I just received an email from Cort Action Group about the ongoing struggle of Cort workers and thanking me for what I've been trying to do in my little corner of the world to further their cause.It appears now that Cort after shutting down one of its Korean sweat shop/factories has opened more in China and Indonesia.The plight of these workers should be of concern to all musicians as many of us may be unknowingly playing instruments that were made in atrocious conditions for less than legal mininum wage and through inhumanly long hours of work.One North American company which I won't name is reviewing the allegations and has met with the workers as they have guitars made at Cort facilities.I have told local dealers of the Cort Action Group and have asked them to refuse to bring in Cort products-time will tell if that fell on deaf ears or not.Anyway if you want more info you can email at cortguitar.action@gmail.com or phone (646)567-9607. I may be just one small voice but I am trying damnest to get these workers heard because oppression affects all of us in some way as we are all our brother's keepers.
Edit:Here's the link to the website: www.cortaction.wordpress.com
Here's the website of the U.S. Cort importer http://www.westheimercorp.com/

_________________
'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

So what do you do?

Boycott Cort products and ultimately put the workers out of a job?
Continue to use Cort products and perpetuate the problem of sweatshop labour?

There's only one real solution, that is to pressgang Cort's board of directors. Voice your complaints en masse and be prepared to pay more for instruments. Because lets face it when they have to put the prices up to cover employee wages. It won't be long before everyone jumps on the bandwagon.

What were seeing here is the shifting of Asian economy. Much like England's during the industrial revolution. In another 20-30 years roles will have reversed. We'll be the sweatshop employees with some guy in Bejing as our boss.

_________________
No no and no

+1 to Nik's commentary. Not much you can do really. But if you feel that strongly about it s your brothers keeper, then more power to you.

_________________
Blues with a feeling.

GUILD GUITARS: MADE TO BE PLAYED!

I've played Cort guitars a few times. Good instruments to stand up to the wear on them. Who ever made them did his/her job well. No evidence of poor labor conditions. I order guitar products from Mighty Mite when I need something they are located about ten miles NE of me and although they don't sell directly their customer service department has always been gracious and shipped directly to me. No evidence of unhappiness there. Guitslinger, what do want thought about Cort?
This?
Controversy

Since 1997 controversy has surrounded Cort and Cor-Tek due to its alleged mistreatment of factory workers. Grievances include the closing of its Daejon factory with no advanced warning on April 9, 2007, mass redundancies of all staff from its Incheon plant on April 12, 2007, and the firing and mistreatment of union officials and members.

On July 12, 2007 a Cort worker set himself on fire in protest, and on October 15, 2008 workers conducted a 30-day hunger strike and sit-in occupation on a 40 meter electricity tower. Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello and System Of A Down frontman Serj Tankian - both partners in the Axis Of Justice - joined representatives of the Cort workers in a protest concert against Cort and Cor-tek on January 13, 2010 at the Nanum Cultural Center in Los Angeles. Morello said "I fully support the Korean workers' demands for justice in the workplace. All American guitar manufacturers and the people that play them should hold Cort accountable for the awful way they have treated their workers."

_________________
you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

See there's a lot of good companies employing far eastern labour. Behringer are the real groundbreakers in that field. One of the reasons why I believe that lobbying company ceo's is the way forward.
Uli Behringer is a absolute genius, deserving of a humanities award for this.
http://www.behringer.com/EN/Our-Story/BEHRINGER-City.aspx

_________________
No no and no

Cort is not the real problem, Almost anything made in China are made at slave wages under very poor condition, by American/European standards.


The only thing we can do as a consumer is to not buy it.

_________________
Marriage is like playing cards...

At first all you want are Hearts and Diamonds.

But in the end, all you really want is a Club and a Spade.

When it comes to guitars I buy American made products. I`ve bought MIM and MIC guitars and I don`t like them for one reason or another so I don`t even consider buying them anymore. I don`t buy any foreign cars and never will. Whatever we have left thats make in America I try to support. Sweat shops are operational all over the world and you can blame corporate greed for part of it. Those products are made dirt cheap, and we`re paying top dollar for garbage. All because some fat cat is sitting behind a desk with a full belly and a bank roll that could choke a horse. Just an example: I just bought two outdoor flood lights that were made in China, only because I can`t find any made here. They burned out in 2 days. There was nothing wrong with my money, but the flood lights are junk. I was better off putting candles in my yard. At least when they go out I can relight them again.

_________________

AMEN!

Arjay

_________________
"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

I don't see how that is at all morally correct. All you'll do is put the workers in a worse situation whereby they end up begging for food, or crippling their kids to send em out to beg.

_________________
No no and no

My father aside from being a choir director and acreditted teacher was for most of his working life a social worker and that combined with a childhood adoration of men like Dr. Martin Luther King,Dr. Albert Schwietzer and Mahatma Ghandi has instilled in me a more than vivid interest in human rights.I am also the Vice -President of a provnce wide advocacy group for people suffering from various disabilities.
What I am hoping this thread will do is motivate people to do something to right a wrong.While I agree that an all out Boycott may do more harm than good,if people could just go to their local Cort dealers and tell them about the injustices done to Cort workers, they may in turn take action themselves by contacting their suppliers.Also if people could write or email the companies who contract out to Cort to make products with their name on it and state their indignance with the situation the combined voices of many may make a difference and these companies may then prevail on Cort to clean up their act.This has been done in the past and it's possible to be done again
Although the names of the parties involved have been long forgotten.I remember an instance where a well known actress lent her name to a clothing line and then discovered that they employed sweatshops.She took it upon herself to see all this first hand and by doing so had the sweatshop conditions cleaned up and made sure the workers were paid and treated fairly.There is strength in numbers.
Edit:BTW just Google "Companies that use sweatshops" and you'll be shocked by the number of "respectable"companies that employ sweat shops.

_________________
'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

Hi Nevin,I left the contact info at the beginning of the thread so people could find out the ins and outs of this problem right from the workers. email: cortguitar.action@gmail.com (646)567-9607.

_________________
'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

Whether someone is happy/unhappy knowledgable/ignorant of their plight, does that make it right for us who live in the lap of luxury to ignore their situation?

_________________
No no and no

great reply niki.

_________________
63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

In my opinion....

The only way to stop this is for our Governments to tax the crap out of imports... We Americans have to start manufacturing again... You in the UK same thing... If you think about it, we have allowed our manufacturing to leave... Now we want to get pissed that the "other guys" are treating their employees like crap... In a way WE all are responsible for this...

Ok...Flame ON

_________________
Hey, Boy Blue is back!

I just emailed Westheimer Corp.-the North American of Cort products.I sent them a polite but impassioned letter stating my disappointment with them for dealing with a company such as Cort,that enjoys billions in profits while workers slave in squalor and urged them to prevail upon Cort to treat its employees humanely. If you like you can do likewise here:
sales@westheimercorp.com/

_________________
'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.