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Walmart has continued its global crackdown on workers organizing for better conditions, denying freedom of association to hundreds of workers in Argentina. The union-busting campaign culminated in death threats, especially worrisome following the murder of a union activist at a Walmart contractor earlier this month elsewhere in Latin America.

Happy holidays! On behalf of our garment workers' unions in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, we hope you will join us in celebrating everything we have accomplished together in 2013.

Please share this page with friends and family, and begin a monthly donation to help us make far greater steps forward for our coworkers and our families in 2014.

1. Workers at Adidas contract factories joined forces across in 11 countries.

Launched in February, "Adidas Workers Unite!" is our first truly global union network. It builds on the early successes of regional union networks in Central America and the Caribbean by workers in the supply chains of Gildan Activewear and Fruit of the Loom. In October, the Adidas workers across the globe held their first-ever synchronized protests at Adidas stores, offices and contractors, in a show of horizontal international solidarity.

(Photo: Workers of Adidas' main football cleat supplier PT Panarub protest outside the brand's office in Jakarta, Indonesia. October 7, 2013.)

More information:

• Letter to Adidas: PDF (English), PDF (Spanish)
• Protest photos: League Flickr page

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 21, 2013.

Today, the Turkish textile-garment union TEKSiF reached agreement on a new contract with the main Turkish textile-garment employers' association, ending a national strike that began August 15. The new agreement sets wages and conditions for thirty factories and 20,000 workers, including 12,000 TEKSiF members and several thousand members of two other unions.

The union enjoyed 100% participation and support by the 12,000 TEKSiF members, effectively closing all thirty affected plants. The union has released a press statement and an announcement of the terms of the agreement, both in Turkish.

Workers' victory has global significance, as Turkey is one of the top sourcing companies for multinational apparel corporations. Turkey is the third largest sourcing country for Adidas, the focus of a global campaign by workers in its contract factories to demand living wages, workplace safety and stable jobs.

The leadership of the International Union League for Brand Responsibility extends our great appreciation to the 400 activists, DJs, dancers and other friends in London who raised £2,000 (a little over €2,000, nearly $3,000). We just received this donation, following their June 28 "All Out" fundraiser party at the New Empowering Church of London.

Special thanks to DJs Rumah, uttng, Danny McNally and Daniel James, hip-hop/funk trio Suffice Plustwo, and the Imperial Steps Dance Crew.

Yesterday at 11:00 AM in Guangzhou, China, five factory workers marched in to the local Adidas office. The workers of Taiwanese-owned Dynamic Casting demanded that Adidas put a stop to the severe workplace injuries at their plant and pay fair compensation to those already suffering. The workers manufacture golf clubs for Adidas' TaylorMade golf brand.

The worker activists weren't alone. At the same time in Hong Kong and Taiwan, labor unions and other supporters held their own protests. The activists hold Adidas responsible for a disturbing pattern of benzene poisoning, lung disease, deafness and Hand/Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS) at Dynamic Casting as well as Xingang Shoe Company in Dongguan. The demonstrations followed Friday's action by Adidas workers in Indonesia, which highlighted these two cases as well as their own case: the firing of 1,600 at Adidas soccer boot supplier PT Panarub Dwikarya for striking over the failure to pay the new minimum wage.

We are Indonesian Adidas workers: We support the struggle of Adidas workers in China, Taiwan, South America and in every country to fight against: Union busting, bad working conditions, unilateral layoffs, and violations of workers' rights at suppliers and subcontractors of Adidas.

When workers join together to demand fair working conditions, Adidas contract factories seem to have a standard response: Fire the workers, blacklist them so they can't find jobs elsewhere, and threaten the rest of the workers that the same will happen to whoever else dares to organize. Despite clearly violating Adidas' Workplace Standards and local labor laws, this has happened over and over and over again.

But in past weeks, workers at three different Adidas contractors have won decisive victories over this cynical roadblock to workers' rights. At Textiles Opico in El Salvador, Joe Anne Dominicana in the Dominican Republic, and Troon Manufacturing in Nicaragua, workers won their jobs back after being fired for organizing.

Para lograr justicia social, todos a luchar con la Liga Sindical!

(To win social justice, everyone struggle together with the Union League!)

That was the chant last weekend in San Salvador, where workers from Adidas contractors across Latin America convened with other union leaders from around the region for the Americas Regional Conference of the International Union League for Brand Responsibility.

During the conference, the League voted on new members. The Industrial Workers' Federation of Argentina (FeTIA-CTA) reports on its blog:

The following statement was released by the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union (C.CAWDU) on May 1, 2013. In response to a disappointingly small increase to the unlivable minimum wage, workers call directly on the multinational brands buying from Cambodian factories to guarantee living wages.

 » Download PDF in English or Khmer.