We invite you to join our celebration of two major victories
for working people in New York City with an evening of food, performances,
and dancing! We are coming together to celebrate a group of garment
workers who fought and won against well-known designer, Donna
Karan (DKNY), as well as to revel in the triumph of injured workers
and 9/11 survivors against the City of Albany and NYS Governor
Pataki. These victories were made with the help of your strength
and support.
WOMEN WORKERS HOLD MANUFACTURER ACCOUNTABLE
- RENEW THE BOYCOTT OF DKNY!
In 1998 Latina and Chinese women workers spoke out about the
sweatshop conditions-from long hours, no overtime pay, padlocked
bathrooms-that they endured while sewing clothes for DKNY in a
unionized factory in NYC. DKNY was especially abusive to the Latina
women who were forced into lower-paying jobs, frisked daily and
accused of stealing, and barred from sewing with machines because
they were too "clumsy" and their "eyes were bigger
than the Chinese". After years of mistreatment, the workers
couldn't take it any longer. With the support of NMASS and Chinese
Staff & Workers' Association, workers came together to organize
more workers, take legal action, and launch a boycott. The Boycott
DKNY campaign was successful because we organized and relied the
garment workers themselves instead of relying on consumers. With
this perspective, we were able to bring forth one group of workers
after another, and the campaign quickly grew into the national
and international arenas. DKNY capitulated to the mounting pressure,
rather than wait for the pending Liberty Apparel case (a federal
case that threatens to undermine workers' right to hold retailers
and manufacturers accountable for subcontracted conditions). Last
month, DKNY settled out of court the class action lawsuit for
wage violations as well as the Latina workers' discrimination
suit. DKNY compensated the workers an estimated $1 million dollars.
INJURED WORKERS & 9-11 SURVIVORS WIN 1ST
AMENDMENT VICTORY IN ALBANY
When injured workers and 9/11 survivors lead a march in Albany
last year in protest of Pataki's attacks on our health, we were
brutalized and arrested by the police. Yet instead of succumbing
to the intimidation, we returned to Albany several times and organized
a 7-day hunger strike in front of Pataki's NYC office. On October
10, 2003, organizations representing injured workers and 9/11
survivors won one of the very few First Amendment cases post-9/11.
In an out of court settlement, the City of Albany agreed to change
it's Parade and Assembly Ordinance which violated the constitution
and accept our proposed amendment. We also won the right, not
only for injured workers and 9/11 survivors but for everybody,
to march in the streets. In addition, the City of Albany agreed
to pay compensation of $5500.
Amidst celebration of these important victories, we will also
come together on December 5th to renew the DKNY boycott until
the company brings back the work to NY and rehired the unjustly
fired workers, and continue to fight against Pataki's attacks
on our health and to organize for control of our health and our
community. For more information, contact Karah Newton at (718)
625-9092. Join us!
Respectfully,
Lea Geronimo, Board Chair
Read about workers'
victory against DKNY | More
on Injured Workers& 9-11 Victims' First Amendment Victory
| Read
the Center for Economic and Social Rights Report on DKNY's sweatshops
| DKNY Workers & the "Ain't
I A Woman?" Campaign | "It's
About Time!" Campaign | NMASS
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