17 June, 2025On 9 June, Celebrity Fashions Limited (CFL), a garment manufacturing company in India, illegally shut down its factory in Avadi, Tamil Nadu, unlawfully terminating 560 workers overnight. After several rounds of negotiations, managements and workers have reached an agreement, but the struggle for closure compensation continues.
CFL is a major garment exporter in India, and the imposition of unilateral closure by the company violates Indian laws regarding closure of factories and retrenchment of workers.
Under the leadership of Garment and Fashion Workers Union (GAFWU), affiliated to IndustriALL through Unions United, the illegally terminated workers, a majority of whom are women, staged sit-in protest for days and nights until management was forced to negotiate with the struggling workers. GAFWU also approached the office of Assistant Labour Commissioner, as well as filed a case in the labour court to seek remedy.
On 13 June, an agreement was reached between workers and management, according to which all workers will be paid full wages in June, along with bonus and leave encashment (compensation for unused paid leave) by 7 July. In lieu of gratuity (payment for completing a number of years in service), workers with three years of service are to be paid 45 days’ salary by 30 July, and those with at least one year of service are to be paid 15 days’ salary by 10 July.
GAFWU has demanded that brands sourcing from CFL take responsibility of their supply chain and ensure that CFL management upholds their code of conduct and respects workers’ rights, and that the government of Tamil Nadu immediately intervene and ensure that provisions under Indian law are upheld and workers be given closure compensation.
Gautam Mody, executive committee member of IndustriALL and convener of Union United, says:
“This is yet another case where the law is with the workers yet the government allows employers to close factories with impunity taking advantage of women workers who earn barely US$115 a month and simply don’t have the capacity to hold out. The union will do everything in its power to ensure that the company pays workers what is due. This situation will, however, not change until we can bring transparency in the MNC supply chain.”
Christina Hajagos Clausen, IndustriALL textile and garment director, says:
“IndustriALL salutes the struggle of GAFWU and stands in complete solidarity with the workers of Celebrity Fashions. We urge the brands sourcing from Celebrity Fashions to immediately look into the matter and address the issue of unfair labour practice at their supplier factory.”