Forced Labor - articles - Was Your School's Cap Made In This Sweatshop? page 2

BJ&B's low wages cause workers to live in poverty. But BJ&B squeezes its workforce even more by cutting corners - and breaking the law. Because of BJ&B's policies and actions, it's hard for workers at BJ&B to build a better future for themselves and their families. Conditions at BJ&B are unfortunately getting worse.

Illegal forced overtime. Under Dominican law, it is illegal to require overtime after 44 hours. Workers say that BJ&B used to obey this law, but began to compel overtime in early 1997. The first victims of the change from legal overtime to illegal overtime were the many young workers who were also high school or college students. Young workers say that BJ&B used to allow students to opt out of overtime in order to attend early evening classes. "Supervisors announced that we had to stay late or be fired," reported a 26-year-old fired student worker who had put in three years at BJ&B. In January of 1997, BJ&B reportedly laid off students two at a time, and mass lay-offs of students followed in February. After that, workers say that anyone else who resisted overtime was also fired. The only alternative was to quit school in order to keep a sweatshop job.

Unpaid hours on Saturday. At BJ&B, Saturday is a special day. Workers report that on Saturday, BJ&B forces workers to stay past the scheduled 4 hours until the work is done - without getting paid for the extra time. They say that two extra unpaid hours are common on Saturday, and that the company forces workers to stay by holding their paychecks hostage. Since BJ&B workers are barely surviving week-to-week, this is a potent weapon. "One Saturday, I had to leave, and they didn't give me my pay until Monday. I had no money, even for food that weekend," admitted one woman at BJ&B.

Mass terminations used to evade legally required seniority benefits. Until this year, BJ&B obeyed Dominican laws requiring that certain benefits accrue with seniority. Until this year, workers could expect better pay, severance and vacation as they accrued seniority. Workers report that at the end of 1997, BJ&B terminated its entire workforce through forced resignations and lay-offs. Annual terminations are common among sweatshop factories in Dominican free trade zones as a means of evading legally-required responsibilities to workers with a year of seniority or more. At BJ&B, those who "agreed" to resign were told they would get their jobs back, while those who "forced" the company to lay them off (and pay full, legal severance) were told they would not be rehired. One senior worker, who agreed to resign and was rehired, found that she faced a wage cut back to new-hire minimums.

Under Dominican law, pregnant women and mothers of infants cannot be fired or laid off. A 29-year-old woman with three years seniority described the company's tactics: "In my building, supervisors held a meeting just for pregnant women, and they were all told to resign and even offered some extra money. But they all refused." A new mother reported that in the final wave of lay-offs that just took place, BJ&B went ahead and laid her off.

BJ&B Commits Illegal Wage Discrimination
Against Women Workers

Workers report systematic wage discrimination against women. A 24-year-old man charged, "The women work more, but they pay them less." In 1996, BJ&B actually published a different wage scale for women and men in violation of the Dominican National Labor Code.

SISTEMA DE AUMENTO DE SUELDO POR TIEMPO TRABAJO

23. Enero. 1996	ttttttttttttttttttttttttttt	G/FINAN	G/GENERAL	Vice Presi.

TIEMPO	ttttttttttttttttttttttttttt	MUJER	HOMBRE
ENTRADA		RD $388.	RD $388.
SEIS (6 ) months		RD $393.	RD $398
UN (1) ANO		RD $403.	RD $413
DOS (2) ANO		RD $413	RD $428
TRES (3) ANO		RD $423	RD $438
(CUATRO) 4 ANO		RD $433	RD $448.
CINCO(5) ANO		RD $443	RD $458.
SEIS (6) ANO		RD $448	RD $463.
SEITI (7) ANO		RD $453.	RD $468.
OCHO(8) ANO		RD $458.	RD $473

1996 BJ&B Chart showing differential pay for men and women

Abusive Workplace Conditions

It is not surprising that the economic exploitation that is at the core of BJ&B is accompanied by degrading workplace conditions, such as the following examples cited by BJ&B workers.

Abusive language. Workers report that management frequently uses abusive and insulting language. This behavior is particularly offensive in an environment where top management in the plant comes from a different culture. "They say Dominicans are dumb and lazy," reported a 25-year-old woman with over five years at the plant. Many workers reported other insults that include offensive graphic sexual language.

Physical abuse. Workers also report that managers in the plant hit workers. This behavior has been reduced since workers threatened legal action against the company for tolerating corporal punishment in the plant. However, there remain reports of on-going physical abuse in the plant. "When you get in trouble, they will grab your face and smack you on the head. There is one that goes around with a stick and will hit you on the head with it," said a 24-year-old man who's worked there for two years.

A 22-year-old male worker reported that the foreign "managers touch the women inappropriately on the breasts. They pretend it is a joke." A 27-year-old man who's worked at BJ&B for over three years added, "They say to the women what a nice little ass you have, or whatever, depending on what they are touching."

No safe water to drink. A 20-year-old woman who's worked at BJ&B for one year reported, "There is lots of dust and lots of heat. We all sweat, and in the afternoon the sun starts to burn." But workers say that it's not safe to drink the water in the plants. People believe that the water is infested with parasites. Once workers actually found a mound of ringworms in the water, but when they showed the manager, he just laughed. Most workers bring water from home in a thermos, if they can afford one. "Don't drink the water," one woman bluntly warned.

Health and safety. The company's health and safety practices also reveal BJ&B's irresponsibility. Workers' descriptions indicate that the company fails at basic industrial safety practices. Workers report that emergency exits aren't marked; that strings were drawn across the plant to pen workers into their work areas; that at least one woman suffered a serious injury after tripping over one of these strings; and that machines lack guards to protect workers' hands.

Punishing the injured. Bad practices often lead to bad accidents. But at BJ&B, if you're hurt on the job, don't expect compassionate treatment. Workers described at least two incidents in which workers who were injured on the job were eventually fired by the company.

The Company Doc. Workers say that BJ&B requires them to go first to the company doctor and to pay for whatever expensive medicine that doctor prescribes rather than permitting them to go directly to the government-financed clinic for free doctor visits and free medicine. Workers believe this is a way to pressure them to work even if they are sick or injured. They say they are only allowed to go to the clinic if the company doctor gives permission.

Sure conditions are bad, but shouldn't these workers
be grateful to have any jobs at all?

Some people try to defend the impoverished conditions of workers at plants like BJ&B. Their argument goes like this: underdeveloped countries need low-wage jobs to grow economically. If they didn't have low wages, they wouldn't have any jobs at all!

This "sweatshops are good" argument is sometimes made by companies who put work into these factories, and by some anti-labor policy-makers. These arguments ignore some of the most important issues at stake:

Most importantly, labor standards such as those in the Duke licensing code affect work no matter what country it is produced in. The whole point is to raise standards by telling companies, "Wherever you produce these items, you have to treat people right." Without real rights for workers, including the right to organize, conditions will continue to deteriorate as companies pit workers against each other in a race to the bottom.
Another key point is that decent working conditions are affordable. The labor costs are such a minor part of the costs of the cap. BJ&B could triple the amount of money it pays its production workers, and the cost per cap would go up by about 16�.
Morality matters. Profits should flow from making a quality product efficiently, not from sweating the most misery out of the most vulnerable.

Suppressing The Right To Organize

Why do workers put up with conditions such as these? Because they say that BJ&B illegally fires workers who try to organize to change these conditions.

At the end of 1996, some workers from the town of Piedra Blanca began talking to union representatives. According to workers, within two months the company started firing almost every worker from that town. For example, the company called a 22-year-old woman into the main office. "The manager told me I was on a union list and that's why he was firing me," she said. By March 1997, dozens of workers�mostly from Piedra Blanca and nearby Zona 2�had been fired.

One of the few workers from Villa Altagracia who was fired was a 25-year-old student who had worked at BJ&B for 3 years. "They told me outright that I was going to be fired for union activities. Then the managers told me that if I would spy on my co-workers, I could keep my job. When I refused, they fired me on the spot."

A 22-year-old woman who had been fired for union activity concluded, "Just the smallest hint of workers coming together on work issues and there is a mass lay-off. The company doesn't care who they sacrifice as long as they have made their point and stopped any activity."

"They told me outright that I was going to be fired for union activities. Then the managers told me that if I would spy on my co-workers, I could keep my job. When I refused, they fired me on the spot."

BJ&B Is a Sweatshop

There is no one definition of what a sweatshop is. Some use the term to describe an industrial plant in which people work in poverty. By that definition, BJ&B is a sweatshop.

Others use the term to describe a company that squeezes workers economically, turning the screws tighter regardless of the underlying economics of the business. By that definition, BJ&B is a sweatshop.

Another definition is a company that systematically breaks the laws that provide some protection to workers. And by that definition, BJ&B is a sweatshop.

A sweatshop can be a place where workers are treated abusively. Or it can be a workplace where the right of workers to organize for improved conditions is suppressed. And by these definitions, BJ&B is a sweatshop.

But the nomenclature doesn't really matter. What does matter is changing the unjust conditions faced by workers at Villa Altagracia. It doesn't have to be this way.

It doesn't have to be this way.

Remember, the cost of the labor in a college cap is 8�. The cap sells for $19.95. There is no necessity for university insignia gear to be produced under sweatshop conditions. "What I want to know is why do we get paid so little if these caps sell for so much?" asked a 20-year-old woman who has been at BJ&B for one year. Both workers and college students are demanding an answer to this question.

Apparently, BJ&B thinks colleges and universities don't care about the conditions under which their campus caps are made and its many violations of Dominican law. Even the workers were surprised to learn that students in the U.S. were concerned about their wages and their rights. But surprise quickly gave way to excitement."It's great that they're interested, that they care about our situation," said a 20-year-old fired student worker who had labored for two years at BJ&B. "They need to know that we don't get paid enough to cover our basic needs," added a 25-year-old mother who's been working there for two years.

The Duke Licensing Code. Duke University recently announced a new code of conduct for companies that license the Duke name. These companies must meet certain standards. They must publicly reveal where their work is done. Duke has committed to setting up a system for enforcing its code.

This courageous step by Duke deserves recognition. This step is an acknowledgement of responsibility, and a step toward accountability. Several features of the Duke code deserve particular mention:

Protection of the right to organize. Unless workers have the power to hold companies accountable, no system of protection is going to be effective.
Preference for companies that show leadership in workplace practices. This clause allows Duke to reward companies that pay living wages.
Public disclosure. So long as the locations are hidden, sweatshops will proliferate.
Independent monitoring. Monitoring that is not truly independent is always suspect, and at worst can lead to cover-ups rather than uncovering workplace problems.

The Duke code isn't perfect. But it provides a genuine opportunity. It will be hard for Duke to accomplish its goals alone. But if other universities join in, a multi-university code could make a significant impact on the lives of workers at BJ&B, and at many similar plants around the world.

Unfortunately, there are real problems with codes if they are adopted not to foster meaningful change, but just to handle a public relations problem. Weak or watered down codes are worse than no codes at all. A weak code can be used to bless conditions which should be condemned.

In the coming weeks and months, student leaders, administrators, and others who care about the sweatshop issue have a chance to take action by adopting licensing codes that at minimum have the features of the Duke code.

It is fitting that the university community should take leadership in this area. Our universities so often are at the forefront of important moral issues. And yet it is the name of the university itself that is attached to sweatshop-made goods. Harvard Provost Harvey Fineburg once said that, "All members of the University and the institution as a whole benefit when its name is well used, and suffer when it is ill used." Perhaps for universities that join Duke in adopting an effective licensing code, the good use of the university name may benefit hundreds of thousands of workers like those in Villa Altagracia.

"All members of the University and the institution as a whole benefit when its name is well used, and suffer when it is ill used." -Harvard Provost Harvey Fineburg