Chinese workshop owner arrested in Italy over labour exploitation in fashion supply chain
Staff were forced to work up to 90 hours a week, sleep in rooms illegally set up inside the factory
Italian police said on Tuesday that they had arrested a Chinese national for alleged labour exploitation and shut down a workshop in the Milan area producing items for the fashion industry.
Checks were under way on the branded clothing products found in the workshop, police said, without disclosing which brands were involved.
The announcement came just days after a unit of fashion brand Valentino was put under court administration over worker abuse inside its supply chain, one of a string of cases that have tainted the image of Italy’s luxury brands.
In this latest case, Carabinieri police from the Milan labour protection unit said they closed the workshop in the northwestern suburbs of Milan on May 13.
Police identified 10 Chinese labourers who were victims of exploitation. Six of them were working off the books without proper registration, and five were also illegal immigrants.
The staff were forced to work up to 90 hours a week, seven days a week, and were paid €4 (US$4.50) an hour, Carabinieri said in a statement.