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Working Conditions
Unions
Gildan's Code of Conduct and management team support the rights of workers to freedom of association. The Company recognizes an employee's right to form or join any organization or association of their choosing, including a union, and their right to engage in collective bargaining with the Company.
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Dominican Republic
In connection with its textile operations in the Dominican Republic, the Company was previously a party to a collective bargaining agreement with a union registered with the Dominican Ministry of Labor, covering approximately 900 employees. The collective bargaining agreement was terminated in February 2011 upon the mutual consent of the Company and the union, although it is still claiming to represent a majority of the factory workers. Notwithstanding the termination of the agreement, the Company is continuing to provide all of the benefits to the employees covered by the original agreement. A second union is also claiming that it represents the majority of the workers at the plant and has filed a third-party complaint alleging violation of freedom of association with the Fair Labor Association (FLA), an international labour standards monitor of which Gildan is a participating company. The Company collaborated with the FLA in a verification of the majority representation claim of the second union and has entered into negotiations with this union for the purposes of completing a collective bargaining agreement.
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Haiti
In September 2011, a new union named Sendika Ouvriye Takstil ak Abiman (“SOTA”) was formed in Haiti to represent workers in the country. Since the formation of the union, various non-governmental organizations have alleged that six of the seven members of the leadership committee representing the union have been fired due to their union activity. Four of the six individuals in question worked for the Genesis factory in Port-au-Prince which is a third party contractor in Haiti supplying Gildan with sewing production. This allegation was confirmed in an independent investigation completed by Better Work Haiti in November 2011. Better Work is a program sponsored by the International Labor Organization and the International Finance Corporation which was launched in 2007 with the goal of improving compliance with labour standards and competitiveness in global supply chains.
After numerous discussions between the various parties and after significant pressure applied by Gildan on Genesis to reinstate the workers, an agreement was reached in January 2012 between the union, the contractors and the impacted workers resulting in their reinstatement. This has been confirmed to us in writing by both Genesis and the union leader. Furthermore, the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) has issued a public report confirming the agreement reached by the parties.