An investigation by Repórter Brasil released last week has made accusations of unfit working conditions and even child labour in factories contracted by Zara‘s Brazilian suppliers.
Investigations by São Paulo’s Bureau of Labor and Employment into AHA Indústria e Comércio de Roupas Ltda., the national suppliers for Zara in Brazil, began in May, finding 52 people working in ‘unsanitary and hazardous’ conditions as they made trousers for the brand. Later, 15 more foreign workers from Bolivia and Peru, including a 14 year old girl, were found to be operating under the same conditions, described as ‘slave-like’, at two other sites. They were made to do 16 hour shifts for wages far below the legal minimum in Brazil, and were banned from leaving the near-windowless factories. Holy shit.
Zara, famous for the speed of its stock creation and turnover, has been charged with 52 infractions by Brazil’s Ministry of Labor and Employment. Fiscal auditor Giuliana Cassiano Orlandi says that the label “should be responsible for all of its suppliers, and it is a duty of the company to be aware of how its merchandise is being produced.”
Zara’s distributor Inditex has made this statement:
Upon learning of the case, Inditex demanded that the supplier responsible for the fraudulent subcontracting arrangement immediately rectify the situation. The supplier has accepted full responsibility, and is paying financial compensation to the workers as required by Brazilian law and the Inditex Code of Conduct. Meanwhile, the supplier will upgrade the subcontractor’s working conditions in order to bring them into line with those at facilities audited and approved by the Inditex Group’s inspection process. Brazil’s Ministry of Labour and Employment has moved to legalise the workers’ employment status.
Inditex, in conjunction with the Brazilian Ministry of Labour and Employment, will strengthen oversight of its production system, both at this supplier and at the other companies with which it works in Brazil, for the purpose of preventing similar cases in the future.
Made In Brazil alleges that 30 other factories are believed to be operating under the same conditions.
Guess that’s a sixth mind-blowing thing we didn’t know about Zara.
Image by: Cameron Spencer via Getty
