Vanadzor's Gloria Garment Factory Resumes Operations, But Most Employees Are Absent

Last week, the Gloria garment factory in Vanadzor resumed operations, but most employees are not reporting for work. Some have recently been tested, but no medical certificates or disability leave papers have been submitted yet, according to the factory's director.

“Only 30 percent of the workers are coming in. Some are still absent because we are waiting for raw materials, which are not yet available. We operate on a contractual basis; the raw materials are supplied to us, we produce, and then send it back to Europe. Since they are also adhering to the decisions of the Armenian authorities, they stated that since you stopped working for two weeks, we also haven't sent raw materials for two weeks. We will probably start sending them from July 1, but I don’t know for sure. It’s a complicated situation,” said factory director Bagrat Darbinyan.

He also noted that they have not rented buses to transport employees as social distancing must be maintained. Instead, workers are commuting via taxis or public transport.

“We used to have 6 buses; now we need to keep 56. It’s financially tough as well. We calculated that we can somehow manage to secure 26 buses, but keeping 60-70 is difficult,” mentioned the director.

Moreover, he indicates that work has been frequently interrupted due to ongoing issues and difficulties with clients. “People are asking what we know about how long we will halt operations. We can’t even say when we will be able to work at full capacity. You start to lose confidence,” concluded Bagrat Darbinyan.