WRC Case Summary: Confecciones Gama (El Salvador)

Please find here a case summary detailing the successful resolution of severance violations related to the closure of the Confecciones Gama factory in El Salvador. This factory was disclosed as collegiate by League Collegiate Wear, and produced non-collegiate apparel for Walmart and Fruit of the Loom. In June 2011, the facility closed without paying workers the full severance payments required by law. After the WRC contacted the buyers from the factory, Fruit of the Loom committed to engage with Intradeco Holdings, which had subcontracted Fruit of the Loom production to Confecciones Gama. At Fruit of the Loom’s urging, in December 2012, Intradeco provided 239 workers with $200,750. The WRC recognizes these actions by both Fruit of the Loom and Intradeco Holdings, which fully resolved the workers’ rights violations at Confecciones Gama.

The remediation at Confecciones Gama is only one of several successfully resolved cases related to severance violations in the past year. Please find here a summary of the case of Hawkins Apparel in Honduras. Hawkins produced non-collegiate apparel for a number of buyers, including the VF Corporation and Jerry Leigh, a US firm working with a number of customers and/or licensors. In December 2012, Jerry Leigh provided $277,852 to approximately 200 workers.

The failure to pay severance is particularly damaging to workers and their families because it robs unemployed workers of substantial funds at the moment that they need this income the most. The effects of this sudden decline in family income can have long-term consequences, as workers are forced to forgo necessary medical care, to delay payment of children’s school fees, and to do without other basic needs for their families. While the payment of funds was belated at both Hawkins and Gama, the fact that workers ultimately received the funds they were due meant that they were able to pay off debts accrued subsequent to the factory closure. For those who had not yet found new employment, the funds enabled them to meet their families’ needs while they continued to seek other work.  

The WRC will continue our work to ensure that collegiate licensees comply with their obligation under codes of conduct to ensure that workers producing collegiate licensed apparel receive all of the compensation that they are entitled to under law.

As always, please contact me with any thoughts or questions.

Scott Nova 
Worker Rights Consortium 
5 Thomas Circle NW, 5th Floor 
Washington DC 20005 
ph  202 387 4884 
fax 202 387 3292 
[email protected] 
www.workersrights.org