HaVeP - Bleu de Travail from the Lowlands

HaVeP (B.V. Textielfabrieken H. Puijenbroek) is a family business in Goirle (Netherlands) owned by the Van Puijenbroek family. The company was founded in 1865 and manufactured linen and from 1935 manufacturer of workwear.

The company was founded in 1865 by Henry of Puijenbroek and expanded in 1891, the looms now powered by a steam engine. After the factory was taken over by five sons in 1901, a strike broke out in 1904. The reason for this was that the weavers were allowed to work only three days and were paid no wages for the remaining days during the summer months. Also, seven workers were laid off immediately and all the older weavers had to leave the firm before 1915. The strike was eventually won by the (Catholic) union after mediation by Alfons Ariëns.

Weaver standing in front of a loom, 1884, Vincent van Gogh 

In 1908 there was another strike. This occurred as a result of the decision to mechanize the wallpaper production, hitherto manufactured by weavers from their homes. It was decided that none of the weavers would do this. When the work was actually refused, practically all employees were denied access to the factory the gates were closed.

In unison, all other companies in Goirle (except Van Besouw) joined the strike. All this led to major conflicts that would take a long time to solve completely. However, home weaving was at its very end by 1908. The firm A. Spapens-Huijbregts, which almost exclusively worked with home weavers, closed in 1920.

In 1917, the supply of raw materials was disrupted so much by WWI, that HaVeP closed shop and only restarted in 1919. The economic crisis of the 1930s led to more great difficulties. In 1932, half of the staff was fired.

In 1933 HaVeP started manufacturing woollen clothes and in 1935 the production of workwear. The mobilization (pre WWII) brought orders from the army and in 1939 a record number of 1,200 employees worked for  HaVeP. In 1944, the company started working on shirts for the Canadian Army (after the liberation of the southern part of the Netherlands by Canadians) and in 1945 HaVeP made uniforms for the Dutch soldiers who were fighting the independence fighters in the Dutch Indies (Indonesia).

The company expanded further with its own mill in 1959. Workers were hired from near and far, by 1965 the company opening workshops in Hattem, Apeldoorn, Eindhoven and Meerhout (Belgium). Later part of the production moved to low-wage countries such as Macedonia (1968) and Tunisia (1975). In 1985, a new weaving mill opened while 1992 saw the end to the large military orders. In 2004, the mill in Tilburg was closed and a new modern weaving mill was built in Goirle.

The machine house from 1891 is classified as a national monument. It contains an almost entirely complete steam engine supplied by Werkspoor.

The parent company of HaVeP, Koninklijke Van Puijenbroek Textiles, produces a variety of protective workwear, including the original workers jacket 3014.