Date of publication: April 15, 2009
Attached Files
Summaries of labor conditions documented in the report at factories that provide products to Dickies, which supplies Washington D.C. The full report, including quotes from workers and detailed recommendations for each case, is available at www.sweatfree.org/subsidizing [2].
Brand: Dickies
Factory investigated: Confecciones Mazara (Tehuacán, Mexico)
- Unlawful discrimination against union supporters in hiring decisions, otherwise known as ‘blacklisting’. A “List of Workers Not Recommended for Hire” used by the company to deny employment to workers contains 551 names, most of whom are members of the September 19 Garment Workers Union or have been active in protest campaigns supported by the Human and Labor Rights Commission of the Tehuacán Valley.
Brand: Dickies
Factory investigated: Dickies de Honduras (Choloma, Honduras)
- Fifty-eight workers fired, supposedly to reduce cost. But they were all union supporters. Were they fired because they support the union?
- Poverty wages. The base wage pays at best one-half the cost of basic necessities for a family of four.
- Exhausting work schedules. The “4 x 4” schedule, from 7:00 am to 6:00 pm four days a week, amounts to 11 hours a day, and often 12 hours a day when workers fail to meet excessive production goals and must work late to catch up.