On Saturday, Students Against Sweatshops GVSU held a protest at the Victoria’s Secret store inside of Woodland Mall in Grand Rapids. The protest—part of a “national day of action” organized by United Students Against Sweatshops—demanded that Victoria’s Secret respect workers’ rights and stop the closing of the Gina Form Bra Factory in Thailand that producers bras sold at the retail chain. At 3:00pm on a fairly busy Saturday, ten people distributed leaflets and held signs informing customers and mall patrons about Victoria’s Secret’s plan to close the factory. While the Woodland Mall security forced the protestors out and the protest was over within ten minutes, all such protests must be reported to Victoria’s Secret’s corporate headquarters. A similar protest took place later in the day outside of a Victoria’s Secret’s store in Lansing, as well as at others across the country, which will ideally make the demands know through Victoria’s Secret’s internal communications channels.
The factory—at which workers won the right to unionize in 2003—has been exemplary both in terms of its treatment of workers as well as the quality of products produced according to an email action alert issued by United Students Against Sweatshops. The factory’s management has told workers that the plant’s closing is “the wish of the brands” for which the factory produces (these brands include not only Victoria’s Secret, but also Calvin Klein and Charming Shoppes). The possible closing of the factory comes after workers there have achieved a number of gains including increases in production bonuses, paid union leave, wages, lunch benefits, and ongoing monitoring of the factory’s health and safety conditions. The factory is one of the few that pays close to a living wage, although this will change if production is shifted to China at the end of October 2006 as the factory’s parent company—the Clover Group—is planning. The Clover Group argues that this move is necessary because of competition in the industry and rising costs, specifically because goods can be produced for less in China as unions such as the Gina Relations Workers Union at the Gina Form factory are outlawed. While the Clover Group has not “overtly blamed” the union for rising costs, its actions and possible factory closing make it clear that it hopes to close the Thai factory and move to China where they will not have to meet the demands of the union according to United Students Against Sweatshops. Despite the fact that the close will force 1,600 people out of jobs in Thailand, none of the companies buying from the Gina Form Factory have made public statements or taken action regarding the closure.
People who support the workers’ rights are encouraged to send an email to Victoria’s Secret in order to magnify the effects of the protests held over the weekend.
