Researchers found that the factories produced shoes for brands including #
Zara, #
Lowa, #
Deichmann, #
Ara, #
Geox, #
Bata and #
Leder & #
Schuh AG and subsidiaries of #
CCC Shoes & Bags in Poland and #
Rieker and #
Gabor in Slovakia.
The investigation claims some big brands appear to be using a legal loophole, stamping their products with “Made in Italy†or “Made in Germany†to suggest they are high quality, when they have actually been made by poverty-stricken eastern European workers. The investigation found that footwear workers in Albania were earning as little as 49p an hour including overtime – which is an illegal rate even in such a poor country.
Workers in Macedonia, where the hourly wage was as low as 64p, described being taken to hospital in wheelbarrows after fainting in freezing factories where they had to work with strong chemicals. “If the employer needs to complete, let’s say, an order of 9,000 pairs of shoes, he will put 90 pairs on the belt and even if you want to die, you have to finish it,†a worker told researchers compiling the report, entitled Labour on a Shoestring.
It alleges that one Macedonian factory, which produced #
Geox shoes, was paying illegally low wages of €131 (£113) a month, with overtime. The legal minimum is €145 before overtime.
https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2016/aug/20/shoes-uk-high-street-made-for-a-pittance-eastern-europe-sweatshop #
WorkersRights #
LowPay #
DontBuy 
A troubling study claims that workers producing UK high street brands are enduring low pay and poor conditions
