Levi Strauss cuts jobs in US, Europe
(ITFLWF Newsletter n.1 1998)
In November, Levi Strauss announced plans to close 11 US plants and lay off 6.400 workers. Under terms of a severance package negotiated by ITGLWF affiliate UNITE, the laid off workers will receive three weeks pay per year of service and the company will continue to pay health insurance for up to 18 months.
The agreement covers all 6.400 workers despite the fact that UNITE represents only about 800 of the Levi workers employed in the plants that will close.
This severance package differs greatly from what occurred when Levi Strauss closed its non-union Dockers plant in Texas in 1990. 1.150 people their jobs with less than 24 hours notice and are still waiting for their severance pay.
In Europe, where Levi Strauss has announced possible factory closures, the company has refused to consult with trade unions, in spite of European standards requiring such consultation. In December, workers from across Europe came together outside the company's European headquarters in Brussels in a demonstration organised by the ITGLWF's regional organisation the ERO.
Tom Tusher, who retired last year as the company's chief operating officer and president, collected $105.8 million in accumulated stock options. According to the San Francisco Chronicle the sum was so large that the bank's computer could not print it on a fedcral tax form, so it had to be typed in manually instead. Tusher bought the shares at $3.50 each in 1985 and sold them back to the company at $265 a share last year.
Levis said the paymellt was justified and not connected to the lay-offs
