St. Louis Military Contractor Fails to Pay Sick Days to Low-Wage Workers

Puerto Rico law requires 12 sick days annually; DOD says it will look into workers’ claims
New York – St. Charles, Missouri-based Propper International, the largest military apparel manufacturer in the U.S., does not pay sick days to its workers. According to an article in yesterday’s New York Times, Tom Kellim, Propper’s chief executive, did not deny that the company fails to give workers the sick days required by Puerto Rico Law 180.

In Puerto Rico, where approximately 6,000 workers manufacture U.S. military apparel, many workers do not receive Law 180’s mandated paid time off for both sick days and vacation days. Under Puerto Rico law, employees are to receive 12 sick days and 15 vacation days each year. Propper also fails to pay sufficient vacation days under Law 180, which has been on the books for ten years.

Kellim asserts that Propper follows a local government decree exempting the apparel industry from Law 180’s requirements. But the article also said that, according to legal experts, the decree applied, if at all, only to workers hired before August 1, 1995. Moreover, the law provides that, in industries previously covered by weaker decrees, employers would be required to pay the benefits set by Law 180 as soon as they are economically able to do so. And the federally patronized military apparel industry has been economically able to pay these benefits for a long time since the law’s 1998 passage.

“Military apparel workers provide a valuable service to our country by keeping our soldiers supplied and outfitted, yet many of these workers work in sweatshop conditions and struggle to survive,” said UNITE HERE General President Bruce Raynor. “Propper and other contractors in Puerto Rico have specifically chosen to manufacture there because it is the cheapest location and provides them with the highest profit margin compared to the rest of the country. Military uniform manufacturers that operate in Puerto Rico are fully capable of providing their workers with benefits in accordance with Puerto Rican law. It is time that they pay the same sick and vacation leave as other industries there.”

Elsewhere in the article, Kellim said the company’s pay and benefits were “equal to or better than the competition.” This assertion does not hold up when Propper is compared with an important competitor, Selma, Alabama-based American Apparel, Inc. The federal government pays Propper and American Apparel comparable amounts to manufacture comparable garments. And yet, Propper workers get no retirement benefits and many report earning around the federal minimum wage – $6.55 per hour. By comparison, American Apparel, Inc. provided UNITE HERE with data in June 2008 showing that the median hourly wage of its workers in Alabama is $9.18. Additionally, those workers receive retirement benefits.

A spokesperson for the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), part of the Department of Defense (DOD), said in the article that the DLA would contact labor officials to learn more about the workers’ claims.

“I hope that the DLA is serious about investigating the compliance of its contractors,” said Raynor. “The workers doing these jobs for our men and women in uniform in Iraq, Afghanistan, and around the world deserve nothing less.”

Background:

In 2007, the DOD spent $4 billion on apparel and textiles to supply U.S. soldiers. Under federal law, all military apparel and textile items are required to be manufactured in the U.S., making the DOD the world’s largest consumer of U.S.-made apparel. In recent years, there has been an increasing movement of military apparel contractors to Puerto Rico. Low wages, no federal corporate income tax, and other government subsidies and incentives have made Puerto Rico the low-cost place to go for military uniform contractors while remaining in the U.S.

These contractors manufacture combat uniforms, dress uniforms, body armor, backpacks, tactical gear, chemical protective garments, tents, gloves, and footwear.

Demonstrating the pro-worker values that he will bring to the Presidency, Barack Obama will be sworn in to office wearing a tuxedo made by UNITE HERE members at Chicago’s Hart Schaffner Marx factory. President Elect Obama also chose a custom Hart Schaffner Marx suit to wear for his acceptance speech at the DNC. Hart Schaffner Marx has been a union shop for almost 100 years and is internationally known for its extremely high quality menswear.

As reported in The New York Times, UNITE HERE President Bruce Raynor says that from his conversations which include some with Mr. Obama, he expects the inaugural to be “upbeat and optimistic, not opulent or excessive.” You can read the full New York Times story here.

The start of the holiday shopping season also is the start of the most active time of year for charitable giving. But in the midst of an economic crisis, Americans are considering what, or even if, they can contribute to charity this year.

With that in mind, what about the notion that our shopping – the way we choose to spend our dollars – can create positive change? When you choose to buy a sweater for your son or socks for your sister, you can affect the world around you.

SweatFree Communities and the International Labor Rights Forum have released the"2009 Shop with a Conscience Consumer Guide,"; providing a list of sweatshop-free options for consumers who want to purchase shirts, pants, coats, scarves, hats and other apparel made under ethical conditions.

The guide profiles more than 20 companies that produce clothing in accordance with international fair labor standards, such as ensuring workers’ health and safety, living wages and good benefits, and treatment with respect and dignity. In addition, the guide promotes clothing produced in shops where workers are organized into democratic unions or worker-owned cooperatives and have an effective, collective voice in determining their wages and working conditions.

You can also buy union-made UNITEHERE gear at the UNITEHERE store

In the most important election of our lives UNITE HERE members are making sure that voters know their rights on Election Day.

In her two months as a volunteer political organizer in Virginia, Ida Randle of Memphis has experienced first-hand the type of misinformation inundating first-time voters. “We have met so many people who thought they could not vote! There have been many men who have had their voting rights taken away, they are very grateful when we share with them how they can restore their voting rights. With each person we help educate, we get one step closer to an Obama victory.”

We need to make sure that everyone in our communities knows they can vote. After you vote, volunteer! Please contact your shop steward.

Neisia Giles, a UNITE HERE Local 1 shop steward at US Cellular Field, has been volunteering for the Obama campaign in Virginia for two months. The mother of five decided to volunteer in order to be a role-model for younger generations. "I wanted to show my children and grandchildren about voting and the role that a union and one person can play in history." Being away from home has been hard, but it has been worth the effort. "Political activism is a great way to hold representatives accountable. It also really strengthens the union."

Neisia believes Obama is "the right person to lead our country in the right direction," and her volunteering has helped Obama take the lead in polls in Virginia. "The people we are registering-many are unaware that they can vote! We are helping them realize a dream while helping the country win a president we can be proud of."

Likewise volunteer political organizer Tony Evans of Local 2850 in Oakland found people, particularly young men, misinformed about their voting rights and how to exercise them. "When approaching young men about registering to vote, I commonly was asked how much does it cost to register and vote. I would tell them that it has already been paid for by the blood, sweat and determination of their grandparents."

Regino Romero is a cook at the Columbia Sussex-owned Hilton Hotel in Crystal City, Virginia, and his life as a single father was recently featured in a Washington Post story entitled “Life’s Basics More of a Stretch.”

“Although he has worked full time for nearly 14 years as a cook at the Hilton Crystal City hotel, he feeds his own family with help from a local food pantry,” says the Washington Post. [click here for a link to the article and photos]

Mr. Romero is a union leader at the forefront of a struggle by hotel workers to make hotel jobs middle class. The Hilton Crystal City is a unionized hotel, but after it was acquired by Columbia Sussex Hotels, the company proposed concessions in negotiations, like reducing benefits and increasing their costs, eliminating workers’ pension and seniority, and increasing workloads. The same company has also proposed concessions at the Baltimore Sheraton hotel and the Anchorage Hilton.

In recent years, Columbia Sussex has bought dozens of hotels in a buying spree that has created a large and indebted hotel company, owning more than 70 hotels. Meanwhile, its sister company Tropicana Entertainment is now in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, having bought casinos heavily financed by debt. Both companies sought concessions from their workers to help pay for their buying sprees, and after a year-long fight, workers at the Las Vegas Tropicana successfully renewed their Las Vegas Dream contract on the same terms as other Las Vegas union workers.

An overwhelming majority of workers at Mr. Romero’s hotel and the Baltimore Sheraton have called for boycotts of their own hotels to prevent concessions and fight for jobs that allow them to support their families.

Richard Hoar is a shop steward at the Claremont Hotel and Resort in Oakland, CA who is volunteering with UNITE HERE’s Obama mobilization in Wisconsin.

"My friend and I would talk about politics, but it was frustrating to talk about it without going out to do something about it. When I took a leave from work to volunteer I told my coworkers, "I’m doing this for you."

Obama’s support of the Employee Free Choice Act and other pro-worker policies will help the whole country. Richard points out that his union local, Local 2850, gets an additional benefit from his volunteering. "Through the training we are getting on this I’ll be able to motivate my coworkers even better. On our next contract negotiation I want to have that room packed!"

So far, 335 UNITE HERE members have taken extended leaves from their jobs to make history by joining the union’s election mobilization. UNITE HERE members from around the country are coming together to door-knock and phone-bank for change this fall, reaching over 150,00 voters so far.

Denise Brown-Lipford of Local 25 has been registering voters in Norfolk Virginia for two months. She is motivated to volunteer because “the last eight years under George Bush have been a disaster for workers. If we are to restore our rights in the workplace we all have to do our part. Participating in this program has been one of the best experiences of my life. I have learned so much and met so many wonderful people”

Striking hotel workers at the Congress Plaza Hotel in Chicago organized for picketing action and protest with UNITE HERE Local 1 after learning that ‘America’s Next Top Model’ was holding auditions at the hotel. In early September, the popular reality television show announced that it would stage a local casting call at the Congress, but they moved auditions to a new venue two days prior to the big event and following outcry by strike supporters.

Congress strikers, UNITE HERE Local 1 and the Chicago and Los Angeles chapters of AFTRA coordinated extensive outreach to producers of the popular television show, executives of the CW television network, and Cover Girl make-up, a key sponsor of ‘America’s Next Top Model.’ Following a swarm of concerned phone calls and e-mails, producers of the show sent an e-mail to leaders of AFTRA LA, announcing that the event had been moved "due to the long-standing labor dispute with the Congress Plaza Hotel and its union workers." The show’s website posted a new location, the Hyatt Regency at McCormick Place, hours later.

Strikers from the Congress Plaza Hotel have been on strike for five years since June 15, 2003, after the hotel decided to freeze wages and slash benefits. Now the longest active strike in the country, striking workers braved five cold Chicago winters to ensure that hotel jobs in this city are strong, family-sustaining jobs.

Hotel Workers and LGBT community unite to fight discrimination against gays and lesbians and workers.>

On July 10th, UNITE HERE and LGBT leaders announced a full-scale boycott of the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego. The coalition is calling for Hyatt to take action to correct a record of discrimination against workers at the hotel. Manchester’s Hyatt forces housekeepers to clean more rooms than housekeepers at other some Hyatt hotels, and workers at the Manchester Hyatt have no job security if the hotel is sold. The owner of the hotel Douglas Manchester, has also funded discrimination against the LGBT community. Manchester donated $125,000 to a political committee supporting Proposition 8, a November ballot initiative in California that seeks to make it illegal for loving gay and lesbian couples to marry. Hyatt should fire Manchester for Discrimination!

http://www.gaylesbiantimes.com/?id=12573

http://www.cbs8.com/stories/story.134006.html

http://weblog.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20080710-9999-1m10boycott.html