Legal battle over labour rights ends

Defamation actions brought against labour rights campaigners by two clothing manufacturers in Bangalore, India, have been called off. An agreement was reached by all parties involved after mediation by Ruud Lubbers, the former Dutch prime minister.

The court actions were initiated by Fibre & Fabrics International and its subsidiary, Jeans Knit Private, when they were accused of labour violations by the Clean Clothes Campaign, the India Committee of the Netherlands, and several Indian labour rights organizations and internet companies.

All sides have now agreed to the appointment of an ombudsperson supported by a committee of custodians, including Lubbers and Ashok Khosla, who has previously worked for the Indian government and the United Nations.

The committee will take complaints to the ombudsperson, whose job will be to produce solutions acceptable to both sides.

Another outcome is that employees of the companies can become union members again and their representatives can speak freely.

Christa de Bruin, of the Clean Clothes Campaign, said: ‘We are pleased that the Indian organizations and unions can now both begin to work on good labour conditions in the factory, according to Indian law and International Labour Organization standards.’

Gerard Oonk, of the India Committee of the Netherlands, said: ‘The withdrawal of the court cases is a victory for freedom of speech as well as common sense.’

Both the Clean Clothes Campaign and the India Committee said they were confident that any labour rights violations would now be reported in a timely fashion and resolved in a correct manner. As a result of the agreement the Clean Clothes Campaign and the India Committee of the Netherlands announced they would cease their campaign against the two companies.