Boohoo fast-fashion brand lands in hot water
The fast-fashion industry has gained a reputation for unethical working conditions with limited work resources for workers and extremely low pay wages. The fast-fashion brand known for its competitively low prices will be gaining the reputation of unethical employers for its Pakistan factory.
Boohoo sources a majority of its products from two Pakistani factories located in the industrial city of Faisalabad with workers from both companies claiming they have an underpaid salary of 10,000PKR ($62) per month. These wages are well under the legal monthly minimum wage of 17,500PKR for unskilled labor as workers to manufacture Boohoo products.
Dozens of workers from the factory interviewed recognize the non-ethical work conditions but choose not to leave their job because the factory has multiple replacements. When Boohoo was approached with these allegations the fashion company suspended the questionable suppliers JD Fashion Ltd and factory AH Fashion to further investigate the claims.
Undercover footage of the factory reveals evidence that supports the allegations of poor working conditions including insider claims that some employees working 24-hour shifts. The footage also revealed several fire hazards including motorbikes parks next to flammable materials and piles of fabric stacked near a boiler and walkways.
AH Fashion maintaining that they’re under construction to explain the conditions captured on footage of scaffolding balanced on a pile of bricks surrounding the work stations with workers present. In response to these allegations AH Fashion claims that workers were always treated and paid fairly.
Boohoo claims a third-party audit was conducted on November 2 for AH Fashion with the report stating there were no problems with the factory. The report later revealed that the auditors claiming the factory was a building site after paying a separate visit responding to the allegations.
