A local manufacturer for lingerie brand Victoria's Secret has been embroiled in a month-long battle with the Thai government and union officials over the imminent closure of its factory in Bangkok.
Speaking to the media for the first time since the closure announcement on September 4, Clover Group International said its subsidiary, Gina Form Bra, would be shut down by October 31 despite mass protests launched by its workers last week. The company also has factories in Cambodia and Dongguan in Guangdong province.
Chief corporate officer Emily Lau Man-yin said the Thai operation posted losses from 2001 to last year, with each year getting worse.
'We understand how the Thai government feels but we have 5,000 other people to take care of,' she said.
There were large-scale protests in Bangkok last Monday - the first labour-related demonstration since martial law was imposed in the country after the September 19 coup - when workers demanded the US embassy launch an investigation into the closure.
Waving bras and placards, the workers called on American consumers of Victoria's Secret and other brands made by Gina Form Bra to take up the issue, and accused the company of trying to trick them into signing resignation letters to avoid a severance payout. A total of 1,600 people will be affected.
