On legacy php5 environment...
imc indymedia

Los Angeles Indymedia : Activist News

white themeblack themered themetheme help
About Us Contact Us Calendar Publish RSS
Features
• latest news
• best of news
• syndication
• commentary


KILLRADIO

VozMob

ABCF LA

A-Infos Radio

Indymedia On Air

Dope-X-Resistance-LA List

LAAMN List

make media
archives


links
donate
sf-active
imc network

IMC Network:

Original Cities

www.indymedia.org africa: ambazonia canarias estrecho / madiaq kenya nigeria south africa canada: hamilton london, ontario maritimes montreal ontario ottawa quebec thunder bay vancouver victoria windsor winnipeg east asia: burma jakarta japan korea manila qc europe: abruzzo alacant andorra antwerpen armenia athens austria barcelona belarus belgium belgrade bristol brussels bulgaria calabria croatia cyprus emilia-romagna estrecho / madiaq euskal herria galiza germany grenoble hungary ireland istanbul italy la plana liege liguria lille linksunten lombardia london madrid malta marseille nantes napoli netherlands nice northern england norway oost-vlaanderen paris/Île-de-france patras piemonte poland portugal roma romania russia saint-petersburg scotland sverige switzerland thessaloniki torun toscana toulouse ukraine united kingdom valencia latin america: argentina bolivia chiapas chile chile sur cmi brasil colombia ecuador mexico peru puerto rico qollasuyu rosario santiago tijuana uruguay valparaiso venezuela venezuela oceania: adelaide aotearoa brisbane burma darwin jakarta manila melbourne perth qc sydney south asia: india mumbai united states: arizona arkansas asheville atlanta austin baltimore big muddy binghamton boston buffalo charlottesville chicago cleveland colorado columbus dc hawaii houston hudson mohawk kansas city la madison maine miami michigan milwaukee minneapolis/st. paul new hampshire new jersey new mexico new orleans north carolina north texas nyc oklahoma philadelphia pittsburgh portland richmond rochester rogue valley saint louis san diego san francisco san francisco bay area santa barbara santa cruz, ca sarasota seattle tampa bay tennessee urbana-champaign vermont western mass worcester west asia: armenia beirut israel palestine process: fbi/legal updates mailing lists process & imc docs tech volunteer projects: print radio satellite tv video regions: oceania united states topics: biotech

Surviving Cities

www.indymedia.org africa: canada: quebec east asia: japan europe: athens barcelona belgium bristol brussels cyprus germany grenoble ireland istanbul lille linksunten nantes netherlands norway portugal united kingdom latin america: argentina cmi brasil rosario oceania: aotearoa united states: austin big muddy binghamton boston chicago columbus la michigan nyc portland rochester saint louis san diego san francisco bay area santa cruz, ca tennessee urbana-champaign worcester west asia: palestine process: fbi/legal updates process & imc docs projects: radio satellite tv

Return to Calendar    
   
Title: Press Conference - Cort Guitar Workers
START DATE: 1/12/2010
START TIME: 11:00 AM
Duration: 1 Hours
Location: downtown, central, hollywood, northeast
Location Details:
KIWA
3471 W. 8th St., LA 90005
Event Topic: labor
Event Type: conference
Contact Name: Sukjong Hong
Contact Email: cortguitar.action@gmail.com
Contact Phone: 646-567-9607
DESCRIPTION:
download PDF (883.4 kibibytes) International delegation of Cort Guitar workers arrive from Korea to challenge their employer and famous American guitarmakers at NAMM Show

Cort’s Business Partners FENDER, GIBSON, IBANEZ, ESP, G&L, WESTHEIMER, should support basic worker rights

LOS ANGELES & ANAHEIM, California

Unknown to most American consumers, the budget lines of famous American guitar brands such as Fender, Squier, Gibson, G&L and ESP were made for decades by Cort and Cor-tek guitar manufacturing workers in Korea in sweatshop-like conditions. On January 8, these workers arrived from Korea just in time for NAMM Show (Jan. 14-17) to challenge their illegal mass dismissal by Cort Guitars and its acoustic guitar production arm, Cor-tek. In Korea, they have been calling on Cort to re-open their Korean factories and restore their livelihoods for more than 1000 days, but at NAMM and in California, they will also ask Cort’s business partners like Fender to uphold basic worker rights with contractors like Cort and let the international buying public at NAMM know that Cort Guitars is thriving on the inhumane treatment of guitar manufacturing workers. See attached for Overview, Attachment1).

With performances by musicians such as Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and Boots Riley of The Coup, and with support from local unions and organizations such as the AFL-CIO United Steel Workers Local 675, SEIU Latino Caucus, Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance (KIWA), ENLACE International, the Cort/ Cor-tek workers will carry out a week of events and concerts (Jan. 11- 17th) in LA and Anaheim to call for their jobs to be returned. (See Schedule, Attachment 2).

“There was one worker who worked at the painting process for 25 years and suffered from bronchitis,” a Cor-tek worker recalled. “One day, when he lost consciousness while working, the managing staff even demanded that he write a letter of resignation during his hospitalization.”

Both Korea’s National Labor Relations Commission and the Seoul Administrative Court (Oct. 2007, Mar. 2008, Aug. 2009, Nov. 2009) judged that Cort’s mass dismissal of all Korean factory workers and the sudden closure of its Korean factories was illegal. The Commission and Court also found false the company’s claim of financial hardship to justify their action. It is clear that Cort moved operations to China and Indonesia in order to avoid the basic worker rights guaranteed in Korea, where it wasn’t even paying minimum wage (http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals/article/105518626_2.html). Since 2007, Cort has used intimidation and violence to secure forced resignations and to retaliate against the union. The case itself is now in Korea’s Supreme Court.

The conditions at Cort’s factories in Korea, where there was a high occupational injury rate, verbal and sexual harassment from managers, no ventilation or breaks, and forced overtime to meet production deadlines, all call for serious attention from the American guitar companies that rely on Cort for production.

The press conference to open the week of actions will be held TUESDAY 1/12 at 11am, at KIWA Cultural Education Center, 3471 West 8th Street, LA 90005.

The press conference at NAMM will be held Thurs. 1/14 at 2pm, the opening day of NAMM Show 2010, in front of Anaheim Convention Center, 800 W. Katella Avenue, Anaheim 92802.

© 2000-2018 Los Angeles Independent Media Center. Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by the Los Angeles Independent Media Center. Running sf-active v0.9.4 Disclaimer | Privacy