Urgent actions
Letter to Disney UK
Following a lack of response from Disney's head office we're now targetting the UK office. If you have time, please also send a follow-up letter to Michael Eisner (link below).
Please print out the letter below and post or fax it to Disney UK. Feel free to amend it and add your personal comments if you wish. You can either copy and paste to your word processer or download it directly from the link below.
Please tell us that you have sent a letter (so we know how many Disney will receive) by filling in the form, reached by clicking here
Your efforts really could make a difference.
General Manager
Disney Head Office UK
3 Queen Caroline Street
London W6 9PE, UK
Fax: 020 8222 2491 Dear Disney, I write to appeal on behalf of the workers at the Shah Makhdum factory in Bangladesh. I am deeply disturbed to hear about the case of Shah Makhdum where Disney “cut and run” following allegations of appalling pay and working conditions. This decision has left those workers affected in unimaginable poverty. I have already written to your Head Office in the US but have not heard back from them. The workers in Bangladesh desperately need the jobs which the textile sector has brought them. Pulling out means dumping the workers onto the street, penniless, facing hunger and misery. It further suggests the Disney is threatening its workers everywhere with the message that if they stand up for their basic working conditions, the type of conditions which should be expected by any human being in the world, then they will be fired. Winnie the Pooh garments have been sewn at the Shah Makhdum factory in Bangladesh for many years now and Disney is the factory’s biggest customer. Young women sew Disney garments in conditions which seem unbelievable to the general public in the UK. Women report being hit and punched, and denied maternity leave and benefits. They were forced to work 14 to 15 hours a day, 7 days a week, often going for more than ten weeks without a single day off. Workers were paid just five cents for every $17.99 Winnie the Pooh shirt they sewed for Disney. It is typical for several women to be forced to live in one small room – sleeping on the floor, without water or toilets, and unable to afford adequate food. When Disney orders were urgent, it was common for the women to be forced to work 20-hour shifts, after which they would sleep under their sewing machines, only to get up a few hours later to start their next shift again at 8:00 a.m. Disney owes these women justice, not punishment. This is why we urge you to immediately return Disney’s work to the Shah Makhdum factory, while working with your contractor to clean up the factory and finally guarantee that the rights of these women be respected. These women definitely need their jobs, but they want to be treated as human beings, not animals. We have been informed that the Walt Disney Company cannot order any of your suppliers to return to a factory such as Shah Makhdum. But we know that if you asked your suppliers, to return they would surely do so. No contractor is going to challenge a company with the size and power of Walt Disney. The owner of the Shah Makhdum factory is so concerned about losing your Disney orders that he is willing to immediately institute major improvements and take concrete steps which will turn his factory into a model operation. For the first time ever the owner of Shah Makhdum will open his factory to independent verification by well-respected local religious, human and women’s rights organizations to guarantee compliance with all Bangladeshi and internationally recognized worker rights laws. This is unheard of in Bangladesh. So here is a chance to improve the lives and return dignity to countless women workers and their families. We urge you to act immediately. I look forward to hearing from you. Your sincerely,
Disney Head Office UK
3 Queen Caroline Street
London W6 9PE, UK
Fax: 020 8222 2491 Dear Disney, I write to appeal on behalf of the workers at the Shah Makhdum factory in Bangladesh. I am deeply disturbed to hear about the case of Shah Makhdum where Disney “cut and run” following allegations of appalling pay and working conditions. This decision has left those workers affected in unimaginable poverty. I have already written to your Head Office in the US but have not heard back from them. The workers in Bangladesh desperately need the jobs which the textile sector has brought them. Pulling out means dumping the workers onto the street, penniless, facing hunger and misery. It further suggests the Disney is threatening its workers everywhere with the message that if they stand up for their basic working conditions, the type of conditions which should be expected by any human being in the world, then they will be fired. Winnie the Pooh garments have been sewn at the Shah Makhdum factory in Bangladesh for many years now and Disney is the factory’s biggest customer. Young women sew Disney garments in conditions which seem unbelievable to the general public in the UK. Women report being hit and punched, and denied maternity leave and benefits. They were forced to work 14 to 15 hours a day, 7 days a week, often going for more than ten weeks without a single day off. Workers were paid just five cents for every $17.99 Winnie the Pooh shirt they sewed for Disney. It is typical for several women to be forced to live in one small room – sleeping on the floor, without water or toilets, and unable to afford adequate food. When Disney orders were urgent, it was common for the women to be forced to work 20-hour shifts, after which they would sleep under their sewing machines, only to get up a few hours later to start their next shift again at 8:00 a.m. Disney owes these women justice, not punishment. This is why we urge you to immediately return Disney’s work to the Shah Makhdum factory, while working with your contractor to clean up the factory and finally guarantee that the rights of these women be respected. These women definitely need their jobs, but they want to be treated as human beings, not animals. We have been informed that the Walt Disney Company cannot order any of your suppliers to return to a factory such as Shah Makhdum. But we know that if you asked your suppliers, to return they would surely do so. No contractor is going to challenge a company with the size and power of Walt Disney. The owner of the Shah Makhdum factory is so concerned about losing your Disney orders that he is willing to immediately institute major improvements and take concrete steps which will turn his factory into a model operation. For the first time ever the owner of Shah Makhdum will open his factory to independent verification by well-respected local religious, human and women’s rights organizations to guarantee compliance with all Bangladeshi and internationally recognized worker rights laws. This is unheard of in Bangladesh. So here is a chance to improve the lives and return dignity to countless women workers and their families. We urge you to act immediately. I look forward to hearing from you. Your sincerely,
Download File: