The Victoria’s Secret factory not only fired 1,388 workers without notice, but it has also refused to pay them the $8.5 million in severance it legally owes them. The Thai government ordered the company to pay the severance in full within thirty days of closure, as the law requires. However, workers were told workers they will have to wait ten years.
1,388 garment workers claimed they were illegally laid off without compensation following the closure of a lingerie factory, which supplied brands including Victoria’s Secret, Torrid and Lane Bryant, which has been resolved after more than a year. Factory owner Brilliant Alliance Thai Global (BAT) has agreed to pay money owed to the workers following a 13-month campaign by the Triumph International Thailand Labour Union (TITLU), supported by global union IndustriALL.
The workers, mostly women, were laid off without notice in March 2021 when the factory suddenly closed, citing the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic and a lack of orders as reasons.