Levi’s, an American clothing company, faced renewed criticism as it failed to honor commitments made to workers at Özak Tekstil in Şanlıurfa, Turkey, following severe union busting in late 2023.

Clean Clothes Campaign and BİRTEK-SEN demand reinstatement and compensation for unlawfully dismissed workers, highlighting ongoing rights violations and unrest since the November 2023 strike.

According to a new research into the violations by the Worker Rights Consortium published on Friday, in April 2024, Levi’s informed the WRC that it would continue its business relationship with the factory and will not compel Özak Global to reinstate workers who were unlawfully fired.

This decision contrasts with Levi’s earlier characterization of Özak/Kübrateks’ mass dismissal of these employees as a “zero tolerance” violation of Levi’s supplier code of conduct, the CCC claimed in a statement on Saturday.

In response to new research, the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) and Turkish union BİRTEK-SEN called on Levi’s, Özak/Kübrateks management, and other buyers sourcing from the Özak group to immediately reinstate all dismissed workers in their previous roles with full compensation for lost wages.

Additionally, they demanded that workers who opted not to return be paid “union compensation” as required by Turkish law.

On November 27th last year, hundreds of workers producing Levi Strauss jeans in Şanlıurfa, Turkey, went on strike due to violations of their right to freedom of association.

The strike was triggered by the dismissal of a female worker who was an activist with the Unified Textile, Weaving, and Leather Workers Union (BİRTEK-SEN).

Within two months, by mid-December 2023, 600 out of 768 workers at Özak Global’s factory had joined BİRTEK-SEN.

BİRTEK-SEN’s organizing efforts faced threats and intimidation, particularly targeting female workers.

Rather than respecting the workers’ right to choose their union, Özak management’s favored union summoned female workers and threatened to disclose their union involvement to their families, labeling it as immoral.

A few days into the peaceful strike, workers appealed for international solidarity.

In response, the Şanlıurfa government deployed militarized security forces (gendarmerie), which used tear gas, physical force, pepper spray, and arrests against the workers.

Levi’s, as the sole buyer from the factory, held a pivotal position to resolve the situation promptly and positively. Both BİRTEK-SEN and CCC network organizations reached out to Levi’s.

While Levi’s pledged to investigate upon learning of the situation, Özak management proceeded to dismiss 400 striking workers.

Levi’s promised Clean Clothes Campaign in December to address the wrongful termination of workers at Özak Tekstil but failed to act, as confirmed by a recent report from the Worker Rights Consortium.

Despite pledging support for workers’ rights and halting production if necessary, Levi’s continued operations and allowed Özak Global to replace dismissed workers with new hires, ignoring calls for reinstatement from BİRTEK-SEN.

The factory coerced fired workers into relinquishing their rights to return and union compensation in exchange for severance, underscoring discrepancies with Levi’s Supplier Code of Conduct.

‘Levi’s did not only completely fail to take any action to address serious human rights violations, but also completely disregards its own findings and conclusions regarding those violations,’ said Ineke Zeldenrust of the CCC International Office.

As the buyer sourcing 100 per cent of the volume in the factory, Levi’s had all the evidence and all the leverage to ensure the right of workers to freely form and join a union of their choice, which is a core human right, would be respected, but it chose to sit back and let injustice prevail, Zeldenrust adds.

Funda Bakış, one of the worker leaders, says: ‘We used our constitutional right to choose a union to seek better working conditions and became members of BİRTEK-SEN. Four hundred workers were dismissed for using this right. We produce for Levi’s here. Although we contacted Levi’s from the first day and asked for support, Levi’s did nothing. We invite all consumers who wear Levi’s to support our case and demand that Levis respect our rights.’

Other buyers from Özak Global, which operates several facilities in Türkiye, including Hugo Boss and Inditex, were also contacted for support, but to no avail.

Based on this report, these brands now possess conclusive evidence that their supplier remains accountable for severe violations. CCC asserted that the failure to address, mitigate, and rectify these violations also constituted a failure in the brands’ due diligence obligations.