New report from the Global Labor Rights

http://www.globallabourrights.org/reports?id=0656

The link above takes you to new allegations against Wal-mart and Disney, in the wake of the Bangladeshi fire that killed over 100 workers. This is a bit like the mass shootings at a school in Connecticut last week. We all wring our hands with sorrow when these events occur, but do little to prevent them from happening. Let me re-phrase that. We DO many things, but not many that are effective, and we do the same things over and over again, with little impact.
It is time to change.

Could this happen in one of your factories?
Don't know?

Maybe it is time to take a good look.

Wally

Bangladeshi workers fight back

Warning;

This report makes grim reading.

It also offers some hope that the violations detailed in the report are being taken seriously by the brands using this company.

"How did they not know this was happening?" you might reasonably ask.
Record falsification is a frequent and common problem. In this particular case, the management at both factories seem to be particularly aggressive in their use of it. Bribery and corruption of auditors by factory management are also common problems.

Read the full report here and ask yourselves, could this be happening in my supply chain. The answer is of course, it might. If you are not engaging with your factories first hand, and are not reviewing their management systems to see if they have the capability to meet compliance codes of conduct, this could well be you.

If working overtime without adequate/legal  compensation constitutes a sweat shop, then Gucci is not the only one. Try just about every brand selling in the USA. The story would be far more interesting if the reporter could find out why they are working so much overtime, and why the wages do not meet the legal requirement. I have a feeling Gucci's purchasing practices might come under some scrutiny.
This report is from Just-Style magazine. Written by Richard Woodward

 Luxury Italian fashion brand Gucci has been accused of being a “sweatshop” by five people who used to work in the company’s store in Shenzhen.

China Daily reported that the former employees had complained of having to work overtime without adequate compensation, and of having to get permission to go to the bathroom or have a drink of water.

In an open letter, the ex-workers said they had had to stay on until 2am or 3am to conduct inventory checks, and had seen their salaries cut when items left in their charge were found to have vanished.

According to reports in Beijing, Gucci has so far declined to comment on the reports, except to say that it is investigating the allegations.

Gucci and parent company PPR failed to respond to just-style’s request for comment on the story.