Real Assets Investment Management Inc. announced that it has divested of the shares of Gildan Activewear.

The company made the announcement Sept. 30, a week after Gildan, a Montreal-based T-shirt manufacturer, closed its El Progreso factory in Honduras, leaving 1,800 workers unemployed.

 

“By shutting down a ‘problem’ factory Gildan is telling the workers in that region that they must keep quiet about labour and human rights violations or they’ll lose their jobs,” said Real Assets’ CEO Deb Abbey. “We don’t believe that this is in the interest of shareholders or long-term company sustainability. We have no choice but to divest of the Gildan shares in our portfolios.”

In July, Gildan announced that it was closing the factory in the midst of discussions with the Fair Labor Association (FLA) and the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) on corrective action to address worker rights violations identified in two independent investigations.

“Gildan's decision to cut and run from its responsibilities to its El Progreso workers rather than compensating the workers whose rights were violated, sends a clear message to all Gildan workers that if you attempt to organize to improve conditions or tell the truth to factory auditors, you will lose your job,” said the Maquila Solidarity Network, in a release about the closure.

On July 27, the FLA placed Gildan on a 90-day Special Membership Review, and set specific conditions for the company's continued membership in the Association.

Since 2003, Real Assets has worked with Montreal-based Groupe Investissement Responsable, to gain commitments from Gildan with respect to working conditions and garment workers’ rights at their factories. At the 2004 Annual Shareholders Meeting, Real Assets requested that Gildan commit to addressing any workers’ rights violations uncovered by audits done by the Fair Labor Association and the Worker Rights Consortium. Glenn Charmandy, Gildan’s CEO, said that the company would remedy any problems uncovered by the audits.

 

The parties met again on July 12, 2004 to continue discussions about remedial action at the El Progreso factory, and it was at that that Gildan announced that it would be close the plant at the end of September.

Real Assets said it expects the companies it holds to honour commitments and comply with voluntary codes of conduct they have adopted. Otherwise, said the company, the codes’ value to shareholders and consumers is undermined.

For more information, www.realassets.ca.