Spanish fashion retailer Zara is under scrutiny again. This time, not for a children’s “Holocaust shirt,” an alt-right mascot Pepe the Frog denim skirt or creating a “Love Your Curves” campaign around not-so-curvy models.
You have got to be shitting me, Zara. pic.twitter.com/tiOsJv5AVy
— Muireann O’Connell (@MuireannO_C) February 28, 2017
In-store Zara shoppers in Istanbul have been finding hidden notes in their clothing with messages such as, “I made this item you are going to buy, but I didn’t get paid for it,” the Associated Press reported.
The workers were employed by Bravo Texstil —past tense because Bravo closed down immediately and without warning leaving workers without three months of owed pay and severance packages.
Inditex, which owns Zara, did not immediately respond to questions from The Associated Press.
A Change.org petition was started two months ago by textile workers at Bravo.
Bravo also makes clothing for Mango and Next.
“We have all laboured for Zara/Inditex, Next, and Mango for years. We made these brands’ products with our own hands, earning huge profits for them,” the petitioners wrote. “We demand now that these brands give us the basic respect to compensate us for our labour. We demand no more than our basic rights! We call on the international community to support our struggle, sign and share to support our campaign!”
In a video, a former employee of Bravo says that the head of Bravo disappeared in July 2016 leaving behind 155 newly unemployed without their earned wages. All but 15 signed the petition, Newsweek reported.
Inditex told Refinery29 that it’s working on a hardship fund.
“This hardship fund would cover unpaid wages, notice indemnity, unused vacation, and severance payments of workers that were employed at the time of the sudden shutdown of their factory in July 2016. We are committed to finding a swift solution for all of those impacted,” Inditex wrote in a statement.
