The fact is that Mountain Equipment Co-op has taken a side in the strike, and the side they have taken is against the women who are on strike for respect and equality. By continuing to buy and distribute socks made by JB Fields MEC is helping to break the strike and forcing the women of UNITE 1764 to endure deprivation.

In the process of trying to shift the blame, Matheson's letter also contains significant errors which cloud the issue at hand.

The letter we received from Bob Matheson (writing on behalf of MEC) says that they did received info from us and that they didn't in the same paragraph. This seems confusing to us, and clouds the issue by making it a question of "who said what to whom".

The fact is we have spoken to them about the strike.When we spoke to Bob Matheson on the phone he said he was expecting information from both the union and the company about the strike. We told him to check our web site, and gave him the phone number of the union's acting local president. These two sources were the sum total of the information we had at that time.

Matheson said he wanted "objective" information about what was happening. We did not forward any to him because none (that was not already on our web site) was in our possession. We did not have any primary documents, nor anything else that the union didn't. We thought the union itself was the best source of information. Our own opinions and observations were clearly not relevant to MEC, as we were far from "objective" -- we had clearly taken a side in this dispute.

Matheson's position -- always asking for more information and never getting enough -- seemed to be a ploy to stall for time. Even if MEC could at one time claim they didn't have enough information this is no longer the case -- there is now ample evidence. Yet MEC still does not act.

Our site contains articles from respected newspapers and magazines, opinion pieces, and union leaflets. To us this is convincing evidence. To Matheson and MEC the struggle between the union and company is somehow reduced to a case of "contradictory evidence".

What more proof does MEC need? The ball is clearly in their court -- they must ask the union specifically for the information they claim they need.

As MEC points out, the labour board hasn't ruled if JB Fields' practices are legal yet, but the labour law is not the be-all and end-all of justice. While there is every reason to believe the labour board will rule in favour of the striking women, there are other standards to judge by. MEC knows this. There are standards such as those MEC claims to champion in its "sourcing policy".

Matheson and MEC know where our web site is. The case presented here is (in our minds) the truth. If Matheson says he doesn't believe us (or the union) how can we respond.... This is a catch-22.

Because they are involved, Matheson and MEC have a moral responsibility to research the situation themselves. If they are not satisfied that the information they have been given is the truth then they must act themselves to secure evidence one way or the other.

To maintain the status quo -- pretending it is neutral -- is not satisfactory. Anymore than it would have been OK to deny women the vote until it was unanimously and "objectively" agreed that this was a good thing. There will always be people profitting from oppression ready to speak out and confuse the situation. There will always be those who want more studies, more research, more info and more "objective" proof. It is a never-ending shell game to avoid responsibility and to avoid change. For MEC, a so-called "responsible" business, to work so hard to dodge responsibility is extremely ironic.

The union and the company have indisputable primary documents -- presumably those have been shown. Matheson's position seems to be that this is not enough...

Where does that leave the women of UNITE 1764 who continue to struggle in the cold outside the JB Fields plant and who have been living on strike pay of $75/week for seven months? Where does this leave the women who have now been fired?

MEC owes them more than a shrug of indifference and the claim that they just don't know what is happening.

Or does MEC not believe they exist either?

Harry
Friends of UNITE 1764