It wasn’t very long ago that every time you looked at a clothing label you would see “Made in the USA.”  Not only was it made in the USA but it probably also had some sort of connection to a thriving garment industry in the Cleveland area.  Names like Joseph & Feiss Co, Bobbie Brooks, Printz-Biederman, Lion Knitting Mills, and Cleveland Worsted Mill dominated the industry and union cards kept people gainfully employed.

But this good thing has come to an end.  Now Hugo Boss, the last clothing manufacturer in Cleveland, has given notice of their intent to shutter their plant and permanently lay off 400 workers at the end of April.

Hugo is closing because they want to ship the jobs to a plant in Turkey where they can pay much less than the average current rate of $12 per hour they pay Cleveland employees.

Hugo management offered to stay if the employees were willing

Continue reading Hugo Boss Threatens to Move Overseas if Workers Refuse $4/Hr Pay Cut

Delhi, India— On October 7th, the ITUC-declared World Day of Decent Work, Asian workers’ organizations and representatives along with allies in the US, UK and throughout Europe are coming together to demand a Minimum Living Wage called the Asia Floor Wage.

As the protestors at G-20 recently urged the global platform of governments to realize the fallacy of the neoliberal “free trade” model of development, labor activists in Asia, US, UK and Europe have joined hands to pro-actively propose a new model for growth.

The Asia Floor Wage (AFW) Campaign is based on the premise that we need a new framework for the growth of the global economy; one that is based on labor rights and prioritizes the demand for a living wage.

Garment worker Mirza takes a nap, while her eldest son gives lessons to his younger

Continue reading Activists in 15 Countries Launch Historic Global Collective Bargaining Campaign