October 10, 2006

Gina Form Bra Factory campaign, Fall 2006

[CLOSED: No further action required]

Help stop the shut down of Gina Form Bra Factory

Gina Form workers need your support, take action now!

October 10, 2006

Your action is urgently needed to help stop the shut down of the Gina Form Bra factory in Thailand. 1600 unionized workers could lose their jobs and their hard-won union.

The shut-down will also reverse a major international anti-sweatshop victory you helped us win, and contribute to a growing trend of closing good, unionized factories in favour of factories with sweatshop conditions.

The Gina Form Bra factory produces underwear for companies like Victoria Secret and Calvin Klein. Its owner, the Clover Group, also produces underwear for Gap and the Montreal-based lingerie company La Senza.

With the possible shutdown of Gina Form less than a month away, Clover Group clients must immediately contact the company and demand that they keep Gina Form open or face serious consequences.

REQUESTED ACTION:

Your action is urgently needed to help stop Clover Group's attempt to violate workers' rights. Companies producing their garments at Gina Form and at other Clover Group facilities have a responsibility to push their supplier to keep Gina open and to respect workers' rights at all their facilities.

Please send a letter to La Senza. With the possible shutdown of Gina Form less than a month away, La Senza must immediately contact their supplier Clover Group and demand that they keep Gina Form open or face serious consequences.

Letters and emails should go to:

Irving Teitelbaum

Chairman of the Board and CEO
La Senza Corporation
1608 St. Regis Blvd.
Dorval, Quebec, H9P 1H6
Canada
Tel: (514) 684-3666 ext. 3476
Fax: (514) 684-7448
E-mail: ir@lasenza.com

Sample letter (Please write your own and send a copy to MSN):

Dear Mr. Teitelbaum:

I am extremely disappointed to learn from the Maquila Solidarity Network that the Clover Group has announced plans to shut down the Gina Form Bra Factory in Thailand.

I am aware that La Senza used to produce apparel at the Gina factory and now produces goods at other factories owned by the Clover Group. As a client of the Clover Group, I urge you to look into this possible closure immediately and do all that you can to prevent this good factory from being shut down.

As you will know, after a long struggle in 2003 by the Gina Relation Workers' Union (GRWU), 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. 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." Unfortunately, all these gains could soon be lost as the Hong Kong-based owners have recently announced a plan to shut down the Thai facility as of October 31st and move all production to China.

Representatives from Gina management have cited rising costs as the main reason for their plans to relocate, however the union believes the planned closure is an attempt to bust the union. Management has refused to divulge information about the financial situation at the factory and has been unwilling to discuss any alternatives to closing the factory with the union.

If Gina closes, 1600 workers will lose their jobs. Many of the Gina employees bear the brunt of the financial responsibility for their parents and/or children in the countryside.

I call on you to:

1. Immediately communicate in clear and unmistakable terms to Clover Group that you wish the Gina Form factory to remain open and are willing to source goods from the factory;
2. Let Clover Group know that if they proceed with the closure as planned you will discontinue all business relations with the Clover Group (wherever they are located in the world); and
3. Request that Clover Group provide evidence of its financial reasons for the planned closure directly to the Gina Relations Workers Union, and state your willingness to work with Clover Group and the union to investigate alternatives to closure.

Please let me know what you are doing to address this urgent matter.

Yours sincerely,