Lidl: the German discounter was sentenced for wrongly pretending that its foreign subcontractors respected “fair trade rules”

After making tongues wag because of its “antiunion” policy and because it spied on its employees, the German discounter is trying to restore its image among its clientele. Against all odds, it recently spoke in favor of sectoral minimum wage. In its ads, it also guaranteed that the products it imports from abroad follow “faire trade rules” (Fairhandelsbedingungen). But that was before three associations and NGOs meddled in. one of them, Clean Clothes Campaign, closely monitors the relations between big brands and their foreign subcontractors in the textile industry, as well as working conditions at the latter. It turns out that the working conditions revealed by CCC and its local partners at Lidl’s subcontractors in Bangladesh are far from all fair trade rules and from the minimum standards defined by the International Labor Organization (ILO). In four factories working for Lidl, the work week is close to 80 hours, compensation for overtime is dark, and pay forfeitures as a disciplinary measure are common place. “Lidl has misled consumers” declared Günther Hörmann, leader of the consumer protection association of Hamburg. After asking Lidl, in vain, to stop misleading advertising, the three associations pressed charges, in early April, at the regional court of Heilbronn, which gave satisfaction to the plaintiffs. The judges imposed that Lidl remove those ads. Lidl spokeswoman Petra Trabert told Spiegel Online that Lidl was “immediately” going to check the associations’ claims. It is the first time, in Germany, that a company has been sentenced for grey advertising about working conditions in a foreign country.