Beyonce’s clothing line ‘Ivy Park’ is currently under a lot of fire after people claim the working conditions at Ivy Park factories in Sri Lanka favor those of a ‘sweatshop.’ It has been reported that the workers at the factory make $6 per day and are forced to work about 10-hour shifts for six days every week.
The workers are woman who live in little boarding houses near the factory. Jakub Sobik of Anti-Slavery International says,
“This is a form of sweatshop slavery. There are a number of elements here that tick the boxes in terms of slavery, the low pay, restriction of women’s movement at night, and locking them in.”
The amount of money the woman get paid is not illegal. They earn 18,500 rupees per month, which is beyond the country’s monthly minimum wage of 13,500 rupees. The only problem is, a living wage in Sri Lanka is about 43,000 rupees. This is more than double what the workers make, making it hard for them to live off of. A representative for Ivy Park says,
“Ivy Park has a rigorous ethical trading programme. We are proud of our sustained efforts in terms of factory inspections and audits, and our teams worldwide work very closely with our suppliers and their factories to ensure compliance. We expect our suppliers to meet our code of conduct and we support them in achieving these requirements.”
Source: Complex
