Photo credit: Tareq Salahuddin CC BY 2.0

In August 2019, 701 garment workers at SF Denim Apparels (SF Denim) in Dhaka, Bangladesh, were fired en masse after the factory - which produces for  Benetton, C&A and H&M - cited a shortage of orders from international brands.

According to local trade union Sommilito Garments Sramik Federation (SGSF), the affected workers were targeted due to their involvement in union activities following consistent efforts by the factory to obstruct efforts to organise and form a union. Among the dismissed garment workers, 30 are pregnant. SGSF has called for maternity benefits to be paid and for all the dismissed workers to be reinstated.

SF Denim has rejected the allegation of targeting workers for involvement with a trade union and said it fired the workers in accordance with the law.

In September 2019, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre invited Benetton, C&A and H&M to respond to the mass dismissal of garment workers at SF Denim and claims that workers were targeted as a result of their union engagement. In its response, Benetton said its most recent CSR audit of SF Denim reported no issues in terms of worker rights. It said it had been informed by SF Denim via email that the dismissals were made due to a shortage of orders from international brands and were conducted in accordance with the law, but Benetton will continue to monitor the issue. C&A said it is in contact with SF Denim and the workers to understand the causes of the dismissals. H&M said it is in dialogue with local partners through its National Monitoring Committee in Bangladesh, which includes trade union representatives affiliated with IndustriALL. It confirmed that maternity benefits as well as termination benefits have been paid, but it is still investigating the specifics of the case.

The full responses are included below.