Interviews
Keep Gina Form open!
05 Oct '06
2 min read
Many of you will recall the international campaign in 2003 to support the Gina Relation Workers' Union (GRWU) at a Thai factory producing underwear for major international brands and retailers. After a long struggle the dismissed union leaders were reinstated and the union successfully negotiated a collective contract with management.
Conditions improved greatly and Gina became one of the few factories in Thailand providing decent wages and conditions. The GRWU is a member to the Thai Federation of Textile Workers, which is an ITGLWF affiliate.
For the past three years the union considered Gina Form Bra to be "an exemplary factory in terms of quality, efficiency, and code of conduct compliance."
On August 29th, management announced they were packing over 600 of the Thai factory's sewing machines for shipment to their other facility in China without a word of prior notice to the workers or the trade union.
Suddenly more than a fifth of the workforce found themselves without a machine to use and just a vague promise that they would receive new "training".
Only after representative from GRWU demanded an explanation and contacted the Ministry of Labour about the situation were they given any information from management about the company's real plans: Gina's Hong Kong owner, Clover Group, plans to close down the facility by October 31.
Clover Group originally claimed that their clients among the brands requested that production be shifted to China, but when challenged on that claim, they changed their story and now say that production costs at Gina are too high.
Conditions improved greatly and Gina became one of the few factories in Thailand providing decent wages and conditions. The GRWU is a member to the Thai Federation of Textile Workers, which is an ITGLWF affiliate.
For the past three years the union considered Gina Form Bra to be "an exemplary factory in terms of quality, efficiency, and code of conduct compliance."
On August 29th, management announced they were packing over 600 of the Thai factory's sewing machines for shipment to their other facility in China without a word of prior notice to the workers or the trade union.
Suddenly more than a fifth of the workforce found themselves without a machine to use and just a vague promise that they would receive new "training".
Only after representative from GRWU demanded an explanation and contacted the Ministry of Labour about the situation were they given any information from management about the company's real plans: Gina's Hong Kong owner, Clover Group, plans to close down the facility by October 31.
Clover Group originally claimed that their clients among the brands requested that production be shifted to China, but when challenged on that claim, they changed their story and now say that production costs at Gina are too high.
Popular News
Leave your Comments
Editor’s Pick
Esteemed Clients
-Ltd..jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Thermore (Far East) Ltd.")
.jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Limited (TSllC Ltd)")
.jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Taiwan Textile Federation (TTF)")
