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CWA Files Complaint Against Eyeglass Manufacturer Luxottica

Last week, CWA, the AFL-CIO, and two global union federations filed a complaint with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) alleging severe violations of workers’ freedom of association at the Luxottica manufacturing and distribution center in McDonough, Ga. Luxottica is the world’s largest eyeglass manufacturer, employing more than 150,000 workers worldwide and more than 2,000 at the Georgia facility.

According to the complaint, Luxottica plant managers in Georgia are waging an aggressive anti-union campaign, and executives from the company’s European headquarters have failed to hold U.S. management accountable under OECD guidelines, which aim to promote ethical behavior by multinational corporations in their foreign operations.

"I have been an employee at Luxottica for four years. I am proud to work hard at my job every day," said Lisa Ragsdale, a worker in McDonough. "My co-workers and I are fighting to form a union so we can have a voice on the job. ... We believe Luxottica should support a union for its workers, whether they are in Italy or in the U.S."

“We’re turning an international spotlight on Luxottica’s interference with workers’ organizing rights in Georgia,” said CWA President Chris Shelton. “Luxottica workers in Italy have long been represented by trade unions, who have a positive, mutually respectful, and productive relationship with Italian management. We want to ensure that Luxottica workers in the United States are treated with the same respect,” he said.

Learn more at: cwa-union.org/news/releases/unions-allege-severe-violations-of-workers-rights-eyewear-giant-luxottica.