Organise

Hazards Magazine reports that workers at the US catalogue distribution company Brylane, part of the French multinational PPR, used health and safety as a central part of their campaign to unionise the workplace. American Textiles union, UNITE, produced a catalogue of its own, and ran a fashion show, both featuring injured workers. 

Yesterday it was announced that the organising campaign had been a success - a great example of the use of health and safety as an organising issue (see AFL-CIO statement, below). The story will be covered at length in the forthcoming issue of Hazards, out in two weeks.

You can see a pdf version of the catalogue at: http://www.behindthelabel.
org/pdf/Brylane_catalog.pdf Statement by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney on Brylane Distribution Center Workers' Victory in Forming a Union with UNITE January 29, 2003.

After a 15-month effort, workers at the Brylane distribution centre in Indianapolis made history today when they formed the first-ever union at the facility through a process that allowed them to fairly choose a union. These workers are to be commended for their unwavering solidarity, as are the thousands of union members and activists in the United States and from around the globe who supported the Brylane workers by demanding that the company, which is owned by French company Pinault-Printemps-Redoute (PPR), honour their freedom to choose a union. 

The workers formed a union with the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE) because of health and safety concerns. One out of every 10 workers suffers from a repetitive motion injury.

Like tens of thousands of workers, the Brylane workers wanted to have a free choice to improve their lives with a union. In fact recent research shows that 50 percent of all American workers who don't have a union would form a union tomorrow if given a fair chance. Knowing that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election process is weighted heavily in employers' favour and that in NLRB elections, workers can expect harassment, intimidation, threats and even firings, the Brylane workers wanted a better option. They struggled for and won the right to be represented by UNITE after a majority of workers voluntarily petitioned the company for a union.

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