News

Good news!! PT Kahatex Sweater workers re-employed Feb 2004 - We are extremely happy to report a significant breakthrough in the case of PT Kahatex Sweater located in Bandung, Indonesia. The company has agreed to re-employ all of the locked-out workers who wish to return! Two hundred and ten of these workers have already indicated that they wish to be re-employed and the company has agreed that this group will start work by March 1.

Dec 2003 - Update and urgent Action request !

October 2003 Update: PT Kahatex, Indonesia

Sept 2003, Legal Analysis of PT Kahatex Sweater Division Case

German CCC action at Tom Tailor store in Hamburg, September 26th. CCC activists continue to demand that Tom Tailor's Indonesian supplier PT Kahatex reinstate workers illegally fired in May.

Aug 2003 Update: More action needed on PT Kahatex case!

Dear Friends,
Please take action in the following case involving more than 500 workers producing for a number of European and U.S. brands, who have been locked out of their workplace for demanding that they be paid the minimum wage. A sample letter is included below.

Urgent Action: End the Lockout of Workers at PT Kahatex!
(source: United Students Against Sweatshops)

CASE SUMMARY

The PT Kahatex Sweater factory in Bandung, Indonesia, is engaging in an illegal lock-out of 537 workers who refused to accept the sub-minimum wages that the factory was paying. Although management agreed on May 9 to begin paying the legal minimum wage, workers' pay was never increased. Workers began a spontaneous strike in protest, and the company responded by refusing to allow any of these workers back to their jobs. The company engaged in brutal tactics during the lock-out, bribing workers and hiring thugs to force workers to resign and accept illegally-low severance instead of their legally due reinstatement and back wages. Now management is telling workers that if they want to get their jobs back, stripped of seniority, they have to pay back the severance pay.

The workers believe that management might be ready to accept their demands: reinstatement, payment of outstanding severance pay, full reimbursement for unused leave, and most importantly -- payment of the minimum wage and other rights they are entitled to as per the May 9th agreement with management. Therefore, they are asking people to contact Kahatex president Liz Chen in the next few days to keep the pressure on. Please note that at this time we are NOT asking you to contact the companies that produce their garments at PT Kahatex. For more details on this case, please see the chronology of events below.

ACTION REQUEST
Please contact PT Kahatex management to urge them to reinstate the locked out workers, without penalty and with back pay, and to increase wages to meet the legal minimum and implement other normative rights.

SAMPLE LETTER

Please adapt and send the following sample protest letter today

Liz Chen
Managing Director
Pt Kahatex Sweater Division (the facility where the dispute started)
Jl. Rancaekek Desa Solokan Jeruk No. 389
Majalaya
Bandung, Indonesia
Tel. 62-22-5950531, 5950532
62-22-5950535, 5950536
Fax 62-22-5950537
E-mail: liz@kaha.com

Cc: Harja Haruman, Director
William Trisna, General Manager
Nelson Sihombing, Personnel Manager
PT Kahatex, Head Office and Plant #1
Cijerah, Cigondewah Blok Suci No. 16
Cimahi
Bandung, Indonesia
Tel.: 022-6031566
Fax: 022-6031030
E-mail: cj@kaha.com; kahatex@bdg.centrin.net.id; jkt@kaha.com

Dear Ms. Chen,

I am contacting you to express my concerns regarding the lock out and forced resignation of workers at PT Kahatex.

I understand that 537 workers have been illegally locked out since demanding legally-mandated pay and benefits in May. I understand that these workers have been forced, using intimidation tactics, to resign and accept severance pay at a fraction of what they are legally entitled to. I am outraged to learn of these actions, especially since the regional parliament has called upon you to reinstate these workers.

I support the Kahatex workers demands for just treatment in the factory and fair wages that allow them to support themselves and their families. You must follow Indonesian labor law and abide by the agreements you have made with the workers. You must immediately ensure that:

• All 537 workers are reinstated to their former jobs with no retaliation or punishment of any kind for their participation in the strike;
• Employees must not be required to pay back any of the severance pay they
  have received and those who have not received the full amount of severance agreed to on July 17 must be given the outstanding amount immediately;
• All locked-out workers must be fully reimbursed for their unused annual leave during their entire time of employment at Kahatex; and
• most importantly, PT Kahatex must immediately begin paying all workers the legal minimum wage (UMK) -- this wage increase be retroactive to May 9, the date when management agreed to begin paying the minimum wage; and
• All of the other basic legal rights agreed to on May 9 must also be implemented immediately, including legal overtime pay, maternity, menstrual, and annual leave, and health insurance.

For your information, if prompt action is not taken to settle this matter in a just way, I am prepared to contact the brands produced at your factory (Tom Tailor, S. Oliver, Mustang Jeans, H&M, Levi Strauss, Reebok, and Nike) to let them know my concerns regarding these very serious violations of workers rights.

Sincerely,

[insert name]

April 28th: Worker representatives from each line (there is no union yet) asked Kahatex president, Liz Chen to raise their wages to meet the legal Indonesian minimum wage, she refused to do this. She stated on several occasion that her workers are "lazy", particularly the men (who are paid less) and that's why they are getting such low wages. She says she's trying to "teach her employees how to become competitive in the global market place."

May 1st: The workers asked for KPS (Kelompok Pekerja Sweater), an informal union-like organization consisting of mainly Kahatex employees and a few outside labor organizers to represent them in negotiation with management over wage issues. In this meeting management was represented by Alex, Paulus Setiawan, and Awi. At the end of the meeting the members of management promised to deliver a response about specifically raising the piece rate of a few styles: 071, 056, 080, and 084.

May 2nd: Management reported that they did not intend to give any wage increase.

May 3rd: Management refused to negotiate again with employees or their representatives.

May 5th: The knitting department went on strike

May 6th: All employees joined in the strike; workers and management negotiated in the presence of the Ministry of Manpower representative Mr. Amrony.

May 7th: Second negotiation session with Ministry.

May 9th: Legally-binding agreement was reached between employee reps, the Kaha Group personnel manager (Nelson Sihombino) and the Ministry of Manpower stating that the company would raise the piece rate of style 071 and 056. On this same day, the factory personnel manager Paulus Setiawar wrote a statement (Surat Pernyataan) promising that PT Kahatex Sweater would pay the UMK, provide JPK, overtime compensation, and menstrual/maternity/annual leave.

May 26: The next pay period arrived but the change in wages did not take place, resulting in the spontaneous strike of the majority of Kahatex employees.

May 27th: Management ordered those who were willing to accept current pay levels to return to work, those who refused were prevented from re-entering the factory and were told to sign their names on a list and the company would arrange to terminate them with severance. 537 workers refused to accept wages below the legal minimum.

June 4th: Management offered the 537 employees 15% of their legal severance pay.

June 10th: PT Kahatex Sweater management and employees received arbitration from H. Adang Ucu Suharna of Komisi E DPRD (local parliament) of Bandung, resulting in the Komisi's recommendation that all 537 currently locked-out employees should be reinstated immediately.

July 8th: The 537 illegally locked-out workers, joined in solidarity by dozens of other workers from other Kahatex facilities, form a picket line in front of the factory grounds in an attempt to prevent any goods from going in or out. Scores of police and hired thugs close in on the scene.

July 10th: Two worker leaders are arrested and jailed for allegedly harassing and hitting a member of management who was trying to convince protesters to accept illegally low severance pay. The picket line comes to a halt as workers flee in fear of police brutality and further arrests.

July 16th: After days of long negotiations and intimidation tactics used by all levels of Kahatex management, hired thugs, and security guards of the factory grounds the locked-out workers are pressured into accepting termination and a sub-standard severance package. In exchange of forcing workers to accept a severance package that falls 30% short of what the law requires workers are given the "carrot" (only a verbal promise) of the release of the two jailed worker leaders and jobs at the factory again as soon as orders "return to normal". Many workers have reported seeing orders being subcontracted to local home industries to give the impression that the company is now vacant due to the strike.

July 17th: The two worker leaders are released from prison but not all of the charges are dropped.

July 23rd: Many workers haven't received the full amount of severance as agreed upon on July 16th. Managing Director of Kahatex Sweater, Liz Chen, tells some of the worker leaders that the workers can return -- but she refuses to provide back pay, demands that the workers repay the severance they have received, while also giving up all of their seniority, and expects the workers to return at their old (illegally low) wage levels.