China supplier for Ivanka Trump brand worst labour abuser, says pressure group

A China factory that has produced shoes for the Ivanka Trump brand and other US companies is the worst labour rule violator among dozens of similar production plants checked by undercover investigators, an advocacy organization said.

Workers at the Huajian factory in Jiangxi province typically put in 15-hour days, with just two days off each month, according to a report by China Labour Watch, a group that since 2000 has investigated workplace conditions at Chinese plants that supply many of the world’s best-known companies and brands.

Workers assigned to produce shoes for Easy Spirit’s brand were forced to remain at work until 1.30 am making changes in late May after a representative of the US company complained that the manufacturing work was of “inferior quality”, the report said.

The factory’s employees were verbally and sometimes physically abused and had to wait until late April to receive payment for hours they worked in March, the report said. Additionally, the workers were paid roughly US$352 for 350 monthly work hours, below what China’s labour law stipulates, the report added.

Along with producing shoes for the Trump brand and Easy Spirit, the factory has done work for such well-known US companies as Marc Fisher Footwear, Nine West, Karl Lagerfeld, Naturalizer and Guess, the report said.

Nonetheless, the factory “is the worst among the dozens of factories we have investigated over the past year”, the report concluded.