Forwarded message: Date: Fri, 8 Dec 95 20:23:54 -0500 (EST) From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Laura Carter) To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Urgent Action request December 8 1995 FROM: INTERNATIONAL TEXTILE, GARMENT AND LEATHER WORKERS' FEDERATION (ITGLWF) "USE INFLUENCE TO FORCE CHANGE", GAP URGED The GAP has been urged to reconsider its decision to withdraw from El Salvador following serious and continuing allegations of unfair labour practices by its local contractor, Mandarin International, and to instead use its influence to ensure that worker rights are implemented as rigorously as quality of production and speed of delivery in all its sourcing contracts. In a letter sent today to El Salvador's Minister of Labour Juan Cifontes, Neil Kearney, General Secretary of the Brussels-based International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers' Federation (ITGLWF) regretted the GAP's decision to pull out of the country but warned that continuing abuses of worker rights in the maquila sector were tarnishing the country's reputation in international markets. Said Kearney: "In a world of modern communications, such abuses can no longer be hidden from the eyes of the world. Companies know that consumers care about how their garments are produced, and the GAP's withdrawal from a company which had embarked on a vicious union-busting campaign is therefore not surprising". "However, pulling out of the country would be damaging to workers' interests, and accordingly we have urged the GAP to consider sourcing instead from reputable suppliers in El Salvador who are committed to providing fair and reasonable wages and working conditions, to upholding the right to organise and bargain collectively, and to respecting local labour laws". Kearney further called on the Minister of Labour to launch a campaign to persuade employers to promote harmony by accepting workers' inalienable right to freedom of association and the right to bargain collectively. "Such a campaign would help the clothing industry become a strong and viable sector capable of providing well-paid and secure jobs and making a positive contribution to national development, and would encourage companies such as the GAP to continue to source their production in El Salvador", he concluded. - ENDS - The Brussels-based International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers' Federation is an International Trade Secretariat which brings together 200 affiliates in 100 countries worldwide with a combined membership of over 7 million workers. FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: NEIL KEARNEY (Tel: 32/2/512 26 06 and 32/2/512 28 330) Ref: LC 1395