INDONESIA: Workers strike against maker of US designer brands

On May 14, at least 2500 workers employed by Katexindo Citra Mandiri, went on strike to protest ill-treatment and unpaid overtime. Katexindo is an Indonesian-owned garment factory licensed to produce clothing for several famous US designer brands, including Gap, Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein. According to Dita Sari, a leader of the National Front for Indonesian Workers Struggle (FNPBI) the factory had forced the workers, mostly women and members of her labour group, to work for more than eight hours a day. Katexindo had also forced the workers to increase output from 65 items per hour each to 85 while rejecting overtime demands. The FNPBI complained to Gap's headquarters in the United States about the situation but had received no response.

From Green Left Weekly, June 1, 2005.

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From GLW issue 628