It is a funny old world. On Monday, Levi Strauss chairman, Robert Hass, was the proud recipient of a United Nations award. He was honoured for making life better for his employees, according to the Wall Street Journal.

But some of his employees might question whether he deserved it. The same day, 6,395 Levi employees got their "pink slips", or P45s as they would be known on this side of the Atlantic. The company is closing 11 of its 37 plants in the US and Canada and reducing its workforce of 37,500 by 34 per cent.