BOOHOO SWEATSHOP SHAME
‘Factory labour on 29p an hour’
FAST-FASHION chain Boohoo is selling clothes made by Pakistani workers earning as little as 29p an hour, an investigation has claimed.
Insiders at two factories in the industrial city of Faisalabad claimed staff sometimes had to work 24-hour shifts to fulfil orders.
Workers at both factories claimed they were paid 10,000 Pakistani rupees (£47) a month, which is well below the legal monthly minimum wage of 17,500 rupees for unskilled labour.
One of the factories, AH Fashion, appeared to be jeopardising the safety of workers, with garments seen piled up next to a boiler. A video also showed what appeared to be scaffolding propped up with bricks throughout the site.
JD Fashion, a Preston-based intermediary, uses the factory for orders from Boohoo, which was this year found to have been using suppliers in Leicester paying workers only £3.50 per hour.
One of more than a dozen Pakistani workers interviewed for a Guardian i nvestigation said: ‘ I know we are exploited and paid less than the legal minimum, but we can’t do anything.’ Video shot inside the factory appeared to show workers producing a tracksuit which cost £30 on Boohoo.
The Guardian said it remained on sale for a week after raising concerns over its provenance with the company.
Workers in a second factory, Madina Gloves, said they were making clothes for Boohoo, a claim denied by the factory. Video shot there revealed the staff toilet to be little more than a hole in the ground. Boohoo has now suspended JD Fashion Ltd, and AH Fashion from its supply chain while it investigates. It said it had not received supplies from Madina Gloves since July 2019.
Last month the company asked retired judge Sir Brian Leveson to examine its supply chain and ethics.
The factories denied any wrongdoing. JD Fashion said its last order with AH Fashion was in October and there was no Boohoo order currently in place.