Thai Labour Court Gives Triumph Factory the Green Light to Violate Human Rights
CCC PRESS RELEASE
27 November 2008
(Amsterdam) Today a labour court in Bangkok gave Body Fashion Thailand, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Triumph International, the green light in its effort to dismiss union president Jitra Kotshadej. The company filed a case against Ms. Kotshadej in relation to her participation, during her private time, in a national television debate wearing a t-shirt with the text 'Those who do not stand are not criminals. Thinking differently is not a crime.' The t-shirt refers to the right of people not to stand when the royal anthem is played and the abuse of lèse-majesté legislation to suppress political opposition. The company claims that her appearance damaged its reputation.
Triumph Protest news from Thailand
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Triumph is European-based manufacturer of women's lingerie and sleepwear with production operations in Thailand. The Triumph Workers Union, with over 3,000 members, is the strongest garment workers union in Thailand. However, it, like many other unions in the country, has faced strong opposition from the company's management, which has had disputes with its workers in the Philippines in addition to those in Thailand over wage disputes and anti-union tactics. In 2001, Triumph was reported by the exiled Federation of Trade Unions-Burma to be supporting the Burmese military junta by directly investing in a company the government controlled. The company was predicted to be run by the junta as it had been running the country, including severely violating human and worker rights. The labor solidarity group, the Clean Clothes Campaign, organized an international effort which successfully pressured Triumph to end its support of the Burmese junta by withdrawing its investment and halting production activities in Burma the following year.
Most recently, Triumph International, at its Thai subsidiary, Triumph/Body Fashion (Thailand), dismissed the Triumph International Labor Union president, Jitra Kotshadej, for wearing a shirt deemed defamatory to the company. On July 29, 2008, Kotshadej was terminated for “damaging” the reputation of Body Fashion Thailand. The dismissal supposedly stemmed from a television appearance five months earlier when Kotshadej wore a shirt reading “Those who do not stand are not criminals. Thinking differently is not a crime,” a statement referring to the right to not stand when the royal anthem is played.
Many believe that the "shirt incident" was a shallow pretense to retaliate against Kotshadej for having successfully led negotiations which gained improved wages and benefits for women workers at the BFT factory. Nearly all of the garment workers of Samutprakarn province responded to Kotshadej's dismissal by stopping work and demanding her reinstatement at the gates of the factory on July 30, 2008. BFT and Triumph International issued a statement on August 8th condemning the strike as illegal and reaffirming the legitimacy of Kotshadej's termination. The strike continued for 45 days, when Triumph International initiated court procedings over the matter. The company agreed to rehire workers who had walked out in support of Kotshadej with a month's back pay, but refused to reinstate the union leader, a decision eventually upheld by the court. Triumph agreed to provide back pay to those who struck in solidarity with the union president, but many have still not been put back to work and the recognition of the union and the rights of its workers are still under threat.
Since August, many different organizations have come together in solidarity with the Triumph workers in Thailand. They have held protests at Triumph's International headquarters in various countries and have initiated campaigns to challenge the company's actions by confronting its management and demanding Kotshadej's reinstatement, the end of retaliatory actions against union workers, the cessation of company attempts to break the union, and disciplinary action against the BFT managers who inappropriately initiated the procedings against the union leader and are, some say, emphasizing reverence from workers towards the royal family as an excuse to undermine workers' rights and weaken the union without having to admit to doing so directly, thereby undermining workers' ability to confront their mistreatment.
Organizations standing in solidarity the the Triumph International Union workers include:
*Tie-Asia and CCC (Europe)
*ATNC (Asian Transnational Corporation Monitoring Network)
* The Chinese Working Women Network (CWWN)
While founded in Germany, Triumph is now headquartered out of Switzerland. Sample letters to send to the company's headquarters as well as contact information can be found below.
Dear Colleagues,
The Committee for Asian Women call for support to workers of Truimph International Labour Union Thailand.
On 29 July 2008, the president of Triumph International Labour Union Thailand, Ms.Jitra Cotshadet, was fired by Body Fashion factory or Triumph International Limited Thailand*. The excuse of the dismissal is that Ms.Jitra wore a campaign T-shirt defending Chotisak Onsoong who refused to stand up during the King's Royal Anthem in the cinema. The campaign T-shirt which read 'Not to stand is not a crime. To think differently doesn't make one a criminal' became a subject of attack by the pro-monarchists. Ms.Jitra wore the T-shirt in a local television programme in April, where she was interviewed on unwanted pregnancy among Thai workers and rights to abortion.
We believe that the management of Body Fashion garment factory actually seized this opportunity to use Thailand's Lesse majeste Law to have Jitra dismissed. The incident followed a successful negotiation for wage increase and benefits for the women workers in the factory.
We join the call for international solidarity to support the workers and leaders of Triumph International Labour Union Thailand. We demand that the company:
- reinstate union leader Ms.Jitra Cotshadet, President of International Triumph Labour Union-Thailand;
- stop punishing the striking workers who support Ms.Jitra;
- dismiss corrupt and irresponsible management officials who falsely charged Ms. Jitra based on unreasonable allegations of Lesse Majeste;
- stop using the Lesse Majeste Law to destroy the union;
- ensure the right of the International Triumph Labour Union of Thailand to exist and represent the workers
Please send appeal letters to Triumph company and Body Fashion factory in Thailand, Triumph overseas head office in Hong Kong and the headquarter in the UK. (sample letter and contact details attached.)
Triumph International (Thailand) Ltd.
1126/2 12th Floor Vanit Building 2 New Petchburi Road Makkasan Rajthevee
Bangkok, Thailand 10400
Tel/Hp : 662-6552300
Fax : 662-2550469
Body Fashion (Thailand) Ltd.
393 Moo 17 2nd Floor Bangplee Industrial Estate Bang Saothong
SamutPrakan, Thailand 10540
Tel/Hp : 662-3153283
Fax : 662-3153299
Triumph head office
Markus Spiesshofer, President and Managing Director
Arkwright Road Groundwell
Swindon, Wiltshire SN25 5BE
United Kingdom
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Website: |
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Phone: |
+44 1793 720284 |
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Fax: |
+44 1793 720146 |
Triumph Head Office in Hong Kong
Triumph International
#133 Hoi Bun Road
7th Floor Piazza Building
Kwun Tong
Kowloon, Hong Kong
Fax: 00-852-23419487
* Triumph International is a German multinational company and manufacturer of lingerie and sleepwear founded in 1886 owned by the Spiesshofer and Braun families. The Switzerland-based company is one of Europe's main retailers of lingerie. Its products are marketed under such brand names as Form & Beauty, Amourette, BeHappy, Triaction, Slipi, Sloggi, Mamabel, Night & Home, BeeDees and HOM.
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Sample Urgent Appeal Letter:
Urgent Appeal
Dear Sir/Madam,
We, __(your name)___, write to express our concern on behalf of the workers of Body Fashion garment factory or Triumph International (Thailand) Ltd. On 29 July 2008, the president of Triumph International Labour Union Thailand in Samut Prakarn, Thailand, Ms.Jitra Cotshadet, was dismissed by the factory. The excuse of the dismissal is that during a television interview about reproductive rights, Ms.Jitra wore a campaign T-shirt supporting Chotisak Onsoong who refused to stand up during the King's Royal Anthem in the cinema. We believe this is an abuse of the Lesse Majeste law especially because Ms. Jitra made no reference to the campaign for Chotisak nor the Body Fashion company.
A strike by virtually all of the 3,700 factory workers of Body Fashion had begun on 30 July demanding the reinstatement of Ms.Jitra. Instead of communicating with the workers, the management tried to fire all 20 union leaders and mete out disciplinary punishment to other workers.
We believe that the management of Body Fashion garment factory actually used the Lesse majeste Law to have Ms. Jitra dismissed and consequently set out to destroy the union. These actions clearly violate the workers' rights to association and freedom of expression and are inconsistent with Triumph's international reputation.
In support of the workers, we hereby urge that the management of Triumph International (Thailand) Ltd:
□ reinstate union leader Ms.Jitra Cotshadet, President of International Triumph Labour Union-Thailand;
□ stop punishing the striking workers who support Ms.Jitra;
□ dismiss corrupt and irresponsible management officials defaming Ms. Jitra based on unreasonable allegations of Lesse Majeste;
□ stop using the Lesse Majeste Law to destroy the union;
□ ensure the right of the International Triumph Labour Union of Thailand to exist and represent the workers
Sincerely,
___Your name_______
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