Death threats for Morales Montaño

published 03-10-2013 14:16, last modified 10-10-2013 14:13
José Enrique Morales Montaño was kidnapped by unknown men who threatened to kill him on 15 May 2012. Morales was a member of the Workers Support Centre (CAT) in Puebla. He was on his way to a hearing of the Local Conciliation and Arbitration Board where the CAT was defending the rights of a group of garment workers.

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Alejandra Ancheíta, Director of ProDESC, and Javier Hernández Valencia, Mexico Representative of the UN Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OCHR) speak at a news conference about the CAT
As a result of the campaign of violence against the Workers Support Centre (CAT) members, the CAT has now been forced to close its office in Puebla, Mexico.

The Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) has contacted the Mexican authorities and the EU delegation in Mexico. The EU delegation confirmed that they had raised the case with the Mexican Ministry of the Interior.

The Mexican Secretariat for Work and Social Security replied to CCC that the kidnapping and the threats against Jose Enrique Morales Montaño from the Workers Support Centre do not lie within the department’s scope of work. The Secretariat stated that they had consulted other labour-related bodies, but that the case did not fit their scope of work either.

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What do companies and Multi Stakeholder Initiaves think of the CCC? *

“CCC has been one of the defining influences on code of conduct over the last 10 years. Codes of conduct have moved from being a fringe idea to a central plank of single CSR policy in the industry. A large part of that is because CCC internationally have been a champion for the role of brands taking action... and have placed and kept the issue in the public domain.”

“CCC have had impact by raising our awareness, triggering the development of our code of conduct and our subsequent mechanisms on monitoring, disclosure practises, decision to join MSI, training and follow-up.”

“If there is a critical situation in a factory that we have not become aware of ourselves, we do of course react immediately, if this is brought to our attention by CCC.”

“All activities raise awareness but do not change policies, urgent appeals have most impact to improve or change the way of working with a supplier or improve a situation if needed.”

* Quotes from internal report that assesses how Clean Clothes Campaign's labour rights corporate accountability work, including the Urgent Appeal system, has impacted corporate behavior between 1994 and 2010.

Pins Brown, 2010. Impact Assessment of Corporate Accountability Activities of Clean Clothes Campaign. Unpublished report on file.