Fired women partly compensated by buyer

In 2010, seven female union organisers were fired at the Busana Prima Global factory in Bogor, resulting in a solidarity strike of 37 of their co-workers. The situation did not improve even after main buyer Jack Wolfskin and the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) repeatedly urged the factory to reinstate the workers and improve working conditions in the factory. CCC, the Fair Wear Foundation and main buyer Jack Wolfskin worked on skills training and a compensation package for the fired women.

The women were fired after visiting the Department of Manpower to raise several labour rights issues at the factory. After a long process of urging the factory to reinstate the fired workers and improve working conditions in the factory, Jack Wolfskin decided to withdraw orders from Busana Prima Global in 2012. The pull-out from the factory was caused by the factory’s failure to work together with the unions to stop the violation of workers' rights.


Taking care

Since 2012 the trade union workers together with the Clean Clothes Campaign, the Fair Wear Foundation and Jack Wolfskin to strive for compensation for the fired union organisers. The women cannot find new jobs in other garment factories because they have been blacklisted due to their union work. Jack Wolfskin has offered the union members skills training to allow them to find new professions. Other brands producing their clothes in the Busana Prima Global factory do not take action to resolve the outstanding labour rights violations in the factory.

An agreement was made upon a wage compensation from the date of the dismissal until the date Jack Wolfskin ended its production, based on the average production capacity during these years in the factory compared to production of other companies in the factory. These amounts cannot undo the injustice these women faced because they stood up against the violations of their rights and those of their colleagues. But Jack Wolfskin's actions have underlined that union advocacy is a legitimate right for workers that needs to be upheld.

 

See also:

Withdrawal of Jack Wolfskin due to misconduct of factory owner, not to union work

Jack Wolfskin Supplier Social Report 2012 (pages 44-46)

Fair Wear Foundation: Complaint Report on Busana Prima Global [pdf]