Spanish trade union representatives at Inditex (managing Zara) regularly visit third party country suppliers within the framework of an agreement signed with management. Inditex was the first major businesses in the textile sector to sign a global framework agreement with IndustriALL Global, and which was recently renewed (c.f. article No. 8513 and No. 9630). It has also implemented a suppliers’ code of conduct that requests them to apply decent working conditions as defined by the ILO, to respect freedom of association and union action, and to allow international union representatives access to work centers when so requested. The most recent report indicates up to seventy hours being worked per week in China’s Inditex shoe factory suppliers. The report also shows that most employment contracts are unsecure and that employers rarely make employee social security contributions. The report’s authors highlight that the lack of interest by the official Chinese trade union makes improving working conditions a more complicated challenge. The report also states that the situations it describes is clearly not just a series of isolated cases but affects the whole sector. The report underlines that the suppliers being visited not only supply Inditex but also other international names including Adidas, Columbia, GAP, Nike, Tesco, Walmart, etc.
Seventy-hour working week. Results from the June 2016 visit to suppliers operating in the Chinese Ggangzhou province that manufactures shoes for Tempe, an Inditex subsidiary, showed working conditions were well below required standards. Isidor Boix and Victor Garrido, the report’s authors showed working weeks extending even to seventy-four hours, despite labor legislation intending for forty hours a week.
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