Ozak Tekstil, Turkey

The Board of Directors of the Fair Labor Association provisionally approved the application of Ozak Tekstil Konfeksiyon Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. (“Ozak Tekstil”) to become a Participating Supplier on June 14, 2011, contingent on the fulfillment of several administrative requirements for affiliation set out by the FLA Board. Because the company did not fulfill these requirements, Ozak Tekstil did not become an FLA Participating Supplier.

Moreover, to date, Ozak Tekstil has been unresponsive to the remediation recommendations contained in a report titled “Ozak Tekstil, Turkey: Freedom of Association Investigation Report.” This report was conducted by a team of independent experts commissioned by the FLA to examine allegations of violations of freedom of association (FOA) at the Ozak and AKB factories. The investigation report, dated September 28, 2011, is being published for transparency reasons. It should be noted that the report does not cover other issues involving FOA at Ozak Tekstil that arose after the investigation, including observations by FLA staff that appeared to indicate management interference with workers’ right to freely associate by favoring one union over another in an inter-union rivalry between TEKSIF and OZIPLIKIS, nor does it reflect the most current information on the final disposition of court cases filed by workers claiming illegal dismissals.

Although Ozak Tekstil is not affiliated with FLA, the organization continues to call on Ozak Tekstil management to immediately implement the recommendations put forth in the September 28 report and protect the rights of workers to freedom of association throughout the company.