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Light House Workers Win Settlement!In this Alert: 1. Light House Workers Win Settlement
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LIGHT HOUSE WORKERS WIN SETTLEMENT On September 16, 24 workers won a long fight and returned to their jobs at the Light House plant in Thailand, a sub-contractor of the U.S. luggage giant, Samsonite. Their reinstatement is part of a settlement reached on September 13, which provided assurances that the company will not "interfere with trade union activities." This settlement comes after months of struggle on the part of the Light House union beginning in October 2001 with the dismissal of 600 workers. Campaign for Labor Rights first alerted you to the situation in July, when workers presented a protest letter written in their own blood to the Thai parliament and a worldwide trade union campaign. Since July, you and others who receive our Labor Alerts wrote thousands of letters and emails to Samsonite (and also to Ricardo of Beverly Hills and Atlantic Luggage) in support of the Light House workers. Your support and action in this case have helped to win an important labor rights struggle, proving that U.S. corporations can not freely roam the world looking for the cheapest deal. <><><><><> TIME AS A WEAPON
Our last Labor Alert on this campaign (September 9), stated that there were 73 Light House workers seeking reinstatement. Due to the length of this struggle, many of these workers were forced to look for other jobs. The agreement signed last Friday by Light House management would have allowed for the reinstatement of all 73 locked-out workers, but only 24 workers were actually still able to accept their hard-won return to the factory.
As stated in a letter by Light House union leaders and supporters in Thailand, “Time is used as a weapon of management in most of the disputes, because employers know that workers will not be able to economically survive after a certain period. In all of the cases we’ve seen, the management always tries to drag out the dispute as long as possible, hoping that finally workers will give up their fight. But they were/are wrong, even though, in most cases, there are some workers who drop out of the fight but many other courageous workers continue their struggle no matter how long it takes.”
<><><><><> THANK YOU FROM THAILAND
Below is a short excerpt of a letter thanking you for your support and activism on this campaign. It comes from Jaturong Sornroong, President of the Light House Union, and the coordinators of two labor rights organizations in Thailand. For the entire text of the letter and the settlement, please visit www.thailabour.org
With more and more of the international solidarity support, we are getting more confident and have stronger belief in our power to change the situation in our factory, and in Thailand. We have come to realize that the only power that management has in hand are money and time, but we are much greater in numbers and unity. It’s not all the time that money wins over dignity, courage and unity. We have proved that, because of the courage of the Almond Union workers, and now again by the Lighthouse workers… Thank you very much.” <><><><><>
Daisy Pitkin |
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