Staff of firm that cleared Volkswagen on Xinjiang labour faults audit process
- Berlin-based auditing company’s founder defends its assessment after employees go public to criticise how the inspection of the Chinese plant was handled
- In response, senior EU figures reiterated that if there were any doubts about labour standards in a region, European companies should move elsewhere.
Days after German carmaker Volkswagen was cleared of using forced labour in a Chinese factory, a soap opera continued to unfold on social media, pitting the founder of the responsible audit company against his own staff.
Most employees at Berlin-based audit company Löning questioned the audit’s veracity, in an explosive posting last week on the company’s official LinkedIn account. As the company founder moved to contain the situation on Thursday, senior EU figures weighed in.
In a stunning rebuke of its own employer’s findings, a post on the Berlin-based auditor Löning’s official LinkedIn page made clear that the inspection was “overseen and facilitated” by company founder Markus Löning and another executive, Christian Ewert.
“The technical audit at the facility has been conducted by two Chinese lawyers and overseen on location by Christian Ewert. No other team member from Löning participated in, supported or backed this project,” read the employees’ statement, posted on the company’s official account soon after the audit findings were announced on December 5.
As the situation unfolded publicly, senior EU figures offered comment, reiterating that if there were any doubts about labour standards in a region, European companies should move elsewhere.