Successful remediation of illegal termination at Gear for Sports supplier

We write to provide you with a new factory report, documenting remediation of labor rights violations at a collegiate factory in El Salvador.
 
The WRC frequently documents violations of freedom of association in Central America – one common violation is retaliatory firings of union leaders , even when they are legally protected from such termination. This issue is so pervasive that labor law in El Salvador, for example, explicitly prohibits employers from firing union leaders without prior demonstration of just cause, under a standard known as fuero sindical. University codes of conduct have enabled the WRC to ensure that employers respect this legal right, often achieving remediation with greater celerity than the local legal systems.

In the case documented here, the WRC found that a supplier to Gear for Sports and Outerstuff in El Salvador, known as Grupo Merlet, violated local law and university codes of conduct when it illegally fired a union leader who was protected from dismissal by fuero sindical. The worker won a court order that she be reinstated, but the factory refused to comply and the government did not enforce the order (unfortunately a common occurrence). Acting on a complaint, the WRC was able to convince Grupo Merlet to remedy the violations and restore the rights of the worker.
 
As always, please let us know if you have any questions.