Latest news with #sfruttamento
Asharq Al-Awsat
26-05-2025
- Business
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Italy's Fashion Brands Sign Accord to Fight Worker Exploitation
Italian legal and political authorities, fashion industry bodies and trade unions signed an action plan on Monday to fight worker exploitation in the apparel and accessories supply chain, after prosecutors uncovered widespread abuse. Italy accounts for half the world's production in the luxury fashion industry. The plan, which is not legally binding, is an attempt to tackle what Milan prosecutors have described in documents seen by Reuters as "a generalized manufacturing method" that puts lives at risk to boost profits. A first draft of the scheme was proposed by a Milan court in June last year, after prosecutors uncovered workshops where underpaid workers, often irregular immigrants, produced leather bags sold to Dior and Armani for a tiny fraction of their retail price. This month an Italian court placed a unit of Valentino under judicial administration for a year, after uncovering worker abuse in its supply chain. "The goal is that the court will no longer have to intervene," Fabio Roia, the president of Milan's court system, told journalists on the sidelines of the memorandum signing. The memorandum of understanding - reviewed by Reuters - focuses on the creation of a database of brands' suppliers and their workforces. Supply chain firms will voluntarily enter their data on the platform, including information on tax compliance, social security contributions and labor law compliance, with updates at least every six months. According to Monday's agreement, fashion brands must commit to raising awareness of the new platform among their suppliers and urge them to enter their data. However, they may still use suppliers and subcontractors that fail to do so. The regional government of Lombardy, around Milan, will issue firms that sign up to the scheme with a six-month renewable certificate of transparency.
South China Morning Post
20-05-2025
- South China Morning Post
Chinese workshop owner arrested in Italy over labour exploitation in fashion supply chain
Italian police said on Tuesday they arrested a Chinese national for alleged labour exploitation and shut down a workshop in the Milan area producing items for the fashion industry. Advertisement Checks are currently under way on the branded clothing products found in the workshop, police said, without disclosing which brands were involved. The announcement came just days after a unit of fashion brand Valentino was put under court administration over worker abuse inside its supply chain, one of a string of cases that have tainted the image of Italy's luxury brands. In this latest case, Carabinieri police from the Milan labour protection unit said they closed the workshop in the northwestern suburbs of Milan on May 13. Police identified 10 Chinese labourers who were victims of exploitation. Six of them were working off the books without proper registration, and five were also illegal immigrants. Advertisement The staff were forced to work up to 90 hours a week, seven days a week, and were paid 4 euros (US$4.50) an hour, Carabinieri said in a statement.
