Pressemeldungen - Unternehmensverantwortung & Lieferkettengesetz
© FEMNET
Critical questions about the Zalando Shareholders' Meeting: Fat gains but no living wages in the supply chain
FEMNET , joint press release of the Clean Clothes Campaign and the Association of Critical Shareholders
Bonn, Cologne, Berlin. A big profit of 591 million euros: No payment of living wages for employees in the supply chain, no publication of audit results, no sustainability requirements for third-party brands. FEMNET, the umbrella organisation of critical shareholders and the campaign for clean clothing (CCC Germany) will ask critical questions about these and other topics at the Zalando Annual General Meeting on 12 May.
Zalando is not taking steps to ensure that workers receive living wages from their suppliers in the Global South. The company does not even provide an action plan on how to achieve living wages. In Germany, too, Zalando is criticized for his dealings with employees. The company refuses to pay wages under the retail sector's land-based collective agreement. In Erfurt, Zalando plans to close its logistics centre, which would cause around 2000 employees to lose their jobs, while a new logistics centre is to be opened in Giessen. Zalando thus presents itself as a company that generates growth and profits on the backs of its employees, both here and in the producing countries of its clothing.
Zalando’s subsidiary SCAYLE recently became a global e-commerce platform for Levi’s, despite continued criticism of labour rights violations in the brand’s supply chain. Workers were fired from a Levi’s-only supplier in Turkey after joining a trade union and demanding better working conditions. The Clean Clothes Campaign in Amsterdam has also filed a lawsuit against Levi Strauss & Co. for consumer deception because the company advertised its products as 'responsibly manufactured' without sufficient evidence.
Zalando, while recognising the risk of child labour and forced labour in certain countries in its risk analysis, does not identify gender-based violence in the workplace because its risk analysis is not gender-differentiated. There is a lack of a gender perspective on wages or on complaint systems.
In its strategy document for 2026, Zalando sets out ambitious plans for customer growth, efficiency, AI and market dominance and backs them with figures. Sustainability, human rights and the situation of workers in the supply chain, on the other hand, hardly play a role . The company itself declares that it has ‘not yet set measurable targets’ for decent work.
background
FEMNET is a non-profit women's rights organization working for better working conditions in the apparel industry of the Global South. www.femnet.de
The the umbrella organisation of the Critical shareholders is a shareholders' association that is committed to more responsibility and transparency of companies with regard to environmental protection, labour and human rights and the renunciation of profit maximization at the expense of third parties.
The Clean Clothes Campaign is a network that stands up for the rights of workers in the supply chains of the international fashion industry. https://saubere-kleidung.de