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14 August, 2005ICEM News release No. 34/2003
T he sacking of 24 jewelry workers in Thailand for union activities has brought the ire of ICEM to the doorstep a German firm. MKS Jewelry International Co. Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of German-based J.E. Hammer & Sohne GmbH, fired the 24 after they registered for union status with the Thai Ministry of Labour.
ICEM staffers Phee Jung-sun and Yamina Zebchine-DeLaet help organize jewelry workers in Thailand
The workers, part of a 450-person labor force at a Bangkok casting and polishing factory in which 90% are women, were organizing with an ICEM affiliate over management's undignified body searches on suspicion of theft. Last spring, after 36 workplace leaders filed for union registry with the ministry while the remainder waited outside the plant, MKS Jewelry faxed a letter to a ministry officer in Pravate District stating employees were welcome to return to work without fear of punishment.
But weeks later and following official approval by the ministry as a union, the 24 were not only sacked but MKS distributed their names to the many other firms operating in jewelry-producing Gemopolis Industrial Estate of Pravate.
ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs filed a strong protest against MKS's actions with J.E. Hammer & Sohne, a 140-year-old luxury jewelry maker based in Pforzheim, Germany.
"One of the reasons for workers at MKS creating a union … was the obscene way in which body searches were done," wrote Higgs. "These workers were stripped of their clothes and subjected to body touching. When workers lodged complaints, management replied they will continue this practice and simple suspicion will be enough to continue this undignified practice. It must be noted that no company property or materials were found on the workers, and nothing was reported even to be lost."
Higgs said MKS's firings violate core ILO Conventions 87 and 98 on Freedom of Association and the Right to Organize, and Convention 158, terminating employment on the grounds on union membership.
ICEM requested that J.E. Hammer & Sohne intervene in Thailand to reinstate the workers, and to commence good-faith dialogue with the Thai union to reach accord on employment terms and working conditions. ICEM also informed the German parent that the global union federation was compiling a list of clients and retailers of the company in order to alert them to the harsh actions by managers in Thailand.