The UW is celebrating an apparent victory for international labor rights after direct intervention brought about severance payments to almost 1,000 laid-off workers in Guatemala.

In February 2008, a group of UW students led by International Studies associate professor Angelina Godoy traveled to Guatemala as part of a “Responsible Apparel Purchasing” course and task force.

Once there, they discovered a large number of Guatemalan workers who had been laid off from the Estofel Apparel Factory without receiving their legally-required severance payments.

Guatemalan law requires workers who have been laid off without just cause be paid a severance package determined by their average yearly wage, including mandatory bonuses, and how long they have worked for the company.

News of the unpaid benefits was then reported to the UW Licensing Advisory Committee.

“The Licensing Advisory Committee and the president had determined that we should be involved since professor Godoy had gone down there,” said Kathy Hoggan, director of UW Trademarks and Licensing. “It was a determination that the university would engage the FLA (Fair Labor Association) and the WRC (Workers Rights Consortium) to assist the workers.”

Those groups then contacted COVERCO, the Commission for the Verification of Codes of Conduct, which located 987 workers who were eligible for the severance plan and figured out how much the workers were owed — $648,000 total.

COVERCO, in conjunction with representatives from the UW and several other organizations, then put pressure on the Ghim Li Group, the former owner of Estofel, to pay the workers the amount required by law.

The Ghim Li Group agreed on the condition that any workers who sue to seek additional benefits would forfeit their right to any payment. Ghim Li also refused to pay the additional $185,000 in “economic advantage” benefits recommended by COVERCO, which Hoggan said “was not defendable in Guatemalan courts.”

With the aid of COVERCO, Ghim Li has found 871 workers and distributed a total of $543,288.

Even though the Estofel Remediation Team calls the resolution a victory for the workers, there are some who think that the UW and COVERCO did not go far enough in ensuring the workers received fair severance pay.

“The university still has a lot of work to do to see that the workers receive justice and receive the money that they’re legally owed,” said George Thompson, a senior and member of the Student Labor Action Project (SLAP).

The Estofel factory does not produce UW apparel, but had previously done work for a company licensed by the UW.

Because of this, Thompson said that the university has an obligation to make sure workers are treated fairly.

“Legally, the university has a responsibility through the Code of Conduct that the factories treat all their workers with respect,” he said.

He said that even if the factory did not actually produce UW apparel, the UW should continue to pressure Ghim Li Group, as well as COVERCO and the FLA, to ensure that the ex-workers receive the severance pay they legally deserve.

“They’re trying to celebrate the fact that they’ve taken action,” Thompson said. “And it’s good that they’ve taken action, but the university shouldn’t believe that it’s over.”

Hoggan, who sat on the remediation team, looks at the situation more pragmatically.

“Was it perfect? No,” she said. “But it’s all we could hold Ghim Li accountable to.”

Reach reporter Morgan Gard at news@dailyuw.com.