BEYONCE'S Ivy Park label has come under fire this week following accusations
that the collection is produced under "sweat-shop conditions". The
range, which the singer launched as a joint venture with Arcadia owner Philip
Green, is created in Sri Lankan factories where workers are paid £4.30 a day,
according to an investigation by The Sun.
Several workers from the factory told their story to the
newspaper, revealing that they worked almost 10 hours a day with a 30-minute
lunch break, and that MAS Holdings - the factory where they are based - pays
them in the region of 18,500 rupees (£87.26) a month. This is above the legal
minimum wage in the country, which is 13,500 rupees a month - although
campaigners asserted that the true living wage is nearer 43,000 rupees.
"This is a form of sweat-shop slavery," Jakub
Sobik, of Anti-Slavery International, told The Sun.
"There are a number of elements here that tick the boxes in terms of
slavery, the low pay, restriction of women's movement at night and locking them
in. Companies like Topshop have a duty to find out if these things are
happening, and it has long been shown that ethical inspections by these
companies are failing. They should be replaced by independent
inspections."
"Ivy Park has a rigorous ethical trading
programme," the company told us today in response to the claims. "We
are proud of our sustained efforts in terms of factory inspections and audits,
and our teams worldwide work very closely with our suppliers and their factories
to ensure compliance. We expect our suppliers to meet our code of conduct and
we support them in achieving these requirements."
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