#UnitedAgainstTheDragon: International Day of Action (Reports)
All reports related to the International Day of Action in Solidarity with former Textile Workers at Dragon Sweater (Dhaka) and against Excessive Consumerism on Black Friday (Nov. 27th, 2020) are listed below.
Bielefeld
Picket at New Yorker store (Bahnhofstraße).
Organized by: FAU Bielefeld
Braunschweig
Picket at New Yorker flagship store (Schuhstraße).
Organized by: In/Progress
Derry
Picket at Lidl store.
Organized by: IWW Derry
The Industrial Workers of the World IWW endorses the international call made by the CIT-ICL in solidarity with Garment Workers and the GWTUC in Bangladesh.
A representative of the IWW Branch in Derry commented todays actions
Our members are once again highlighting the devastation caused to textile workers, to their families and wider communities throughout Bangladesh by ruthless companies who distribute to multinationals such as Lidl.
These companies have known for sometime now just how workers involved with their suppliers such as Dragon Sweater and Imperial Sweaters are treated. Thousands have been illegally let go from their jobs and have received no payment of wages owed to them or redundancies which they are fully entitled to.
After months of protests, strikes and standoffs, of which the IWW have taken part in internationally, these companies agreed to a fixed settlement earlier this month but have renegade on these. This in turn has left workers and the communities in which they come from destitute.
Those two factories belonging to the Dragon Group have been supplying Walmart, Lidl and New Yorker among others. Despite worldwide protests the companies involved didn’t take up any responsibility in how these workers have been treated. It is nothing short of a disgrace.
Our union initiated several requests along with the Free Workers’ Union (FAU) and the International Confederation of Labor (ICL) yet they continue to refuse to issue such a statement condemning the shocking treatment of workers.
The IWW without question fully support the garment workers call which demands that these brands condemn such methods by factory owners and act accordingly – not only regarding their suppliers the Dragon Group but also in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, India and Cambodia where union busting is part of their daily agenda.
We demand that these multinationals such as Lidl support the respective labour struggles on the ground. We must stand together in solidarity and emphasise that as consumers and as workers we don’t accept exploitation in the factories or in retailing.
Dresden
Picket at New Yorker store (Pragerstraße).
Organized by: FAU Dresden
Today on Friday 27th at 4pm we had a small action in front of New Yorker in Dresden / Germany (Prager Straße).
We had flyers and signs and took some photos, which you can find in the appendix. We also met people of the Clean Clothes Campaign, who were distributing “educational” price (see photo).
Further, we published your call to action, and also the call for donations, on our website and social media channels.Thanks for all of your work and good luck in your/our further struggles!
Report submitted by FAU Dresden
Düsseldorf
Rally in front of the shopping mall Bilker Arcaden (with a New Yorker store inside) and nearby the train station Bilk Bahnhof. Some comrades also distributed leaflets inside the shopping center.
Organized by: FAU in Düsseldorf, Krefeld and Mönchengladbach
Hamburg
Picket at New Yorker store in the city center (Spitalerstraße 6-8).
Organized by: FAU Hamburg and IWW Hamburg
Many leaflets were distributed and the New Yorker store management seemed to be really pissed off. At one point they called the police claiming that the the music we played was too loud and that we were blocking the store. Both claims were wrong. After some discussion with the cop, the managers went back inside the store and the cop left the scene.
In reaction to our picket the management ordered its security staff to distribute their own leaflet to everyone entering the store. In that leaflet they state exactly the same, that was already communicated by email to the ICL Asia Working Group a few months ago. The leaflet (in German) can also be found among the pictures.
___________
Text of the leaflet distributed by New Yorker:
NEW YORKER takes the issue of social responsibility very seriously and this is already expressed in the numerous social commitments of our company.
Our suppliers and business partners are obliged to comply with standard regarding health and safety, environment as well as fair working conditions and wage payment. This is ensured through extensive controlls in the countries of production.
The factory Dragon Sweater is known to us, since a supplier used it for the production of some of our articles. Due to this constellation, a detailed audit was carried out at the time of production in the 2nd quarter of 2019, in which no mistakes were found in the wage payments and their documentation. In the second half of 2019 and in 2020 no further checks were carried out at Dragon Sweater, as no production was commissioned by us.
__________The same workers who now fight for their missing wages, bonus payments and severance pay, produced for New Yorker in 2019! By signing an agreement with the workers, the factory owner admitted that payments are owed. An agreement that was then breached by the very same factory owner. Therefore we keep expecting New Yorker to BLACKLIST the Dragon Group – as long as the workers don’t receive what is owed to them!
Report from the local alliance in Hamburg
Iruñea
Picket in front of Lidl store (Pamplona).
Organized by: CNT Iruñea
Koblenz
Picket in front of New Yorker store.
Organized by: FAU Koblenz
Münster
Leaflet attacks at New Yorker and Lidl stores.
Organized by: FAU Münster
Leaflet attacks at New Yorker and Lidl stores.
Rostock
Banner action inside a shopping center (Kröpeliner Tor Center) in front of a New Yorker store. Also leaflets were distributed to passers-by.
Organized by: A.W.A. (Antifascists with Attitude) and supportive individuals
The leaflet can also be downloaded here.
Wetzlar
Picket at Herkules Center, a shopping center with a New Yorker store inside.
Organized by: FAU Marburg Gießen Wetzlar
One comment