He stares in the direction of the Sunday Tribune as the blade slices through the fruit. The aggression is obvious. The message is clear. Get out.

Now.

The preman is protecting what he sees as his territory . . . the Tae Hwa factory in western Java, Indonesia, where 3,500 workers made Fila sportswear for 10 years, and were sexually, physically and verbally abused on a daily basis. That was until February 2005, when the employees returned to the factory after a public holiday to find it had closed down, leaving all 3,500 people without a job, an explanation, or any hope of redundancy pay.

It is a situation familiar to workers in Indonesia, as the Sunday Tribune reported last week when we revealed that the boots worn by Irish soccer international Damien Duff were manufactured in terrible conditions by workers on 2 a day.

Immediately after the Tae Hwa closure, the official union, SPSI . . . a 'yellow union' that is considered to work more for management than workers . . . moved in to reap the benefits. It took the machinery, the boxes of Fila shoes, the tables, the chairs, anything at all that could be sold. It took the money for itself. The workers saw none of it. And to ensure that no dissatisfied worker tried to protest at its actions, SPSI employed the help of the local preman, who protected the factory in exchange for a share in the profits.

And this is why the man with the slick, black hair, the preman on duty at that time, seems less than pleased to see a Sunday Tribune reporter taking a tour of the abandoned factory, where anything of use has already been taken. There's just an old, burnt rubber sole on the dusty concrete, locked glass doors, with the familiar Fila logo printed on them, and a white goat, running through the intimidating silence.

The preman continues to wield his knife. The apple is almost gone, shards of fruit in a pile on the ground. Time to leave.

A short drive away, redundant Fila workers are sitting in a bamboo hut, handmade by themselves for somewhere to sit during the day, when there is nothing else to do. Many of them are over 30 years old and once that threshold is reached, in Indonesia, it is extremely difficult to get a job. You are considered too old to be of use.

"Our only other option is to open our own business, " explains Parkati, a female Fila worker. "But most of us don't have the money we need to do this, because we don't work now."

Jobs are extremely scarce in Indonesia. People will do any work for money. Everywhere there are stalls set up, peeping out of people's houses, spilling onto the streets. Some Indonesians even appoint themselves traffic wardens.

They blow their whistles and throw themselves in front of cars to let other vehicles get by. Occasionally, a window is rolled down, and some rupiahs are given in gratitude.

It is perhaps not surprising then that the Fila workers were willing to stay in the Tae Hwa factory, despite the horrendous conditions there, the verbal, physical and sexual abuse.

The workers suffered humiliation on a daily basis. They were shouted at and, according to the workers, sometimes hit and kicked by supervisors. If they wanted to take the menstrual leave that is a legal right in Indonesia, they had to have their underwear inspected for blood. The women were forbidden from wearing shoes in the factory.

"They told us it was for cleanliness. But all the supervisors wore shoes, " says Parkati.

Despite all this, the Fila workers needed the factory to stay open. "So many people got depressed after it closed, " says one man. "I have friends who killed themselves, because they couldn't get a job and had no money."

Now, with no work, and an ever-fading likelihood of any compensation from Fila, the workers are left with little hope. Many cannot even afford to buy milk for their children. One little girl sits in the bamboo hut, chewing on peanuts.

Two black stubs have taken the place of her front teeth due to calcium deficiency. She still grins cheerfully at the visitors. The adults, however, are not smiling.

The Sunday Tribune contacted Fila for comment on the plight of the workers, and the conditions they suffered in the factory. A spokeswoman said that Fila "believes strongly" in fair labour practices.

"The company has and will continue to take any and all allegations regarding unfair labour practice issues seriously and will investigate as appropriate, " she said.

WORKER COMPLAINS OF ABUSE AT REEBOK PLANT
A WORKER producing Reebok sportswear in the Spotec factory in Indonesia also spoke to the Sunday Tribune about working conditions there. He did not want to be identified.

"A few weeks ago, I was walking past the sewing area, and I saw a supervisor throw a shoe box at the head of one of the workers. I reported this to management. Nothing happened. The sewing division is very hard. Sometimes people do not reach the target, because the target is so high. When this happens, the supervisor will identify where the job is getting stuck, and bring that person to the top of the line, and throw the shoe at them and yell at them. If workers are tired, or need rest, they are told they have to wait until break. In the past, if a worker was sick for a day, the next day he would be made to stand at the top of the line for ten minutes, while the supervisor shouted at him. Things are a little better now, but the wages are still too low. It's only enough, really for two weeks, and then we have nothing left."

In a statement yesterday, Reebok told the Sunday Tribune that its strict standards prohibit inappropriate behaviour towards any factory worker. "We will continue to insist that workers at Spotec are treated with dignity and respect"