Labour rights organisations continue to denounce the situation at Levi's Turkish supplier

With a series legislation preparing to come into force, such as the EU Corporate Social Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), global fashion companies are coming under increasing pressure to adapt their own policies to support their workers’ rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining, including in the supply chain.

US denim specialist Levi Strauss & Co. came under fire in June after an investigation by the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) found that Turkish supplier Özak Tekstil had dismissed 400 workers without notice at the end of 2023 after they demonstrated against labour law violations and for their right to join an independent union.

A Levi Strauss & Co. spokesperson had stressed to Just-Style at the time that the company had "long been committed to safe and productive workplaces for workers" and took all allegations aimed at restricting freedom of association very seriously. "Nevertheless, the Workers Rights Consortium's report on the Özak situation contains several misrepresentations and omits a number of relevant details," it continued.

Levi's promised support

Levi Strauss & Co. was in “frequent contact” with factory management during the unrest to “strongly express the company’s support for workers’ lawful expression and their right to freedom of association.”

"After several months of searching for solutions and wanting to ensure that no further jobs are lost, we have decided to continue our cooperation with Özak on a conditional basis, which depends on the company management's fulfillment of a detailed recovery plan addressing freedom of association, working hours and health and safety," the spokesperson further explained, according to Just-Style.

Levi Strauss & Co. further stated that it has reduced its production orders "to align them with factory capacity" and is conducting regular factory visits to ensure compliance with the recovery plan. "We will continue to work to ensure that factory management upholds worker rights and benefits in accordance with local labor laws and our Supplier Code of Conduct," the spokesperson concluded.

WRC criticises violations of labour law

According to the Worker Rights Consortium, Levi Strauss & Co. then "did a U-turn, dropped its demand for reinstatement, abandoned the fired workers, ignored its own labour standards, and rewarded the factory with more contracts. As a result, the violations documented by the WRC were not remedied," according to a report by the organisation.

This was taken up by the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC). Together with the Turkish trade union Birtek-Sen (which the strikers wanted to join) and the Worker Rights Consortium, the organisation informed Levi Strauss & Co. about the violations of the rules of the International Labour Organization (ILO), Turkish labour law and Levi's own code of conduct.

"The textile giant Levi's must immediately put an end to the human rights violations at its Turkish supplier," is the demand. In addition, all employees laid off at the Sanliurfa plant at the end of 2023 are to be reinstated without preconditions and they are to be paid back the wages they lost due to the illegal dismissal.

"Birtek-Sen is fighting to ensure that foremen no longer arbitrarily intimidate and harass young women in particular, force workers to do illegal overtime or put pressure on them to leave the union," explains Bettina Musiolek from the Clean Clothes Campaign.

"We exercised our constitutional right to join a union of our choice to fight for better working conditions. That's why we became Birtek-Sen members. 400 workers were fired because they exercised this right. We produce for Levi's. Although we reported the problem to the jeans brand from the very first moment, Levi's did nothing. We invite all consumers who wear Levi's clothing to support us and demand that the fashion brand respect our rights," added Funda Bakis, one of the activists among the workers.

"Levi Strauss has not only completely failed to seriously combat human rights violations, but has also ignored its own findings and insights on the matter. Since Levi Strauss, as the client, uses 100 percent of the factory's production volume, the brand has every influence to persuade factory management to guarantee freedom of association. Freedom of association is an ILO core labour standard and thus a fundamental right. Levi Strauss has not lived up to its responsibility for its implementation," summarises Christie Miedema from the CCC's International Office.

FashionUnited has asked Levi Strauss & Co. for an updated statement and will update this article accordingly.

This article originally appeared on FashionUnited.DE. Translation via AI and edit by Rachel Douglass.