Thank you for joining the International campaign in support of CALVO El Salvador workers

 

Fellow workers and friends:

 

The IUF’s Latin American Regional Office (Rel-UITA) wishes to express its sincere appreciation to you all for your support to the solidarity campaign carried out by this international in defense of the human rights and union freedoms of the workers of the Calvo Group’s plant in La Unión, El Salvador, and in particular, of the members of the General Union of Fishing and Related Industry Workers (SGTIPAC).

 

The campaign has had some positive results, such as the acknowledgement of the labor union by the company’s Spanish Board of Directors, and the fact that other unions of the Group’s plants in Spain and Brazil have become aware of the situation in El Salvador.

 

However, the abuse continues, and union leaders have not been able to sit down and discuss the matter seriously with the company’s representatives. What is worse, the company’s Salvadorian middle management continues to foster the development of a yellow union whose “activists” enjoy all the privileges denied to the workers’ union, SGTIPAC. In fact, none of the three workers laid off due to their involvement in the union have been reinstated in their jobs.

 

Meanwhile, in the European forums where it has been asked to give explanations, Calvo management has responded to the accusations with false excuses, confusing internal policy in El Salvador with a simple and clear case of persecution, anti-unionism and authoritarianism. Just to give an example: following the “lie detector” incident, workers are now forced to ask supervisors for a key to open the washrooms, which are kept permanently locked. It goes without saying that the workers identified as members of the union are harassed by supervisors whenever they ask for the keys to the bathroom.

 

That is why in addition to thanking you for you solidarity we take this opportunity to ask you to double your efforts towards raising awareness about the cynical behavior of the Calvo Group, who uses European Union legislation that requires corporate respect for labor standards, so it can import its products with major tariff reductions, while simultaneously ignoring domestic, European and international labor legislation with absolute impunity.

 

Fellow workers and friends: this campaign must continue until Calvo El Salvador authorities grant their local workers, once and for all, the same labor and social status enjoyed by all other workers employed by the group in the rest of the world.

 

Thank you very much, and let us now redouble our efforts!

 

Long live SGTIPAC!

 

Long live international solidarity!

 

Rel-UITA 9-10-2007