Hundreds seek justice in garment factory shut-down
KPUA, HI
By Associated Press
SAIPAN, Northern Mariana Island (AP) _ Planned closure of Saipan’s biggest garment manufacturing plant is stirring protests among workers losing their jobs.
Many were newly recruited from China to the economically troubled U-S commonwealth.
Workers from Concorde Garment Manufacturing Incorporated ended a hunger strike yesterday. But they staged a sit-down strike that stalled garment shipments from leaving the island for the U-S mainland.
This morning in Saipan, some workers still were refusing to return to work until they get overdue government tax rebates and reimbursement of recruiter fees. Some say they are owed tax rebates for several years from the cash-strapped territorial government.
Concorde announced last week it will close in February.
It will be the 12th Saipan factory to shut down since January 2005. That’s when quotas on textile shipments to the U-S ended, decreasing orders for Saipan’s “Made in the U-S-A” apparel.
(Copyright 2014 Associated Press. All rights reserved)
