R.M. Williams closes factory, stands down 709 workers

Australian clothing and boot maker R.M. Williams has announced it will close its Adelaide factory for four weeks due to the Covid-19 crisis.

The factory closure announced on Wednesday would last four weeks, with a review in the last week of April. 709 workers would be given two weeks’ salary, ”as well as encashment of accrued annual leave,” reports The Australian Financial Review.

The article points out that it is only six months since R.M. Williams announced an investment of $5 million in its factory to double the annual output of boots.

The move follows the company’s announcement over the weekend that it would temporarily shut its 57 Australian and 12 international stores. R.M. Williams released a statement at the weekend that had survived wars, droughts and bushfires since beginning in 1932, but these were “unprecedented times.”

“The COVID-19 crisis has stopped us mid stride so to say, on a global level, affecting humanity at every level,” it said.

Picture: www.thetailor.com.au

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