Sri Lanka’s Brandix Essentials locked out around 1,500 workers in Koggala Free Trade Zone (KFTZ) after the workers reportedly stopped work to protest the slashing of their annual bonus by half.
It is being said that the factory management informed workers about bonus cut because the factory was running at a loss. The workers, on the next day, refused to work and gathered in the factory canteen demanding full payment of the bonus.
When employees returned to their homes, the management reportedly informed them by text message that the factory was closed indefinitely. Fearing job losses, some workers accepted the pay cut.
Management, however, told them to send a letter accepting that they had made a mistake by refusing to work to which workers showed their disagreement, reported Sri Lankan news agency WSWS.
After the intervention from officials of the Board of Investment, the government body overseeing foreign investments, the decision was made to call the workers back on work only if they would accept the half bonus.
It’s worth noting here that Brandix is one of the largest multinational apparel companies in South Asia, with 53,000 workers at 23 factories in Sri Lanka, four in India and one in Bangladesh.
The Koggala factory, however, had been closed for 10 days in September due to lack of orders.
A production section employee gets only 28,000 Sri Lankan Rupees (US $ 106) a month, while maintenance workers receives 35,000 Rs. (Sri Lankan). The annual bonus is equal to a month’s wages.
