Dear Friends,

Happy New Year from the MSN team!

As we begin 2022, we write with an update on MSN’s work in the final months of 2021, including three major victories achieved late in the year. Before sharing the good news, however, we ask you to start the new year by taking action to support Thai workers who are owed US$7.8 million dollars after their factory closed.

Will Victoria’s Secret actually support women?

MSN and other labour rights and trade union organizations participating in the global #PayYourWorkers campaign are calling on lingerie retailer Victoria’s Secret to pay the workers who sewed their products the US$7.8 million that they are owed. In March 2021, close to 1,400 Thai garment workers were left without jobs or severance pay when the Brilliant Alliance garment factory that produced lingerie for Victoria’s Secret, Torrid and Lane Bryant suddenly closed.

You can contact the company by email, Twitter and Instagram. Please circulate these materials widely through your networks.

Salvadoran workers win US$1 million in severance pay

Approximately 200 former employees of the Industrias Florenzi garment factory in El Salvador have been owed US$1.3 million in severance pay since the factory closed in July 2020. Industrias Florenzi was a supplier for Barco Uniforms, producing Grey’s Anatomy brand medical scrubs and other products.

Almost sixteen months after the factory closed, Barco Uniforms, the owner of the Grey’s Anatomy brand and a Disney licensee, agreed to make a US$1 million “humanitarian contribution” to the former workers. This victory was achieved through an extensive #PayYourWorkers social media campaign, and the tireless efforts of the workers, the Salvadoran women’s organization ORMUSA, the Worker Rights Consortium, and international labour rights organizations, including MSN.

Visit the Worker Rights Consortium website for more information on the settlement and workers' reactions.

Historic Union-Employer Agreement reached in Sri Lanka

With the support of international labour rights organizations, including MSN, a coalition of Sri Lankan unions has won an historic agreement with the country’s main garment industry association (JAAF) to address two systemic issues in the industry.

The agreement includes commitments to establish bipartite health committees in the workplace to prevent and address COVID-related health hazards, and to respect workers’ right to freedom of association.

Although the agreement does not fully respond to the demands of the unions and the international #PayYourWorkers campaign to redress wage theft during the pandemic, it does commit the signatories to continue bipartite discussions on how to address lost wages and other monetary benefits.

Visit our website for more information and to access:
• The public statement from the coalition of Sri Lankan signatory unions.
• The text of the agreement.
• The joint statement welcoming the agreement from Clean Clothes Campaign, Labour Behind the Label, Solidarity Center, War on Want, Workers United, and MSN.

160 brands sign new Health and Safety Accord, so far

As of January 3, 2022, 160 brands have signed on to the new International Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry. This in and of itself is a huge victory, but workers and international allies continue campaigning to convince more brands to sign on to the expanded Accord that potentially goes beyond Bangladesh.

An op-ed written to mark the anniversary of the That’s It Sportswear garment factory fire in Bangladesh highlights the need to hold brands accountable for workers' health and safety. See which brands have signed on and scroll down to take action on the Clean Clothes Campaign website.

El Salvador: “Foreign Agents Law” faces opposition

MSN is joining with other labour and human rights organizations in calling for the withdrawal of a proposed “Foreign Agents Law” in El Salvador that would severely limit the work of civil society organizations and media outlets.

If approved in its present form, the law would require individuals and entities that receive funding from abroad to register as “foreign agents” and prohibit them from participating in “political activities” perceived to threaten public order or national security and stability. Those who fail to comply could face fines, jail time, and/or the cancellation of their organization’s legal status. The bill also includes a proposed 40% tax on funds from foreign sources.

More information on the proposed law and similar legislation in other countries in the region is available on our website.

Legitimating Collective Bargaining Agreements in Mexico

MSN’s latest publication on Mexico’s labour justice reform critically assesses the process and results of the new legal requirement that all existing collective bargaining agreements must be voted on by workers by May 2023. The one-time-only vote is intended to challenge Mexico’s notorious employer protection contract system, in which corrupt, unrepresentative unions sign contracts with employers behind the backs of workers.

Accompanying the report is a database, prepared by MSN, with the results of all CBA legitimation votes, as well as the unions involved in them, in the first two years of the process.

A Spanish-language article on our report is available on the El Economista website.