Fired at Fruit of the Loom supplier

In Colombo, the Bratex factory produces underwear for Fruit of the Loom and Viania. Workers have been intimidated, and 31 trade union leaders have been arrested and fired after a legal strike in 2011, which broke out after management failed to respond to workers’ concerns about wages and freedom of association.

Workers have been intimidated and 33 union leaders have been arrested and dismissed after a legal strike in 2011, which broke out after management failed to respond to workers’ concerns on wages and freedom of association.

The Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) calls on Bratex management, and buyers Fruit of the Loom and Viania, to resolve the dispute in the factory, which has been ongoing for more than two years.

Bratex has yet to come to an agreement with the workers, meaning 31 workers remain without jobs, and workers' demands in relation to wages, bonuses and freedom of association have still not been met.

A year-long investigation by the Fair Labor Association (FLA), of which Fruit of the Loom is a member, has failed to produce any results. The Fair Labor Association is a so-called Multi-Stakeholder Initiative, with its headquarters in Washington DC.

The Clean Clothes Campaign did not draw the public's attention to this case in the first year, because CCC hoped that the FLA process and brand interventions would lead to a fair and just resolution. As there still has been no progress whatsoever after one and a half years, CCC has publicly called on all brands buying from the factory to take steps to ensure Bratex management:

reinstates all sacked workers with full back pay, pending the outcome of court cases
pay all workers' bonus arrears for 2010
develop and sign a memorandum of understanding with brands and the trade union FTZ&GSEU on freedom of association

An initial meeting between Fruit of the Loom, FLA and CCC to discuss a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) took place in October 2012, but by the end of the year a Memorandum had not been finalised.