Demand Justice for Hey Tekstil workers
ATNC
Asian Transnational Corporations Monitoring Network
Mr. Raymond Or Ching Fai
Chairman and Independent Non-Executive Director
Esprit Holdings Limited
43/f Enterprise Square Three
39 Wang Chiu Road
Kowloon Bay
Kowloon, Hong Kong
Mr. Victor Fung Kwok King
Group Non-executive Chairman
Li & Fung Limited
11/F, Li Fung Tower
888 Cheung Sha Wan Road
Hong Kong
2nd November 2012
Dear Mr. Or and Mr. Fung,
Re: Demand Justice for Hey Tekstil workers
For over eight months workers from the Hey Tekstil factory in Turkey have been staging a picket line in front of Li & Fung’s Istanbul hub office. For over eight months Esprit and Li & Fung, the primary clients of Hey Tekstil, has failed to respond to the workers demands of overdue wages, severance, and notification payments. The Asian Transnational Corporations Monitoring Network is outraged by the irresponsible behavior of your companies, and hereby demands that Esprit and Li & Fung compensate the workers immediately.
The conflict began in February 2012 when the last 420 of 3000 workers from the Turkish apparel company Hey Tekstil Sanayi ve Ticaret L.Ş. were fired from the company’s Istanbul factory without notice. The workers did not receive their last three months of wages, nor were they paid severance and notification payment. Collectively the workers are owed at least 4.7 million euros. At the time of the closure of the factory, 80-90% of the clothes made at Hey Tekstil were for Esprit, sourced through its agent Li & Fung.
Since then the dismissed workers have embarked on a long struggle for justice, picketing in front of their factory and Li & Fung. However, Esprit and Li & Fung responded by making a humiliating offer of “legal assistance” to workers who they know already have taken legal action themselves. Esprit was even adamant in refusing to assume “third party debts”. However, workers rights are not just debts that can be crossed out on paper; these are workers whose toils have built your brand and gave you your profits, whose hands have sewn your garments that are on display now in your shops, all without getting due remuneration. It is only fair that Esprit and Li & Fung should give the workers back their minuscule wages when these garments are sold for huge profits. Moreover, your companies have failed to act when Hey Tekstil first started violating the law and your own codes of conduct, a clear failure in your due diligence and in your obligation to mediate.
The workers can wait no longer. After eight months of fighting for their dignity Hey Tekstil workers are unable to send their children to school or buy daily medications. As companies who claim to be socially responsible, Esprit and Li & Fung must not allow the situation to deteriorate any further. We demand Esprit and Li & Fung to:
– Immediately negotiate with the workers in good faith;
– Compensate the workers for overdue wages, severance, and notification payments according to legal standard;
– Review the enforcement of your codes of conduct throughout your supply chain, and make available the compliance information for public scrutiny.
We sincerely look forward to your written reply. Should there be any enquiries, please contact the spokesperson of the ATNC Monitoring Network, Ms Suki CHUNG (Tel: 28159003; email: coordinator@atnc.asia)
Thank you for your kind attention.
Yours sincerely,
Asian Transnational Corporations Monitoring Network
we met with some of the workers from hey textiles in june when we went to gezi park. here is a film we made which talks about their struggle and shows their determination. it can be viewed here (with english and german subtitles): http://en.labournet.tv/video/6605/hey-textile-workers-strike
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