Please Help Vietnamese Workers in Samoa(Letter) -- Vietland Forum

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Date Posted: 13:16:34 10/25/00 Wed
Author: HuyenTrang
Subject: Please Help Vietnamese Workers in Samoa(Letter)

Wow! Everyone's responses have been great. Just a month ago we were
feeling downhearted to be on this tiny island in the middle of the ocean
where there is no one to help in this unpopular case. I made just a few
inquiries to activist groups through the internet and Nikki Bas of
sweatshopwatch.org forwarded our situation along. Things were quiet for a
few days then a response, and another and another - everyone who forwarded
the news along made a difference. We are no longer alone. In the past week
I have heard from people willing to come help, others with legal advice,
offers of telephone support, members of the mass media interested in
providing additional coverage of the situation. It is great to realize how
many people care.

Many of you have questions about the case, and I'd like to share with you
what is going on, as well as let you know what our needs are at this time.
The local newspaper has covered the story, with its own local flavor, and
you can read past issues online at www.samoanews.com.

Daewoosa began sewing here in March 1999. Most of the members of the
corporation are Korean, with a few Samoan members - meeting the American
Samoa Government requirement that all businesses are owned, at least in
part, by American Samoans. Daewoosa contracted with "management" companies
to provide laborers brought in from Vietnam. As a US Territory, garments
sewn here carry a "made in USA" label. The minimum wage here is
$2.52 USD/hour.

What I had heard, by way of one of the women who is now dead, was that
families in Vietnam pay $5-7,000.00 USD to get one of their women a job
here. They have high hopes that the promised wages will be sent back home
to allow for the betterment of the entire family. However when they got
here, the actual wage was much less than what they had been promised.

Later that year four courageous women went on strike, seeking their
contracted for wages. They were jailed and almost sent back to Vietnam.
The Department of Labor arranged a settlement in which these four were to be
paid.

At the end of 1999 the workers were still not being paid. Now it was nine
of them who stood together and requested they be paid, their employer made
arrangements to have the deported.

Since that time the others came together (about 100 of the 300) and have
been designated as a legal "class" for the suit. Throughout this year they
have been tageted for harrassment, suspended from work, at times kept in the
compound, continually not paid, gone hungry with inadequate meals - for
which they have been required to pay, even though their contract promised
them food and housing. They've had their passports and ID cards taken away
from them. Their families in Vietnam have been harrassed for having
dissident daughters.

The company itself seems to be not functioning well, there was nothing for
the women to sew for almost two months - during which time they were to stay
in the compound and were not paid. They became increasingly bold and began
to go out during the days looking for work. They need to send money home
for their families to pay off the enormous debts incurred in getting them
here, but they are not legally allowed to work except for their
sponsor/employer. There are warnings in the paper about it being a violation
of immigration law to help these women by allowing them to work.

A few weeks ago Daewoosa went back to "full time production" and all
workers were to be sewing full time again. However, this lasted less than a
week, the company seems to be rationing fabric to keep the women busy, but
they are still laid off for afternoons from time to time - and out in the
community looking for odd-jobs.

The court is called on in this case to restore them their rights of freedom
of speech, movement and association, to have them paid a fair and legal
wage, to have the stated benefits of their contracts fulfilled, to allow
them due process before the Immigration Board, and to free them and their
families from harrassment and discrimination for seeking these basic rights.

Very few of the women speak English, and none of them are near proficient
enough to communicate easily beyond basic exchanges. There was one woman
who had not only the language skills, but also the courage to organize the
women and take their case to the legal system. She died during a Sunday
afternoon outing in which 30 women went to a local swimming area. She and a
friend were walking on a ledge well above the water when a huge, unexpected
wave crashed and these two were thrown over the edge and dissappeared.
There had been an earthquake near Fiji a short while before which could
explain the unusal wave, and these two just happened to be near the water
when it hit. The others, I have heard, were out of the water and away from
the shore getting ready to leave or else many more would have been lost.
There was no "foul play" involved in her death.

The hearing in Friday will be reviewing with the judge some printed
contracts of employment for the women. The key testimony will come from the
Korean speaking employer. There are many Korean people here who speak
English well, and we had not anticipated a need for an interpreter, however
the past week left the case without any one willing to be involved in a case
against the men of Daewoosa. We were making urgent arrangements to bring
someone in from off-island, and at last someone agreed and is able to help.
For this Friday the hearing is covered.

The trial in January is only two days (18 and 19), and we certainly will
need to have someone able to interpret for these two days in the court.
However I am concerned that if we do not continue to support and encourage
these women, provide them with timely feedback about their situation and the
progress of the case, and provide education on human rights and labor rights
for them to really understand what they are entitled to that the harrassment
and silence will take its toll, and they will lose hope in what they set out
to accomplish. It is important not only that these women are provided
justice, but American Samoa needs to learn for itself about human rights and
labor. Our "distant to all" location had kept it free from these issues for
a long time (unlike Saipan's situation), but as attention focuses in one
part of the world the sweatshops will pack up and try to do their business
elsewhere. I have heard there are other garment factories trying to go into
operation here. If Daewoosa is handled well we may save this island from a
lot of suffering.

I'm excited to hear of all the interest. We will be following up to those
who have offered leads and advice. We may need your help in the future if
it becomes important to demonstrate to the local isolated legal system that
eyes are on them and care about the decisions they make.

Thank You all very much.
Heather Margaret
Heather.Margaret@alumnae.brynmawr.edu

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