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Hugo Boss and Zalando: No commitment to living wages

Gisela Burckhardt addressed critical questions for FEMNET to Zalando and Hugo Boss at their shareholder meetings in May 2022. Both events took place virtually, which prevents critical inquiries. Overall, both companies remained very inconclusive in their responses.

Questions to Hugo Boss related to recent research by STR_F and Panorama (5 May 2022), who used an isotope analysis to detect the fingerprint of a cotton sample from the Xinjiang region in a Hugo Boss shirt. There, the Chinese government suppresses the Uyghur minority. In December 2021, U.S. President Biden signed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which prohibits the import of goods from Xinjiang Province into the United States. Such a law does not yet exist for the EU.

Last year, Hugo Boss denied purchasing cotton from the Xinjiang region at his Annual General Meeting. This year, too, the company denied the question.

The company is also accused of not taking steps towards the payment of living wages. Hugo Boss counters with the reference to a pilot project, which is soon to start in three countries. "Although there is no objection to pilot projects, they remain a drop in the bucket if the approach is not reflected in another purchasing policy", says Gisela Burckhardt. "Hugo Boss has to show that it has at least one strategy for all its suppliers, which leads to higher wages in a reasonable period of time, especially at its own production sites, e.g. in Izmir."

As last year, Zalando's answers are quite general and therefore not very informative. On the question of Zalando's commitment to the payment of living wages, the company had no concrete evidence. Wage costs are not shown separately when determining payments, as recommended by the CCC or the Textile Alliance. A strategy that could show steps towards living wages is also lacking.

FEMNET had already pointed out last year the catastrophic situation of the factories in Myanmar. Zalando said it no longer has suppliers in Myanmar. However, there is still a factory on Zalando's supplier list. "Zalando's statement that the list has not been updated has little credibility," Burckhardt said.