CEO Robert Greenberg, Skechers Shoes
My name is Mateo Mares. Until early January of this year, my coworkerAmilcar Cardona and I hauled Skechers shoes from the Port of Los Angeles totheir national distribution center. We were fired for trying to improveour working conditions and for standing up for our rights.
Drivers like us are standing up for our rights by filing legal claims withthe government for wage theft, wage violations, retaliation for union andprotected concerted activities, and illegal harassment. We were firedby our Skechers' trucking contractor, Green Fleet Systems, after we exercisedour rights to engage in union activities at our workplace and after we refusedto withdraw our claims for wage theft when we were pressured to do so by ourboss.
Now our families are struggling to survive. We worked hardfor many years hauling Skechers shoes and other foreign-made products from thedocks to warehouses, but now we don't have any work and don't have any money tobuy food or pay rent – much less help our kids get through college to make abetter life for themselves.
Our struggle is like the men and women who manufacture Skechers shoes inplaces like China, Vietnam, and Cambodia. Like workers in Skechers' overseasfactory, we are mistreated, deal with safety hazards, and don't get paid whatwe deserve. When we learned that Skechers has a record for bad treatment of itsworkers overseas*, we realized that Skechers is spreading sweatshopconditions to America. Our job is like a sweatshop-on-wheels, wheredrivers suffer from low-wages, long hours, abusive treatment, and unsafeconditions.
Our children and wives are frightened about our future.It's time for Skechers to do the right thing, get us back to work, and end thesweatshop-on-wheels conditions for workers like us.
Add your name and tell Skechers to end the spread of sweatshops inAmerica. Skechers has the power to demand that its vendor stop violatingworkers’ rights and U.S. labor laws. By signing, you are making a realdifference in the lives of workers like me.
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To:CEO Robert Greenberg, Skechers Shoes
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Stop the sweatshop conditions of workers like us who haul your shoes from the port to your distribution center. Stop your trucking contractor, Green Fleet Systems, from harassing workers, jeopardizing the livelihoods of our families, and violating U.S. labor laws. We work in sweatshop-on-wheels conditions. Our rights are violated, our wages are stolen, and we are harassed and retaliated against for trying to improve our conditions. Two of us were even fired for standing up to our rights. We call on Skechers to hold your contractor accountable by demanding that Green Fleet Systems immediately re-hire all illegally fired workers, stop the harassment and intimidation of workers, and end your track record of sweatshop working conditions around the globe.
