Huber owner owes workers in his factory in Thailand 5.5 million euros in wages. Huber also had production done there. Südwind demands quick payment in an open letter.
Vienna (OTS) – The current media information from Huber Holding AG on one of the largest wage thefts in the global clothing industry leaves more questions unanswered than it answers for the human rights organization Südwind. Because the company shrugs off responsibility that it clearly has to bear. As the owner of Body Fashion Thailand, Robert Ng (Ng Man Choong), also Huber owner, CEO of Huber Holding AG and managing director of Huber Holding GmbH, violated laws and disregarded the rights of 900 workers.
“The Huber owner owes the workers wages, bonuses and severance payments totaling around 5.5 million euros. This is proven by several court rulings in Thailand. “His company is not off the hook just because Robert Ng is not mentioned in the Huber media information.”says Gertrude Klaffenböck, Südwind coordinator of the Clean Clothes campaign in Austria.
As confirmed by Huber, the Body Fashion Thailand factory largely produced clothing for Huber during the period in which the wage theft also occurred. This began with unpaid bonuses from December 2019 and culminated in layoffs without severance pay in July 2020. According to a report by the labor rights organization Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) and statements from the workers, they had been producing clothing for since mid-2018 and again in 2019 various Huber brands (skiny, Hanro, HOM, Huber bodywear) (see “Worker Rights Consortium Factory Assessment Body Fashion (Thailand) Findings, Recommendations, and Company Response, S3, footnote 2”). Huber Holding only confirms a period from January to May 2020, which is exactly the period during which wages and bonuses were withheld.
“Huber Holding must not distance itself from this case”
According to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, companies must ensure that national laws and labor rights are adhered to by suppliers. Huber apparently didn’t do that with the clothing produced at Body Fashion. David Welsh, Country Director for Thailand and Burma, Solidarity Center, said: “This is the second largest case of wage theft that we are aware of in the global apparel industry. Workers protest for the money Robert Ng owes them. The case concerns the highest levels of the Thai government and the entire trade union and labor rights community in Thailand. As the buyer of the factory at the time of the wage theft and as a company that employs the owner of the factory as CEO, Huber Holding should not distance itself from this case, but should take responsibility and ensure that the workers are paid in full without further delay become.”
Südwind also calls on Huber Holding to be transparent about who their production partner is that the company cites for Body Fashion Thailand and to disclose the full list of their suppliers.
Open letter to Huber and Robert Ng
Both the Worker Rights Consortium and Südwind tried to contact Huber Holding AG and Mr. Ng for months before the information about the wage theft became public in the media in December 2023. To date, our questions have not been answered. Now that Huber has addressed the public via media information, Südwind is sending an open letter to Huber and Robert Ng, calling on them to ensure that the workers are paid immediately and in full what they are legally entitled to.
David Welsh Country Director for Thailand and Burma, Solidarity Center +66 80 294 0140 dwelsh@solidaritycenter.org Mr. Welsh is available to answer any questions and, if interested, will organize interviews with the affected workers in Thailand.
Stefanie Marek Press spokeswoman Südwind +43 (0) 6801583016 stefanie.marek@suedwind.at
