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23 February 2005
 Closure
of PT Tae Hwa Factory producing for FILA leaves
thousands unemployed in Tangarang, Indonesia
Dear Friends,
This update concerns the closing of the
PT Tae Hwa factory in Indonesia, leaving
thousands of workers without work. Workers
were on a two-day holiday and when they
returned to the factory on February 11,
they found the factory closed and the owners
nowhere to be found. Employees were informed
that the company had sold all its equipment,
but no other reliable information was given.
The cause of the factory's closure remains
unclear, but rumors are circulating among
the workers that the factory's closure came
as a result of a very large payment that
was withheld by FILA, in turn rendering
PT Tae Hwa unable to meet its outstanding
debts. Obviously, the workers are distressed
by their difficult situation and now face
great hardship due to this unexpected termination
of their employment. FILA has a responsibility
to these workers who were producing goods
for FILA right up to the last day before
the factory closed.
On February 22, a joint letter from the
Clean Clothes Campaign, Oxfam International
and the International Confederation of Free
Trade Unions (ICFTU) was sent to FILA's
chief marketing officer Robert Erb. The
letter called upon FILA to share with us
any information it might have regarding
PT Tae Hwa's closure and asked the company
to actively assist workers to recover their
jobs and to receive back-pay to which they
are entitled.
We will continue to monitor developments
at PT Tae Hwa and keep you updated about
any developments or action requests that
may follow in this case.
In the past FILA was at the centre of the
Play Fair at the Olympics campaign as well
as a campaign calling for the the reinstatement
of Parkati, a worker dismissed from the
PT Tae Hwa factory in 1999. In 1998 Parkati
was one of the key organisers of a two-day
strike aimed to improve conditions in the
factory and establish an independent union.
For more background
information on FILA and the Tae Hwa factory,
please visit our website at
http://www.cleanclothes.org/companies/fila.htm
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