Aah, to look cool and be seen to be wearing a brand-name. Armani! But for the workers making those jeans it's a different story altogether. Like fainting from working in 40 degree celsius temperatures. France 24 reports.....
"Imagine working in temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius, all day long. That’s what workers at a Cambodian factory say they are forced to endure as they make Armani jeans, leading to frequent fainting. They're furious that the factory’s owners never installed a promised cooling system.
Kin Tai factory, which is owned by a Taiwan-based company, is located in Phnom Penh. It focuses on making pants, for a variety of international clients – including, in the past, for US police officers and firefighters. It has repeatedly come under fire for violations of Cambodian labour laws, including denying maternity leave benefits and seniority bonuses, and giving employees only short-term contracts, even when they had worked there for years.
When it comes to heat, Kin Tai factory is a repeat offender. In 2010, local authorities demanded that the factory install sprinklers on its roof to cool the building. This never happened, according to an April 2014 investigation by the Worker Rights Consortium, commissioned by the city of Phnom Penh. Investigators recorded temperatures of 38 degrees Celsius inside the factory, and gathered testimony from workers who said temperatures regularly reached 40 degrees. Once again, factory officials promised to install a cooling system.
Now, more than a year later, union representatives say nothing has changed, and that if anything, the heat is worse. Workers have recently started sharing photos of fainting colleagues to try to bring attention to the problem."
"Imagine working in temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius, all day long. That’s what workers at a Cambodian factory say they are forced to endure as they make Armani jeans, leading to frequent fainting. They're furious that the factory’s owners never installed a promised cooling system.
Kin Tai factory, which is owned by a Taiwan-based company, is located in Phnom Penh. It focuses on making pants, for a variety of international clients – including, in the past, for US police officers and firefighters. It has repeatedly come under fire for violations of Cambodian labour laws, including denying maternity leave benefits and seniority bonuses, and giving employees only short-term contracts, even when they had worked there for years.
When it comes to heat, Kin Tai factory is a repeat offender. In 2010, local authorities demanded that the factory install sprinklers on its roof to cool the building. This never happened, according to an April 2014 investigation by the Worker Rights Consortium, commissioned by the city of Phnom Penh. Investigators recorded temperatures of 38 degrees Celsius inside the factory, and gathered testimony from workers who said temperatures regularly reached 40 degrees. Once again, factory officials promised to install a cooling system.
Now, more than a year later, union representatives say nothing has changed, and that if anything, the heat is worse. Workers have recently started sharing photos of fainting colleagues to try to bring attention to the problem."
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