Campaign for Labor Rights wrote: Action Alerts are a free service provided by the Campaign for Labor Rights (Washington, DC). Please distribute widely and freely, citing the Campaign for Labor Rights as your source. For more information, please visit www.campaignforlaborrights.org. - May 22, 2003 In this Action Alert: (1) Update on the Global Month of Action Against Sweatshops: Barcelona Erupts! (2) Tri-Mountain: Promoting Oppression in Burma <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> (1) Update on the Global Month of Action Against Sweatshops: Barcelona Erupts! Campana Ropa Limpia, the Spanish Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) launched their participation in the Month of Action last weekend. Elena Estrada reports: "Things are moving !! Perfect timing, on 15 May, Nike opened a new exclusive shop in the main high street of Barcelona (las Ramblas...Dozens of activist and consumers are handing in their letters every day since the opening...During this weekend at two different street actions (each lasting 4 days) we collected hundreds of signatures on the letter. We requested consumers to sign the letter and hand it personally but also give the option of introducing the signed letter into the "drum" of a cartoon washing machine?The idea is not only that individuals hand in the letter but that the CCC campaign also hand in collectively hundred of letters. It's elections time in Spain so a lot of politicians campaign at street events and fairs, we are also asking them to sign the letter too, (some of the reps form green coalition have already done it! Moreover, about 3000 letters and leaflets have been distribute d this week only in Barcelona at sports centres, theatres, youngster centres, schools and Universities... plus events in other Spanish cities (CCC in Valencia, Pamplona and Madrid presented the action during events this week end)." In addition to this whirlwind of activity in Spain we've received word of planned actions in the US, Austria, United Kingdom and Canada. In Australia over 2,000 letters and leaflets have been distributed so far, and this week some groups are planning to scale up the number of stores they leaflet. There are now over 22,000 people receiving weekly invitations to take part in the campaign, including you. This is a great opportunity to show sports brands that there is a growing global community who won't buy sports gear made in sweatshops. There are two weekends left. If you cannot organize a leafleting action, download the letter and mail or hand-deliver it to your nearest sports store. All the info you need is in the action pack: Please forward this on to friends, and let us know about your actions by sending an email with the Subject: Leafleting to: organize@clrlabor.org (2) Tri-Mountain: Promoting Oppression in Burma Help stop dictatorship in Burma: a promotional apparel company called "Tri-Mountain" is helping support Burma's military regime by importing huge quantities of "Made in Burma" products. In fact, Tri-Mountain is currently one of the biggest importers of products from Burma! Please take a minute to tell this company to end support for forced labor and stop the retail of products from Burma! Write Tri-Mountain at sales@trimountain.com, attention: Rosy Tsai, Vice President. ***************************** Send an Email Demanding That Tri-Mountain Stop Supporting Slavery in Burma! Tri-Mountain, a major producer of promotional appar el for corporations, associations, civic groups, and sports teams, imports huge quantities of garments from Burma - a Southeast Asian country ruled by a brutal military dictatorship. Their clothing can be found at campus stores such as the University of Wisconsin and Washington State, which have had their school logo jackets produced by Tri-Mountain, and is also used by groups as diverse as the American Bowling Congress and the Albany River Rats (sports team). Most if not all of their products have a label reading "Tri-Mountain" on the inside collar, regardless of whether the embroidered logo on the outside is for the University of Wisconsin or for Auto Enthusiast. The company should know better: the garment industry in Burma is closely tied to a modern form of slave labor! Garment companies in Burma are controlled completely by the country's dictators, whom have been criticized by the U.S. State Department, the United Nations, Amnesty International, and others for brutal violations of human rights -- killing, torture, a modern form of slave labor, and rape. The money people spend on Tri-Mountain's clothes from Burma benefits Burma's military dictators and means more suffering for the 50 million people living in the country. Burma's dictatorship leads the world in child soldiers with over 70,000 - many of whom are literally kidnapped off city streets and forced into a life of beatings and dehumanizing treatment. As soldiers, these children are forced to take part in atrocities like torture, rape, and murder of civilians in Burma's rural areas. They are also treated as slaves: forced to toil for their officers' profit. When the Free Burma Coalition first contacted Tri-Mountain about its business ties to Burma, the company responded with a patronizing letter describing their "annual trips" to Burma and how it is "next to impossible for people living in Sta tes [sic] to experience or even imagine how these [Burmese] people live." Of course, for people like Aung Din, FBC Director of Policy, and our many Burmese members and supporters, they know very well what it is like to live in Burma under the military regime. Burma's brutal regime gets only richer because of its garment export trade and companies like Tri-Mountain should not be helping to keep them in power. TAKE ACTION! Write a letter to Tri-Mountain's Vice-President, Ms. Rosy Tsai, at sales@trimountain.com. Points to include in your email: * Forced labor - including forced child labor - is used in the construction of Burma's factories and infrastructure, as has been documented by the U.S. State Department and the International Labor Organization. * Other companies have agreed to stop importing products from Burma, including Wal-Mart, Gart Sports, Columbia Sportswear, Adidas, The Spiegel Group, Jones Apparel Group, Fila, Tommy Hilfiger, The Children's Place Retail Stores, JanSport, and Phillips-Van Heusen. Promotional apparel companies like Vantage Custom Classics and Leeds have also banned production in Burma. * Tri-Mountain perpetuates forced labor, the forced conscription of child soldiers, and other abuses in Burma by helping to create a demand for products made there and by providing currency for Burma's regime and its cronies. ** MOST IMPORTANT: YOU WILL NOT BUY ANY TRI-MOUNTAIN PRODUCTS UNTIL THE COMPANY STOPS SELLING GOODS FROM BURMA. ** DO NOT SIMPLY CUT AND PASTE THIS MESSAGE INTO YOUR EMAIL. Please send a copy of your email to and any responses you get from the company to dbeeton@freeburmacoalition.org. For more information on the boycott of products from Burma, www.freeburmacoalition.org or call 202-547-5985.