Gina Form Bra factory workers reach settlement with Clover Group

(November 20, 2006) On Friday, November 17, the Gina Relations Workers Union (GRWU) met with representatives of the Clover Group, owners of the Gina Form Bra Factory in Bangkok, Thailand. Representatives from The Limited (makers of Victoria's Secret brand lingerie and buyers from the Gina factory) also attended.

Gina workers have been fighting to keep their unionized factory open after receiving word in early September that the Clover Group was going to close the factory and shift orders to China or Cambodia.

After lengthy negotiations, The Clover Group agreed to pay all outstanding bonuses and legally required severance pay and approximately three-and-a-half months additional salary above the legal minimum severance pay for each worker. The package, worth approximately $1.8 million (Canadian), is an exceptional agreement in a country where even legal obligations are routinely ignored when factories close. It is the hope of the union that this settlement will set a positive precedent.

Though Clover Group always claimed to have offered and/or paid legally mandated severance, the union has insisted that the company also needed to fulfill its outstanding contractual obligations, such as annual bonuses and seniority awards. These obligations would be approximately 20% of the mandatory severance that the workers had already received. The union also requested additional severance above and beyond the legal minimum as compensation for the fact that many of the employees are older and will likely not be able to find work in other factories due to hiring preferences in the garment industry.

Although the union initially fought to keep the Gina Form Bra factory open, the factory was closed on October 20. Even then, the unionized Gina workers did not give up. Despite the recent military coup in Thailand, which brought the country under Martial Law, Gina workers mounted regular protests on to press for their rights. These protests were supported by sustained international pressure on brands buying from Clover Group from solidarity networks in the US, Europe, Hong Kong, and Canada, including MSN.

Thanks to these efforts, the workers have succeeded in winning a substantial severance package well above the norm in Thailand.

Thank you to everyone who wrote to La Senza, The Limited, Warnaco and Gap in support of the Gina workers.

MSN has suspended its Gina Campaign based on these results.