ZENITH, JOHNSON CONTROLS AND CARLISLE PLASTICS
(Date)
Dear (name of CEO):
I am writing to urge (company name) to stop discriminating against women job applicants and workers in its maquiladora factories in Mexico. Specifically, (company name) should stop discriminating against women workers based on their pregnancy status by requiring mandatory pregnancy testing for women job applicants and refusing to hire those who are found to be pregnant. I call on (company name) to stop discriminatory and punitive practices against women workers who become pregnant in the course of their employment. This is discrimination against women on the grounds of sex and violates Mexican labor law.
Mexican women workers make an enormous contribution to (company name), and any attempt to practice sex discrimination for any reason, including financial reasons, is cynical and illegal. Mexican women deserve the same equal treatment and respect as their counterparts at (company name)µs factories in the U.S., where such practices are explicitly illegal. In Mexico, (company name) openly flouts Mexican law guaranteeing equality between men and women, and subjects Mexican women to discriminatory practices for no other reason than that they are female and have the capacity to give birth.
General Motors and ITT Industries have announced that they have stopped all pregnancy testing in their maquiladora factories. I urge (company name) to join them by ending the practice of requiring women applicants to provide proof of pregnancy status to obtain employment; to stop denying work to pregnant women applicants by screening them out of the applicant pool; to end harassment, intimidation, and forced resignations of women workers when they become pregnant; to reprimand maquiladora employees who discriminate against women workers; and to accommodate pregnant women workers in accordance with international standards and Mexican domestic law. I also urge (company name) to incorporate into any policy change to halt pregnancy-based sex discrimination concrete steps for implementation, including comprehensive and transparent monitoring and dissemination of information to workers.
I look forward to receiving your reply telling me what you intend to do to put an immediate halt to pregnancy-based sex discrimination against women in the maquiladora sector.
Sincerely,
(Your name)