Join us, the workers of Avery Dennison in Bangalore, India, to demand our basic rights on the job. Instead of engaging in formal conversation with us, the corporation has illegally and unethically targeted and harassed us, attempted to divide us, and have so far illegally dismissed 52 of us! Join us to demand they stop their retaliation!
We are workers at Avery Dennison India Pvt. Ltd, and also members of Garment and Textile workers Union (GATWU), in Bangalore, India and we are calling on Avery Dennison to respect our basic rights to fair working conditions! Avery Dennison is a large multinational corporation which made $6.6 billion in revenue just last year and it produces labels for brand giants such as H&M, Adidas, Zara, Levi's, Gap, Marks & Spencer, Nike, and many others.
For many years, Avery Dennison has been paying us differing wages for the same amount of work, through contracting some of us but hiring others directly. They have used this as an excuse to pay UNDER the already-low minimum wage for the work we do! Several of our colleagues have been forced to work back-to-back short-term contracts for the same amount of work as the permanent employees with no stoppage. The company claims to use us as contractors because we are only "seasonal" workers, but this is a lie! Take Gourish, who has just been illegally dismissed in February; he had worked nonstop for Avery Dennison for 13 years, yet was denied access to the basic rights of a permanent employee like a fair wage and benefits. He was dismissed along with 51 other colleagues of ours because he dared to ask the company to show him basic respect!
We tried everything we could: we tried to speak to the Avery Dennison representatives in Bangalore, but they outright refused to formally meet us to discuss our demands. We tried to reach out to the brands that are Avery Dennison buyers, but even when some brands did attempt to approach the company about their illegal and unethical behavior, they were rebuffed. We went on a hunger strike, but the company did not care if we just starved to death! So we are asking you join us, to demand that Avery Dennison Corporate in Glendale, California ensure that Avery Dennison Pvt. Ltd. follows the law, respects our rights, and adheres to the following demands:
- Recognise GATWU as the bargaining trade union for the contract workers.
- Reinstate all illegally terminated contract workers;
- Regularise all contract workers who have been in employment at least from January 2017;
- Pay all contract workers backwages for the time between April 2016 and January 2018 when they were paid below minimum wage;
Our allies have sent a letter electronically to Mitch Butier, the Avery Dennison CEO to ask that he respect our rights, and they will deliver the letter in person at the Avery Dennison Headquarters next week. We are asking you to join with us and sign on to this petition to show him that when his company does the wrong thing that people will stand up and support us in demanding our rights!
Join us to demand that Avery Dennison do the right thing!
Signed,
Avery Dennison Pvt. Ltd. Workers
Bangalore, India
Who's signing
