SAMPLE LANGUAGE FOR LETTERS TO THE U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE

(Date)

Honorable Secretary Albright:

I am writing to express my concern about widespread sex discrimination in Mexicoµs maquiladora industry practiced primarily by U.S.-based companies. A report by the Human Rights Watch Womenµs Rights Watch Project reveals widespread abuse of womenµs human rights in the maquiladora industry through sex discrimination.

I urge you to make meaningful your public commitment to integrate the issue of the status of women into U.S. foreign policy by raising pregnancy-based sex discrimination against women job applicants and workers in the Mexican maquiladora industry with the Mexican government in appropriate bilateral meetings. I also encourage you to instruct the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City to investigate, condemn and report on all allegations of sex discrimination in the maquiladora industry.

In addition, I urge the Department of State to work with the Departments of Labor and Commerce to convene a meeting with the responsible U.S. corporations to discuss the importance of and ways in which these companies can implement model business principles abroad, including refraining from pregnancy-based sex discrimination, and ensuring that this abuse is not occurring in their factories in Mexico or elsewhere.

Thank you in advance for your attention to this significant labor and human rights matter. I look forward to receiving your reply.

Sincerely,

(Your Name)