PVH Corp., the American corporation that owns the Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein clothing lines, has agreed to pay $1 million to over 1,100 garment workers in Haiti who were laid off as a result of a factory closure.
Prior to its closure, Haiti’s Vald’or factory provided services to a variety of brands, including PVH, according to The Guardian. However, the Caribbean nation’s garment industry has suffered as a result of rising violence. This has reportedly had an impact on shipments and orders from North American brands. Vald’or closed its doors a year ago.
The former Vald’or employees will receive a portion of the compensation agreed upon by PVH. The funds will cover missed severance pay, direct pension contributions, and government pension fund contributions. The compensation was negotiated with the assistance of the Worker Rights Consortium lobbying group.
Vald’or, which is owned by a company in the United States, was hired to make clothes for Centric, PVH’s licensee. PVH’s decision to intervene and compensate the affected garment workers is said to be something that large fashion brand owners rarely do.
The majority of former Vald’or employees will be paid for more than six months. Others, according to The Guardian, are also entitled to more than a year’s pay. Some of the former employees plan to use the funds to start their own businesses, while others want to help their families. A former worker who received compensation stated that he had been out of work since the factory’s closure.
“It is very difficult to get a new job. I haven’t got one and many of the workers are still searching,” he said. “I felt very angry and frustrated [when the factory closed]. I had been working there more than four years and the company just let us go without any compensation.”
The decision to compensate the workers was made quickly and without any public pressure. The speed with which the agreement was reached is also said to be among the first of its kind.
“As social responsibility and ethical behaviour in the global fashion and apparel industry is inseparable from our values, PVH is committed to being part of the solution, even if we bear no direct responsibility,” a PVH spokesperson said.
“We, together with Centric, believe it was the right thing to do to share in the commitment of supporting the affected workers, especially given the current context in Haiti. We are pleased that we were able to provide financial restitution for the affected workers in Val D’or Haiti and participate in a comprehensive resolution to this unfortunate situation.”