At Men’s Wearhouse Headquarters, Workers from Montreal Protest Company’s

Plans to Close Canadian Factory

Labor Union and Supporters Vow to Continue North American Campaign Against Retail Giant

to Save Hundreds of Apparel Jobs

WHAT: 100 garment workers from Montreal, students, union members will rally at Men’s Wearhouse headquarters, calling on the company to reverse plans to close Men’s Wearhouse’s Golden Brand Suit Factory in Quebec:

• A Delegation of workers will deliver a petition signed by 540 workers to Men’s Wearhouse CEO George Zimmer;

• Canadian workers will reach out to thousands of Men’s Wearhouse distribution center and operations center employees, delivering the message that Men’s Wearhouse doesn’t care about worker’s families and job security.

WHEN: Monday, April 21 from 11am to 12 pm

WHERE: Men’s Wearhouse Corporate Headquarters, 6380 Rogerdale Rd., Houston, TX 77072

A conference presented by Houston Peace and Justice Center

Saturday, April 19
8:30 a.m. - 4:15 p.m. in The Honors College
M.D. Anderson Library at University of Houston

• Film: "Global Village or Global Pillage" narrated by Ed Asner
• Panel of commentators plus initial group discussion

• Dr. Ana Malinow, Baylor College of Medicine
• "Our Broken Healthcare System and How to Fix It"

The Coalition for Working People and the Poor is bringing to Houston Dolores Huerta, legendary labor leader and Latino rights activist. She'll be speaking at 7 p.m. at Ripley House, 4410 Navigation St.

With Cesar Chavez, Ms. Huerta co-founded the United Farm Workers Union and worked with Chavez for 30 years until his death in 1993. Together they founded the Robert Kennedy Medical Plan, the Juan De La Cruz Farm Workers Pension Fund, the Farm Workers Credit Union, which were the first medical and pension plans and credit union in history for farm workers. They also formed the National Farm Workers Service Center, which today provides affordable housing with over 3,700 rental and 600 single family dwelling units, and educational radio with over nine Spanish speaking radio stations throughout California, Washington, and Arizona.

How many murders are "acceptable"? How many is too many? I can't answer those questions with a number other than zero. [John Sweeney, AFL-CIO President]

And of the handful of union members slain recently, many were killed for motives other than their union membership.[Houston Chronicle Editorial - April 11, 2008]

Last Sept. 27, 16-year-old Andres Damian Florez Rodriguez was on his way home from school when he was forced into a van by three armed men. Andres is the son of Jose Domingo Florez, a leader of the Coca-Cola bottling union in Santander. The assailants drove along, beating the boy while they received radio instructions. Then they gave him a message to convey: "Tell your papa that we won't rest until we see (the union leaders) quartered in pieces."

On March 22, Adolfo Gonzalez Montes, a member of the Barrancas local Union of Coal Miners, was found dead in his home, tortured and shot, after his union received death threats during a union conflict.

On March 9, Carlos Burbano, vice president of the National Hospital Workers' Union in Colombia, was murdered in San Vicente del Caguan after leading a local peace march. His corpse was found in the city dump, his face disfigured with acid. He was one of four Colombian trade unionists killed in a single week. Their deaths were not random crimes in a dangerous country. Rather, the Colombian government has falsely denounced union activists as guerrilla sympathizers, opening the door for paramilitary groups' death threats.