Burberry workers to stage protest

12 April 2012

Workers from a Burberry factory set to close with the loss of hundreds of jobs will stage demonstrations outside the firm's stores in London on Saturday.

Employees from the site in Treorchy, south Wales, will be joined by union activists who plan to unwrap huge rolls of brown paper outside the stores in the West End.

The firm has come under fire after announcing plans to close the south Wales factory and switch work to China.

Mick Duncan of the No Sweat campaign said: "Burberry's Welsh workforce have given years of loyal service to the company and are seeing their jobs sold from under them.

"Those jobs are being sold to the lowest bidder, to sweatshop exploiters in China, one of the most repressive, anti-labour regimes in the world."

Mervyn Burnett of the GMB added: "Burberry plans to ship production from Wales to China to reduce the cost of a shirt from £11 to £4 to increase profitability.

"Welsh workers in a British company with the current level of profits have a right to assume their jobs are safe.

"We do not understand that a British company, making a British brand which is doing so well, can decide that the Treorchy factory has become unviable."

A high profile campaign has been launched to save the plant, backed by singer Tom Jones and actors including Ioan Gruffudd.

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