The Union of Needletraders, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE) is financing a tour of two fired employees of a Korean-owned baseball cap factory in the Dominican Republic. The union is protesting that the workers are paid poverty wages and receive abusive treatment in the Korean-owned factory, BJ&B. The factory employs over 2,000 people, mostly young women. The report states that workers there typically earn approximately US$40 after 56 hours of work each week. It complains that the company consistently breaks Dominican labor laws, such as forcing overtime work, paying less to women than men. The union criticizes what they describe as disturbing conditions inside BJ&B, such as worker reports that floor supervisors hit and shout at them and they are forced to endure humiliating remarks. Students at US universities pay about US$20 for the caps made at BJ&B, which are extremely popular. The universities make US$1.50 for a licensing fee. The union is sponsoring the tour of Kenia Rodríguez, 19 and Roselio Reyes, 20, who were reportedly fired for refusing to work forced overtime. The students will be meeting with university students and administration beginning with Harvard, Brown and Georgetown. Next week they plan on visiting Duke, Cornell, Rutgers and the University of Illinois.
