Reposted from Warehouse Workers United:
Exactly one month ago, on March 4, garment workers in Nicaragua were brutally beaten during a peaceful protest when the company they work for – SAE-A, a Walmart supplier – paid a mob of more than 300 other workers to attack these employees, using scissors, metal pipes, and other weapons.
This courageous group of workers is fighting to improve their working conditions, demand respect and win better wages. They are trying to form a new union, but in the process they are experiencing extreme retaliation. Workers have been bribed and 16 have been illegally fired in the company’s efforts to silence them. The brutal beating was the last straw.
Sign the petition and tell Walmart to demand its suppliers reinstate the workers, end all violent and illegal practices inside the factory and reimburse workers for medical bills and stolen property that resulted from the violent attack March 4.
Background
More than 8,000 workers produce camisoles, T-shirts and lycra clothing for Walmart and other retailers at this one garment factory inside an export processing zone in Tipitapa, Nicaragua. They are paid less than $1 per hour. They are mistreated, regularly yelled at, denied trips to the bathroom and more.
The Worker Rights Consortium, which monitors garment factories, conducted an investigation of the violent attack. Facts in this article and petition are taken from its report, which you can find here.