After almost two years of facing intense anti-union harassment, and dismissal of union leadership—and after coordinating an extensive local and international organizing drive—the workers at Gina Form Bra finally won back union recognition in 2003. From 2003 to the present the union has again won significant gains for the workforce including an increase in production bonuses, wages, lunch benefits, the provision of paid union leave, special allowance for the first born child of workers, regular meetings between the management and union to help solve problems as they arise, and monitoring of the factory’s health and safety conditions with active involvement of the union. Moreover, the company is one of the very few factories in the world that pays a wage well above the minimum wage, providing a wage close to a proper living wage. The union and management have also worked collectively in activities such as joint labor/management training on HIV and AIDS safety, holding Buddhist ceremonies, and relief work for Tsunami victims.

But this story could soon become ancient history, as Gina Form Bra’s parent company in Hong Kong, the Clover Group, has recently announced that they wish to close their Thai facility permanently by the end of October (2006) and move production to China. 

Representatives of Gina management have cited rising costs and stiff competition with countries like China (where independent unions like the Gina Relations Workers Union [GRWU] are considered illegal under the domestic labor code) as the main reasons for their plans to relocate. Management has, in a written testimony, further stated that their buyers have explicitly requested that they move to China because they would prefer to source from China over Thailand.

Gina management has not overtly blamed the union for the rising costs, but it has been made undoubtedly clear by all of management’s actions to date that the company hopes to make an end-run around the union and a clear break for China where they will no longer have to deal with the costs of complying with the union’s demands for better labor standards. The information to date provided by management has been far from sufficient by Thai legal standards regarding procedures for factory closures, and by basic common standards of human decency and respect for the workers, their families and their legal representatives.

Gina’s main buyers, Victoria’s Secrets, Calvin Klein, and Charming Shoppes have not made any public statements nor taken action regarding the closure. It is outrageous that the buyers would sit by so quietly while a factory that they themselves have put many hours and resources into bring into compliance with their own corporate codes of conduct is shut down.

The closure of Gina will send 1600 workers into unemployment and put their families in economic uncertainty. Many of the Gina employees bear the brunt of the financial responsibility for their parents and/or children in the countryside. These families will soon face hardship due to Clover Group’s and Victoria’s Secret, Calvin Klein and Charming Shoppes sourcing policies. Support the Gina union today by telling the Clover Group and the brands that cutting and running is an unacceptable form of union busting!