... We also carried out a detailed investigation at the time.

Our findings were as follows:

- The factory had a collective bargaining agreement in place at the time signed by both parties allowing the union leaders to take total 14 days paid leave for any trade union meetings or affairs or a short-term unpaid leave for emergency meetings, etc.

- In this instance there was an exchange of phone text messages where one of the trade union leaders asked for a 9-day unpaid leave via text without any explanation. The management advised they would not be able to accept the request without a reason, but the employee didn’t provide one and still took the time off. According to the local labor law if a worker is absent without a reason for more than 3 days, they are automatically dismissed. Unfortunately, the factory management were not made aware of the actual reason for the absence...