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Protest by Indonesian trade unions: s.Oliver and Gerry Weber must compensate laid-off workers

Protests in front of the German Embassy in Jakarta.On March 30, 2017, the Indonesian trade unions GSBI and FSPMI organized a protest in front of the German embassy in Jakarta to draw attention to the fate of 4,000 workers who worked for a supplier of the German companies s.Oliver and Gerry Weber. In April 2015, the insolvent textile factory Jaba Garmindo in Indonesia closed. To date, thousands of predominantly female employees, who were laid off at the time, are waiting in vain for four outstanding monthly salaries as well as severance payments totaling almost $11 million. The Clean Clothes Campaign calls on s.Oliver and Gerry Weber to participate in the compensation payments.

Indonesian Sri Paryani, who worked in the factory with her husband for 20 years, says: “Many of us have lost our homes as a result of insolvency and are too old to find a new job. We can no longer feed our families. But we will not give up and will continue our struggle until we learn justice.” So far, an auction of factory property has only been able to cover 45% of the workers’ outstanding wages. They are also entitled to far higher severance payments.

The factory unions report that both companies had clothing produced at Jaba Garmindo until the beginning of 2015, shortly before insolvency. "We call on s.Oliver and Gerry Weber to finally take responsibility for their supply chain and give workers what they legally deserve," says Laura Ceresna-Chaturvedi of the Clean Clothes Campaign.

According to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, companies are obliged to prevent human rights violations caused by their business practices. “As multinationals, s.Oliver and Gerry Weber have a human rights due diligence obligation. This also applies to employees of their suppliers. It is unacceptable that thousands of workers who have sewn clothes for s.Oliver and Gerry Weber go empty-handed," said Laura Ceresna-Chaturvedi.

In a similar case in Indonesia, Adidas paid compensation to its suppliers' workers in 2013 at the urging of the international Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC). Other companies such as Fruit of the Loom, Nike and H&M have also participated in such payments to workers in their supply chains in Honduras, El Salvador, Indonesia and Cambodia in the past. Or they have pushed their suppliers to pay severance payments.

 

Contact:
Laura Ceresna-Chaturvedi, Rapid Action Coordinator of the Clean Clothes Campaign,
Tel.: +49 (0)30-42 08 202-52, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

Press release of the campaign for clean clothing from 30.03.2017