Accreditation - Accreditation Process - To Apply - Fees - Complaints & Appeals

Complaint #008: Certification Complaint
Ran Malu Fashions – Freedom of Association violations

Details of Facility:
-Ran Malu Fashions (Private) Ltd.
-Manufacturer of garments
-Biyagama EPZ, Sri Lanka
-Certified: Sept. 29, 2003
-Certification Body: TUV Asia Pacific (formerly known as RWTUV)

Actions Taken:
November 22, 2004: SAI received a complaint from the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation (ITGLWF) regarding practices at Ran Malu Fashions (Pvt.) Ltd., certified by RWTUV (now known as TUV Asia Pacific) in 2003. The complaint stated that the certified facility restricted the trade union check-off and victimized union leaders.

December 2, 2004: The complaint was forwarded to the certification body for further investigation. The investigation included participation by a customer of this facility.
Ran Malu Fashions sent a response letter to the ITGLWF denying using illegal methods to discourage workers from organizing, forming, or supporting a trade union.

January 28, 2005: SAI contacted the certification body as follow-up to inquire about the status of the complaint investigation.

February 3, 2005: The certification body contacted ITGLWF acknowledging the request to review Ran Malu’s certification. TUV Asia Pacific collected auditors’ feedback from the initial certification audit and two of the surveillance audits, and reviewed the December 2 letter from Ran Malu to ITGLWF.

After reviewing the documents at hand, the certification body contacted ITGLWF to arrange discussions with the office of SLNSS (Sri Lanka Nidahas Sewaka Sangamaya), who had initially filed the complaint to the ITGTWF.

February 22, 2005: A comprehensive and detailed audit report from TUV Asia Pacific was received by SAI. As a result of its investigations, TUV Asia Pacific concluded that since certification, there was no evidence of restrictions on freedom of association. Thus, there was no immediate reason to suspend or discontinue the certification of Ran Malu and the complaint was closed by the CB. TUV Asia Pacific was able to confirm that problems encountered in 2002 were cleared prior to the certification audit in 2003 and the issue of freedom of association is monitored on a continual basis at surveillance audits.

SAI supported TUV Asia Pacific’s conclusion to close the complaint and subsequently conducted a surveillance audit reviewing the case. SAI found that the complaint was managed and handled properly.