We've touched a nerve at Mulberry
- Details
- Published on Thursday, 24 September 2015 08:45
- Written by editor
Are you one of the more than 10,000 people who recently received an email from Mulberry?
That email -- the subject line read "LabourStart petition re. SF Leather" -- gave the company's response to our online campaign.
There's nothing new in the company's message.
It contains the same tired excuses the company provided to IndustriALL Global Union back in July.
IndustriALL's responsed by questioning the legitimacy of the third party audits at the plant. None of these audit processes were made public and Deriteks, the union that workers are attempting to join, was never involved.
Here's what IndustriALL's Assistant General Secretary Kemal Özkan says:
"Mulberry refused to comment on the details of the case because there is an ongoing court process. We reject the claim a court process prevents the company from working with the union to reach a solution.
"We told Mulberry in July that if it has genuine commitment to upholding its own Sourcing Principles then IndustriALL Global Union, together with its Turkish affiliate Deriteks, offers a meeting to seek a solution at SF Leather. So far the offer has not been taken.
"Workers making expensive Mulberry products have the right to join a union and have a voice at work. Mulberry's supplier sacked 14 trade union leaders and strongly intimidates its workforce against joining a union. Mulberry, meet with us and Deriteks, and start to repair the damage at SF Leather."
Clearly we've struck a nerve.
Mulberry felt it had to answer the more than 10,000 of us who sent off our messages of protest.
So what do we do now?
Should we simply accept the company's assertion that it "takes very seriously the rights and responsibilities outlined in our Global Sourcing Principles ... and we expect a very high standard from our suppliers"?
We don't think so. Clearly, the company is sensitive to criticism and pressure.
If 10,000 messages got them to react in this way, what will be the effect of 20,000 messages? Or 50,000?
Here's what we should do:
If you didn't already send off a message to Mulberry (and there are 75,000 of you on this list who haven't yet done so), please do so today by going here:
http://www.labourstart.org/go/mulberry
If you've already support the campaign, please forward this message to at least three of your friends, family and fellow union members.
Tell them you've supported this campaign and you know that if they'd join in this fight, the workers at SF Leather will win their right to a trade union.
Thanks very much -- and have a great weekend!
Eric Lee
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