TOKYO — Fast Retailing Co. Ltd. said that it is monitoring working conditions at two of its Uniqlo suppliers in China after a Hong Kong-based workers’ rights organization said two of the suppliers’ factories pose occupational health and safety risks for employees.
Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM), a non-government organization, issued a report over the weekend alleging that factories belonging to Pacific Textiles Ltd and Dongguan Luen Thai Garment Co. Ltd. are exploiting employees. The NGO alleged that the factories are overworking and underpaying employees, subjecting employees to unsafe working conditions and doling our harsh fines to workers to manage product quality.
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Fast Retailing said Sunday it first learned of the SACOM claims last year and it “moved quickly” to inspect both facilities, which supply garments and textiles to Uniqlo. The Japanese company, Asia’s largest apparel retailer, said it was disappointed to find several problems at the facilities including long working hours but it did not find evidence of other issues listed in the SACOM report. Fast Retailing said it plans to investigate matters further. Pacific Textile did not immediately respond to a request for comment while Luen Thai declined to comment.
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“Fast Retailing and SACOM have different views on some of the issues described in the report. In view of this situation, Fast Retailing is continuing with the inspection, and we are requesting SACOM to open a dialogue with us as soon as possible,” Fast Retailing said.
The Uniqlo parent company said it has urged the two factories to resolve their problems immediately and it will check on their progress within one month, at which time it will make a decision on whether to continue working with them.
“We will take strict action if progress has not been made, including a review of whether to engage them in any future business. In addition, we will validate our processes for monitoring working conditions and will consider introducing the same process within the next few months at textile facilities that we do not currently monitor,” the company said.
SACOM said its inspectors viewed grim working conditions at the two factories.
“[E]xtremely high shop floor temperatures, dirty sewage flowing all over the floor, unsafe facilities, poor ventilation with dense cotton dust filling the air, irritating smells and high risk of electricity leakage are posing serious risks to workers’ health and safety. Because of the high shop floor temperatures, topless workers put the heavy pigments into the hot dyeing tent without wearing any protective gear. We also saw a number of workers falling down from the chairs while handling the knitting machines,” SACOM said.
The NGO, which has investigated a series of different factories and industries over the years, also alleged that workers at both factories lack an effective platform to express their concerns.
“At Pacific, the chairperson of the union is the director of the administrative department, a situation which violates [Chinese labor law]. In the case of Luen Thai, the trade union is absent, while the existing workers’ committee group and employee relations department in the factory are ineffective in facilitating workers to express their concerns,” SACOM said.
Alexandra Chan, a project manager for SACOM, said four people conducted undercover investigations at the two factories between July and November.
“We investigated suppliers and found that there are several violations. We believe that because Uniqlo is very famous and a key buyer to these factories, we believe it is their responsibility to respond to this issue and see how they tackle the problem and improve working conditions of their workers,” Chan said.