I was appalled to hear of the suspension of 150 workers from the BJ&B factory in the Dominican Republic. Together workers at BJ&B, students and universities have made concrete improvements in working conditions at the BJ&B factory. BJ&B is one of the few places in the world where there is an active and strong union in a free trade zone and it cannot be allowed to lose any more business or close down.
Nike's cutting and running from the factory over the past two years is not a secret, nor is it fooling anyone. Nike must make a commitment to factories where standards have been improved. Cutting and running is part of a race to the bottom that drives standards lower and lower. I will not accept that kind of practice.
I demand that NIKE increase orders to the BJ&B factory immediately and ensure that workers keep their jobs.
Sincerely,
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Campaign Launched:
June 08, 2006
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BJ&B is a factory in the Dominican Republic that produces Nike baseball caps for universities. Since the factory first opened, groups of workers had attempted to organize a union to improve some of the abysmal working conditions. Every time they did so, the group of workers was summarily and illegally fired. When USAS brought a BJ&B worker to the U.S. in 1999 to denounce these violations, Nike ran a PR campaign to discredit the worker and USAS. In December of 2001, a group of workers was fired again, and this time the WRC was able to assemble an investigative team and document the illegal firings. In the following year, Nike and Reebok acknowledged the problems at BJ&B and began to press the factory to respect the workers' right to organize. Eventually the factory allowed a free and fair election to be held, and workers voted in favor of union representation. In the spring of 2003, management and the union negotiated the first collective bargaining agreement in a factory in a Dominican free trade zone to provide for wages above the legal minimum. Since then Reebok has pulled all of their orders from the factory and Nike has slowly and surely been cutting and running from the factory. While in 2003 there were 1600 workers in the factory, only 350 remain. In the global race to the bottom, BJ&B is being cut out of the industry.
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