International clothing chain C&A denies reports that it has done business with an Indian company which exploits its workers. Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant reported on Friday that C&A and H&M had part of their collection manufactured at an Indian factory where workers are exploited.
In response to the newspaper reports C&A says the controversial company Quantum Knits had only made 30 samples for its clothing lines. The samples could have led to an order for 58,000 pieces of clothing.
The order was never carried out and C&A says it never had direct contact with Quantum Knits, as it had been approached by a European clothing importer, which wanted to use the Indian company as a supplier.
C&A has a separate firm, SOCAM, carry out checks on working conditions in factories which supply clothing. No such checks had been carried out at Quantum Knits, a subsidiary of KPR Mill, as SOCAM had not yet received the information it needed from the importer to pay a visit to the factory. C&A suspended dealings with KPR Mill three years ago after discovering substandard working conditions.
H&M says it has received reports on sub-standard working conditions in the past, but found no problems during a visit to the KPR Mill. The chain says it will carry out another inspection and will later decide on further collaboration.
According to de Volkskrant, workers at the factory are not allowed to leave the walled site after work and are put up in hostels. Wages are not paid out until they have worked for KPR Mill for at least three years and at least a quarter of their salaries are withheld to save for dowries. The workers do not have employment contracts and are forbidden to join unions. The factory reportedly does not employ child labour, KPR Mill says all its workers are 16 or over.
Email this Bulletin
Printer-friendly version
This is fake report. Dont Create this type of rumor for a good concern. The Working condition and others welfare facilites done by as per inspector of factories norms and more over. They are not violate the indian act. Please ignore this type of message. I Salute the KPR Management it is very humble and honest organisation.
it is like a MNC Company, dont wrote this type of news in future.
That is one of very impressive factory in India, no no in earth. Totally its a fake or unknowingly written.
I have worked in KPR mill previously. It is a good factory. We never worked more than 8 hours. They paid good salary. Healthy food. Best safety & accomodation for girls. I'm now working as a teacher only because of the education provided by KPR. They changed my life in to good. I respect & thank KPR for this. Its a shame that the wrong news targetted on such a good facility
I personally have visited the KPR Mills Arasur Unit (now renamed as Quantum Knits) several times in the past two years. The infrastructure and housing facilities are modern and far exceeds the other units in that region in terms of scale. Still the unit is openly hiring young girls (above 15 years of age and legal as per ILO and Indian labor laws). These girls mostly come from nearby villages and belong to poor families. All the girls live in the hostel facilities provided by the unit. Although the hostel block is huge, because of the sheer number of people living there (upto 5000), the rooms do seem to be crowded. The unit also works in two shifts of 8-10 hours each, with a different set of workers for each shift. The girls are given free tuition and are enrolled in school to complete their basic education while working in the unit. During my visits to the unit, I observed two things :
-The freedom of movement in and out of the hostels after working hours. The girls can not go out of the premises at their own will and without the permission of their parents, who live in far off villages. Although the parent would want the same, it could be termed as 'Forced Labor' technically.
-The parents gather around the unit on the payment day to take the (complete or part of ) salaries earned by the girls on pay day. Because of the age (under 18) and other social factors, the girls don't seem to get ALL of their earnings. Which again can be a case of 'Forced Labor'.
One more thing I would like to highlight: in spite of it's short comings, KPR still is one of the better facilities in that region in terms of labor welfare. I have seen the products of brands in question being manufactured at a LOT worse places then KPR Mill. It surely is an easy and visible target because of the size.
Also I would like to add a point that the factory don't have any window with grill. So this is completely a wrong photo.
I'm shocked to see this wrong news. I have been in the factory many times. First of all, the photo itself is fake. Its not taken in that factory. I have visited many factories in Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia and pakistan. In my lifetime I have never seen such a good factory like KPR. They are good in pay, environment, food, safety, entertainment & ethical. They have swimming pools for the work force made by spending millions. They are good & the journal just complain wrongly. They are certified by almost all organisations for soical compliance. They abide by all government labour law. They provide education & a girl who enters the factory with just school will leave mostly with university degree or a post graduate degree. I hope to see the apology from the journal soon for this.