The United Kingdom-based fast-fashion chain Boohoo is under fire for selling clothes made by Pakistani workers paid as low as Rs. 63 an hour. Leading British newspaper The Guardian has revealed this quoting sources from two factories in Faisalabad.
Insiders from these factories have revealed that they are paid Rs. 10,000 ($62) a month, against the minimum wage of Rs. 17,500 for unskilled labor.
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The Guardian interviewed more than a dozen employees of these factories for its investigation. One of the sources said that they are sometimes forced to work 24-hour shifts for timely completion of orders.
I know we are exploited and paid less than the legal minimum, but we can’t do anything.
Videos available with newspaper show workers producing tracksuits which cost Rs. 6,469.60 on Boohoo.
Workers from a second factory, Madina Gloves, also revealed that they are producing clothes for Boohoo. The fashion company, however, refutes the claim, saying they have not received any supply from Madina Gloves since July 2019.
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The staff toilets in these factories were found to be a little more than a hole in the ground.
Boohoo said a third-party at AH Fashion on November 2, had found no such problems with workers. It has, however, suspended supplies from a supplier JD Fashion Ltd, and a factory, AH Fashion, and launched an inquiry into allegations of labor exploitation.
Meanwhile, the factories have rejected the allegations leveled in the investigation. JD Fashion said its last order with AH Fashion was in October and there was no Boohoo order currently in place.
Modern slavery investigations against the online fashion brand had first started in July this year after workers in Leicester making clothes for the company revealed that they were being paid as little as $4.70 an hour.
Via: The Guardian
