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Turkey: Mulberry urged to step into dispute over sackings

INTERNATIONAL union federation IndustriAll is calling on luxury goods brand Mulberry to intervene in an escalating dispute with a Turkish supplier.

Handbag manufacturer SF Leather, of which Mulberry is the major customer, sacked 14 workers for joining affiliate union Deriteks in March.

SF Leather is now suing workers and Deriteks, claiming that its “commercial interests” have been damaged by the union’s organising tactics and protest rallies calling for the workers’ reinstatement.

The company was even able to get a local court to impound a banner appealing to Mulberry to respect workers’ rights and order a news blackout of the union protests on Turkish websites.

Earlier this year Deriteks began organising workers at SF Leather, located in the Aegean Free Zone in Izmir, which prides itself on keeping “high standards that customers expect”.

IndustriAll assistant general secretary Kemal Ozkan called on Mulberry to “take responsibility over this case in Izmir.”

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