https://en.sputniknews.africa/20240109/western-brands-to-pay-off-garment-workers-in-mauritius-after-report-finds-evidence-of-forced-labor-1064533758.html
Western Brands to Pay Off Garment Workers in Mauritius After Report Finds Evidence of Forced Labor
Western Brands to Pay Off Garment Workers in Mauritius After Report Finds Evidence of Forced Labor
Sputnik Africa
In its 2019 report on Mauritius, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights expressed concern that migrant workers were subjected to forced... 09.01.2024, Sputnik Africa
2024-01-09T13:22+0100
2024-01-09T13:22+0100
2024-01-09T13:22+0100
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British fashion brand Barbour and Germany's PVH, which owns Calvin Klein, told the media that they would pay £400,000 ($509,000) to workers at the REAL Garments textile factory in Mauritius as compensation for illegal employment.The REAL Garments factory was one of five textile factories in Mauritius, supplying clothing to fashion companies, where Transparentem, an NGO that focuses on labor abuses, found "evidence of forced labor indicators" in a recent report. In addition to paying illegal recruitment fees, workers were subjected to deception, intimidation and unsanitary living conditions, including no access to clean drinking water and infestations of cockroaches and bedbugs, according to the organization.Transparentem said that it conducted a survey of 83 workers between 2022 and 2023, using a variety of data points to identify the relationship between manufacturer and buyer companies.The organization also reported that payments promised by Western companies "will not reach workers across all factories investigated, and most workers will likely not receive full repayment."Other fashion companies involved in the report include Italy's Diesel and Armani, New Zealand's Rodd & Gunn, US-based Centric Brands and Britain's ASOS.
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Western Brands to Pay Off Garment Workers in Mauritius After Report Finds Evidence of Forced Labor
In its 2019 report on Mauritius, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights expressed concern that migrant workers were subjected to forced labor, underpayment of wages, poor living conditions, denial of benefits, deportation, and dismissal for pregnancy.
British fashion brand Barbour and Germany's PVH, which owns Calvin Klein, told the media that they would pay £400,000 ($509,000) to workers at the REAL Garments textile factory in Mauritius as compensation for illegal employment.
The REAL Garments factory was one of five textile factories in Mauritius, supplying clothing to fashion companies, where Transparentem, an NGO that focuses on labor abuses, found "evidence of forced labor indicators" in a recent report.
In addition to paying illegal recruitment fees, workers
were subjected to deception, intimidation and unsanitary living conditions, including no access to clean drinking water and infestations of cockroaches and bedbugs, according to the organization.
"Many migrant workers at investigated suppliers reported they paid exploitative recruitment fees and faced abusive living conditions and intimidation, as well as other indicators of forced labor," the report said.
Transparentem said that it conducted a survey of 83 workers between 2022 and 2023, using a variety of data points to identify the relationship between manufacturer and buyer companies.
"I came here with so many dreams," a migrant worker in a factory said. "If I had known the reality, I definitely wouldn't have come here."
The organization also reported that payments promised by
Western companies "will not reach workers across all factories investigated, and most workers will likely not receive full repayment."
Other fashion companies involved in the report include Italy's Diesel and Armani, New Zealand's Rodd & Gunn, US-based Centric Brands and Britain's ASOS.
