We at Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA) stand in unwavering solidarity with the 1,461 workers whose jobs were unjustly terminated due to the sudden closure of Next Manufacturing Pvt Ltd in the in the Katunayake Free Trade Zone, Sri Lanka.

On 19 May 2025, after completing their shifts — workers were informed late in the evening via WhatsApp that the factory would be permanently closed and sealed the very next day. No advance warning was given. No proper procedure was followed. As a result, workers—many of them women, older workers, and primary income earners—have been left without jobs, income, or recourse in an already difficult economic climate.

Read our solidarity statement here in: English