< back
LAWSUIT CHALLENGES U.S. COMPANIES TREATMENT OF WORKERS IN SAIPAN
Three lawsuits filed January 13, 1999 seek to recover damages allegedly inflicted on Asian workers at garment factories in Saipan (the Northern Mariana Islands), an American protectorate. The suit seeks $ 1 billion in damages for conditions in which workers are kept, including undergoing forced abortions, being watched by armed guards and being forced to live in appalling, rat-infested conditions. 
Two of the suits against the garment firms were class actions filed on behalf of the workers in federal court and the third was filed in California state court by a textile union and human rights organizations. The suits mark the first attempt to hold U.S. clothing retailers liable under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations act. 
More than 50,000 Asians, most of whom are young women, have been recruited to work in factories making clothes for U.S. companies, drawn there by the promise of good wages and a chance at U.S. citizenship. Saipan is a U.S. territory, but it is not governed by U.S. labor or immigration laws. Nor are goods from Saipan subject to tariffs when they enter the U.S. mainland. Attempts have been made to change these laws, but are opposed by Republican congressman and the local government in Saipan. 
The primary root of the dispute is the debate whether American businesses should trade only with businesses that comply with American labor law, or whether an absolutely free market should be allowed to go on unhindered. Many fear disrupting Saipan's $ 2 billion a year garment industry.