Trade union calls for independent probe

● Factory workers denied lodging, access to stores

A trade union has called for an independent investigation into the coronavirus outbreak at the Brandix factory in Minuwangoda.

The Free Trade Zones and General Services Employees Union has requested Army Commander Lt. General Shavendra Silva to appoint a special investigations committee with expertise and knowledge on apparel and the export manufacture sector and also community health, to investigate the outbreak and spread of the COVID-19 virus at the Brandix factory in Minuwangoda.

Anton Marcus, Joint Secretary of the Free Trade Zones and General Services Employees Union said in a letter to Lt. General Shavendra Silva that sespite the successful control of the pandemic within a few months, the present COVID-19 virus spread that began from the Brandix owned apparel factory in Minuwangoda, has created a very uncertain environment in most parts of the country.

He said that many factories in the Katunayake Free Trade Zone have also been compelled to close down due to “contacts” established with the Minuwangoda Brandix factory workers.

He also noted that there is a growing social stigma on apparel workers, with media coverages overstepping their responsibility in exposing “contacts” as “irresponsible” and as those spreading the virus.

This has reached a situation where apparel sector employees, especially those at the Brandix Minuwangoda factory have been denied lodging, traveling in buses and even shopping for groceries, as complained by some victimized employees on social media.

This manner of social discarding could extend even to their family members and to their school going children,anton Marcus said.