Information reaching Amandala today is that over a hundred employees of the Williamson Sewing Factory in Ladyville have been laid off. A call was made to the sewing factory, but we were told by the lady who answered the phone that she, or no one else there for that matter, cannot shed any light on this situation.
She told us that there was only one man who could entertain questions and that was Marreth Cob, the owner, who is not in Belize City at this time. She gave us an e-mail address, saying that we may be able to communicate with him using this number, but when we sent an e-mail to the address, we were sent a failure notice.
We called back and informed her of this, asking just how many workers totally are employed at the sewing factory. She answered, “ I caan tell yuh dat, sarry,” and hung up the phone. She did though, give us the accurate e-mail, correcting the address she had provided on our first call.
We then decided to try and talk with an employee of the factory to see exactly what we could find out. A lady who has been working with the factory for a number of years said that the employees were not exactly laid off, but rather that they were given an ultimatum – either they work on other lines, because theirs were being closed down, or quit.
As far as she knows, many of her co-workers were not satisfied with this decision, thinking it to be unfair. Moving to another line (section) meant that they would have to work thrice as hard to earn what they earned where they were. Moreover, working days would be cut down to 2/3 as opposed to the previous 5/6 days.
The employee said that they were faced with this decision on the change about three months ago, sometime in April, when the owner, Cob, had come to Belize. He did not tell them personally, but had different supervisors inform the employees under their supervision. Their supervisor had told them that their line, which is called the cover-all line and completes a mechanic’s garment, could no longer be operated because it was too expensive. She does not recall clearly if it was the materials or the shipping of it, but knows for certain that production is too expensive in some respect.
They were told that this job would now be done in China and other places, where it is far cheaper.
Another employee who has also been working at Williamson for a number of years, gave us this same information, saying that so far only the cover-all line has been closed. She added that the foreladies, after having a meeting with their managers, told them that the new factories would be opening in Mexico, somewhere in India and another in China.
They were also told that the factory would be closed down officially in December, because the labor cost in Belize is too high. They were then told that they could either stop now, or stop then.
The employee said that the reason why many of the workers had stopped before December is because the higher salary that they were earning before would not have been used to determine what they would be paid when they were laid off.
For instance, if you were making $250 per week on the cover-all line, and when you were switched over to the other line, you only made $200, then the $200 would be used to determine your pay-off. Moreover, a person only collects benefits after working for ten years. After that, your pay-off is marked off yearly, so at year 11, you would be eligible for a week’s salary for that year.
The employee is not certain what she will do when December arrives, she added, because she does not know if she can find a job anywhere else. She has also thought about the many single parents who are employed there, she added. She has her husband by her side and if it would be hard for her, imagine the ones who don’t have a partner, she said.
We again e-mailed the owner, after receiving the correct e-mail address and this was his reply, “Hello Keisha. Thank you for your inquiry. I am not certain of your source for this tip, but we have no announcement to publish.”
The reply was sent by Jon Ragsdale, the vice president marketing and business development of Williamson-Dickies Mfg. Co., under an address 509 W. Vickery Blvd.