US retailer investigating claims of poor factory conditions: report
LONDON (AFP) — US retailer Banana Republic is investigating claims that factory workers in India that make its clothes are made to work long hours for little pay under poor conditions, The Guardian said on Thursday.
The newspaper quoted Dan Henkle, senior vice president of social responsibility at Gap, Banana Republic's parent company, as saying: "We have launched an immediate investigation into the allegations."
"We are looking at the factories in that area where production on our clothing is done, factories which also do work for a number of other retailers, and plan to take appropriate action," he told the daily.
The Guardian said that, according to charity War on Want, garment workers that make Banana Republic clothes work for up to 15 hours a day for at least six days a week.
They work for as little as 15 pence (19 euro cents, 31 US cents) per hour, while also often receiving only half of their due overtime pay.
The newspaper itself interviewed garment workers outside New Delhi who made Banana Republic clothes who claimed they were forced to work without pay on occasion, with restrictions on toilet use and coaching on how to tell international inspectors that they only worked limited overtime hours.
The report comes with Banana Republic set to open its first European store on London's up-scale Regent Street later on Thursday.
