Please find below an article concerning the mistreatment of Burmese workers
at a factory in Thailand.

"Express" is a subsidiary of "The Limited," which is based on Columbus,
Ohio. I will send a letter of inquiry and concern this week.
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IMMIGRANT BURMESE FACTORY WORKERS REBEL AGAINST ABUSE

Mae Sot, Thailand - February 4, 1999

A major disturbance among Burmese migrant workers caused a work stoppage
today at a Thai garment factory. Thai police were called in last night to
quell a riot situation, which was triggered by the abduction and beating of
a Burmese worker by factory security staff.

The Champion Knitting Factory, formerly known as Color-Best, in Mae Sot
city (Tak province), is 80% owned by a Hong Kong company, with the
remaining interest held by Thai and other foreign shareholders. Their
product is wool sweaters, which are sold to an American company in
Columbus, Ohio, under the brand name "Express", and retail for about $40
each, according to a foreman at the factory.

There are more than 3000 Burmese employees in the factory, who work every
day from 8 am to 9 pm, with only 2 days off per month, and earn an average
wage of 40 Thai baht (about one dollar) per day. These are standard
conditions for most immigrant workers along the Thai-Burmese border, which
indicates how bad conditions must be on the Burmese side to cause a steady
influx of job-seekers here.

The altercation started at midnight last night, when about 1,500 workers
were watching TV in their rest area. Security guards at the factory, under
orders from the factory manager, told the workers to turn off the TVs and
go to bed. The workers objected, insults were traded, and one particularly
outspoken worker was then grabbed by two of the 15 guards, beaten, and
dragged outside the factory.

In a few moments, most of the workers who had been watching TV began
yelling to the guards to bring the man back. Many of the workers were
familiar with the story of a Burmese worker who was allegedly beaten to
death by security guards at another factory in the area last year, and so
continued to complain loudly.

The rest of the guards, greatly outnumbered, ran outside the factory gate,
called the Thai police, and locked the workers inside. Some 30 Thai police
arrived in several cars at about 1 am, listened to the guards and the
workers, and asked to see the man in question. The guards claimed that he
had escaped, but the workers, who had witnessed the beating, disputed their
claim.

The police were unable to calm the crowd, while workers demanded to see
their abducted comrade within 10 minutes, threatening to break the factory

equipment if their demand was ignored. They then vented their rage by
throwing stones at the guards and the police, and also destroyed the five
motorcyles left behind by the guards, but they left the factory equipment
intact.

At 2 am, more police cars and a fire engine arrived, and entered the
factory grounds, accompanied by the factory manager. The manager promised
the workers that he would return their comrade, asked them to go to bed,
and they complied.

At 8 am this morning, the manager announced the cancellation of work at the
factory for the day, as he was unable to produce the abductee. At 10 am,
some of the workers who had gone outside to investigate returned with the
information that the man had been released by the guards or had indeed
escaped, and had his wounds treated by friends before running back, in fear
of Thai police, to the Burmese side of the border.

The factory manager arranged to meet with the workers again later today to
try to resolve the matter.

A worker at the factory claims that the Burmese are often locked in the
factory grounds for two or three days at a time, to avoid problems with the
immigration authorities. Immigrant workers are tolerated by Thai
authorities, but must be registered and have a fee paid by their employer.
Some factories fail to register workers to avoid paying this fee.