An international brand that closed its apparel manufacturing factory in Haiti rendering 1100 workers jobless has paid $1 million as compensation which is equivalent in most cases to six months of their salaries, some workers got the equivalent of 12 months’ salary.
Garment workers were employed by apparel manufacturer Vald’or in its factory located in Port-au-Prince the capital of Haiti. They were dismissed in January 2022 without any compensation. The relief came one year after the factory closure. The apparel facility started operations in 2014 by US-owned Vald’or Apparel that has headquarters in Florida. According to reports the $1 million compensation would be shared by 1100 former workers of the brand. The compensation is provided by the US fashion group PVH to cover the severance pay and pension contributions that were denied to the workers.
Reports said that over 1,100 workers would share in the compensation, provided by US fashion group PVH to cover missed severance pay and pension contributions. PVH products made up less than 1 percent of the factory’s capacity. Vald’or engaged a licensee named Centric Brand for compensating the workers. PHV in a statement expressed pleasure in resolving the unfortunate situation with assistance from Centric. It, however, clarified that the brand had no direct hand in the situation resulting in factory closure.
An advocacy group the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC), praised Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Kleis owner of PVH for taking a quick fast decision in this regard. It conceded that there was no public pressure on the company and it acted on its own as a responsible corporate entity making it an example for the entire industry.
PVH steps in to pay Haiti workers $1m
