Demand Justice for the Rising Sun Workers in Kenya

In June of this year, more than 1200 workers at Rising Sun, a factory in Kenya producing for Steve and Barry's University Sportswear, were locked out and fired from their jobs for protesting labor rights violations that had occurred at the factory. In addition to being subjected to violence by factory security guards, the workers have been denied their legally mandated severance pay, which for the workers combined totals hundreds of thousands of dollars, and many have been blacklisted. Send a letter to Steve and Barry's demanding that Rising Sun correct these violations immediately and demonstrate its commitment to workers' rights!

Sample Letter for Campaign

Subject: Justice for Workers at Rising Sun!

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

I am writing to you regarding a series of workers' rights violations that have occurred at a factory in Kenya that was producing for your company. It is my expectation that your company will take immediate action to correct these violations and ensure that the rights of the workers producing your apparel are respected.

Four months ago, workers at the Rising Sun factory were locked out and fired for protesting a number of violations at the factory, including physical abuse of a female employee. Despite orders from the Kenyan Ministry of Labor and the Industrial Court of Kenya, the factory has refused to rehire any of the fired workers without loss of benefits or period of service, and has withheld their legally mandated severance pay. The factory management has also conducted blacklisting of workers in the export processing zone who participated in a strike in support of the fired workers.

These actions constitute an ongoing and deliberate violation of workers rights. More than 1200 workers are without jobs or have been forced to accept lower paid positions at the Rising Sun factory as casual employees with no benefits. Many more workers throughout the zone have been fired from their jobs and are unable to find work. It is clear that the factory management has no intention of correcting these abuses and remains in violation of the court order.

Steve and Barry's must take immediate action to correct these violations and ensure that the rights of the workers producing your clothing are respected. I urge you to ensure that the following steps are taken at Rising Sun:

1. The reinstatement, at their previous job status, of all dismissed workers wishing to return to work for the factory.

2. For those employees choosing not to return to the factory, payment of the legally mandated severance due to workers who have been declared redundant (fired for no reason).

3. Immediate ending of the blacklisting and/or other forms of victimization against all workers.

I urge you to do the right thing by taking swift action to ensure that these violations are corrected, and I look forward to hearing from you soon regarding this urgent matter.

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
October 06, 2006

Background Information

Workers at Rising Sun factory in Kenya demand justice!

More than four months ago, all 1,272 workers at the Rising Sun factory in Kenya were locked out of the factory and illegally fired from their jobs. The firings occurred in response to protests by the workers against a number of labor violations at the factory, including physical abuse. Both the Kenyan Ministry of Labor and the Industrial Court of Kenya have issued orders that the factory reopen and the workers be offered priority rehiring and their legally mandated severance pay. Thus far, the management at Rising Sun has done nothing to repair the damage done by these illegal firings. Rather than reinstating the fired workers, the factory has instead hired a new workforce of casual workers who are paid less, receive no benefits, and are not allowed to join the union.

But the violations do not end there. In response to the illegal mass termination of the Rising Sun employees, union workers at local factories organized a series of solidarity strikes. As a result, more than 30 union leaders have been blacklisted and cannot find employment to support themselves and their families. According to one fired Rising Sun worker, "They are oppressing us so much because we can?t get jobs anywhere. They are trying to make us desperate so that we can agree with anything they come up with. Recently, I was working in [another factory], but I was fired because there was a circular, containing my name and around 30 other people, saying that these people are not supposed to be employed anywhere. They have circulated it in Mombasa, Nairobi, even here. So, we cannot get jobs."

In addition to violating basic human rights, the factory has also acted to suppress employees' associational rights. Rising Sun, which was previously a union shop, is now barring its entire workforce from joining a union, and refusing to pay the fired workers their termination benefits as outlined in the previous Collective Bargaining Agreement. This is a major blow both to the 1,272 terminated Rising Sun workers and the blacklisted union leaders, but also the entire Ahti River export processing zone where Rising Sun is located. Although this zone was known for having a significant level of progress on worker rights issues, the gains made here will be lost if workers continue to be denied their basic rights, including the freedom to associate.

Rising Sun is currently producing entirely for Steve and Barry's University Sportswear, filling an order that was subcontracted from the Rolex factory. Yet Steve and Barry's has taken no action and remains complicit in these serious code of conduct violations. As a result of their lost income, many workers are being forced to give up their homes and relocate in order to find new jobs. Unless serious action is taken, the situation for these fired workers will only continue to deteriorate. Send a letter to Steve and Barry's today and demand that the fired workers be reinstated and receive their legally mandated severance pay!