Support Workers in
Thailand!!
Support Gina Workers!!
The union and labor conditions at Gina Form Bra (a high-end ladies’
undergarments production factory in Thailand) represent one of
the biggest labor victories in Thailand, with a strong union and
wages and benefits that approach a living wage. Now this all stands
to be lost, as the company is preparing to shut down its facility
in Thailand and move to China! Management has recently announced
that they will close the factory and have attempted to move 300
machines to China. The factory management has told workers that
this is at the “wish of the brands,” Victoria’s
Secret, Calvin Klein and Charming Shoppes. If Gina closes down-
it will be a huge defeat for the Thai labor movement as well as
for the global movement.
Support the union at Gina Form Bra today by telling Victoria’s
Secrets, Calving Klein, Charming Shoppes and the Clover Group
(which owns Gina) that “cutting and running” as a
form of union busting is unacceptable!
After almost two years of facing intense anti-union harassment,
and dismissal of union leadership—and after coordinating
an extensive local and international organizing drive—the
workers at Gina Form Bra finally won back union recognition in
2003. From 2003 to the present the union has again won significant
gains for the workforce including an increase in production bonuses,
wages, lunch benefits, the provision of paid union leave, special
allowance for the first born child of workers, regular meetings
between the management and union to help solve problems as they
arise, and monitoring of the factory’s health and safety
conditions with active involvement of the union. Moreover, the
company is one of the very few factories in the world that pays
a wage well above the minimum wage, providing a wage close to
a proper living wage. The union and management have also worked
collectively in activities such as joint labor/management training
on HIV and AIDS safety, holding Buddhist ceremonies, and relief
work for Tsunami victims.
But this story could soon be history, as Gina Form Bra’s
parent company in Hong Kong, the Clover Group, has recently announced
that they wish to close their Thai facility permanently by the
end of October (2006) and move production to China.
Representatives of Gina management have cited rising costs and
stiff competition with countries like China (where independent
unions like the Gina Relations Workers Union [GRWU] are considered
illegal under the domestic labor code) as the main reasons for
their plans to relocate. Management has, in a written testimony,
further stated that their buyers have explicitly requested that
they move to China because they would prefer to source from China
over Thailand.
Gina management has not overtly blamed the union for the rising
costs, but it has been made undoubtedly clear by all of management’s
actions to date that the company hopes to make an end- run around
the union and a clear break for China where they will no longer
have to deal with the costs of complying with the union’s
demands for better labor standards. The information to date provided
by management has been far from sufficient by Thai legal standards
regarding procedures for factory closures, and by basic common
standards of human decency and respect for the workers, their
families and their legal representatives.
Gina’s main buyers, Victoria’s Secrets, Calvin Klein,
and Charming Shoppes have not made any public statements nor taken
action regarding the closure. It is outrageous that the buyers
would sit by so quietly while a factory that they themselves have
put many hours and resources into bring into compliance with their
own corporate codes of conduct is shut down.
The closure of Gina will send 1600 workers into unemployment
and put their families in economic uncertainty. Many of the Gina
employees bear the brunt of the financial responsibility for their
parents and/or children in the countryside. These families will
soon face hardship due to Clover Group’s and Victoria’s
Secret, Calvin Klein and Charming Shoppes sourcing policies. Support
the Gina union today by telling the Clover Group and the brands
that cutting and running is an unacceptable form of union busting!
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