Superdry manufacturer in Sri Lanka close down without paying due wages
Workers – largely women - of a garment factory in Sri Lanka’s highlands, which has been closed down for three months, have launched a protest demanding the factory pay the salaries, arrears, and bonuses.
The protest took place in front of the Norwood Fashions (Pvt) Ltd which is situated in Norwood, Hatton on 23rd of October.
Norwood Fashions is a Walmart Responsible Sourcing, Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP) and Business Social Compliance Initiative (BCSI) accredited apparel manufacturer supplying to international brands including Superdry.
A female worker who was in the protest said that even though the factory was closed in August, the factory has failed to pay the wages for the three months of May, June, and July for any employee to date.
“When we were told that the factory will settle our salaries on time, we remained this long believing their word. But we cannot wait any longer. We cannot live without the salary. If they settle the due salary amount and provide us with our B cards, at least we could join another factory to work. They have not paid salaries of three months.”
She further mentioned that the bonus amount of 20000 rupees due for last year has not been paid.
The protestors have further said that the workers who were employed in the factory are in extreme poverty as they have not received their arrears of wages for three months and have no source of income after losing their jobs.
According to provincial journalists, more than 2,000 people have lost their jobs due to the closure of this factory. They further said that among them more than 300 workers joined the protest.
However, apart from the security personnel, there was no responsible authority inside the factory premises to respond.
The managers have mentioned that Norwood Fashion Company has a factory in Polgahawela, which produces more than 2,000,000 ready-made garments per day.
Many workers in the investment promotion zone also lost their jobs due to the closure of several factories due to the severe economic challenges faced by Sri Lanka after the COVID-19 epidemic situation.
