Thai Triumph garment workers seek German embassy intervention

BANGKOK, Aug 13 (TNA) – Nearly one thousand workers of a foreign-owned garment company in Samut Prakan on Thursday submitted a letter to the German embassy asking its government to negotiate with their German employers to return laid off employees to work.

Led by Jitra Kochadech, an advisor to the Triumph International (Thailand) labour union, the action came after the layoff of 1,959 workers from Body Fashion (Thailand), a manufacturer and a distributor of women’s lingerie and swimwear under the corporate umbrella of Triumph International (Thailand), with the sub-brands Sloggi, Bee Dees, and Triumph Sport.

Ms Jitra said that the layoff was unfair as the unemployed labourers, most of whom had worked for the company at least 20 years and were union members, were not officially informed of the matter in advance.

She said the workers received only short messages via cell phones in the night of June 28.

The company said it was operating at a loss and therefore was forced to reduce the number of its employees, but some union members, including herself, believed the firm wanted to relocate its production base to new location with lower labour costs and without the labour union, Ms Jitra said.

The embassy representative accepted the letter, but said the company was not a state-owned but owned by German nationals.

Ms Jitra said she and five colleagues would fly to Hong Kong Friday to negotiate with executives at the Triumph head office there. (TNA)