TextilDiscounter Kik is faced with an advertisement at the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA), which was reimbursed by Pakistani textile workers: inside, the Pakistani trade union National Trade Union Federation (NTUF) and the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (Ecchr). The accusation: “Serious violations of the supply chain assistant law (LKSG)”.
Specifically, it is about labor law violations in the Mount Fuji supplier factory in Karachi, Pakistan. This has existed for more than three decades and manufactures web goods from polyester, cotton and mixing yarns or exports them as well as knitting goods for the clothing and home and garden area.
According to the complaint, Mount Fuji should systematically violate work laws, especially the support of fair wages and the suppression of union organizations. Clicking the link to “Social Compliance” on the Mount Fuji website results in an error message.
Operation already fell on 2023
This is not the first time that the manufacturing company noticed: At the end of 2023, the organizations submitted an internal complaint and asked KIK to take appropriate measures and comply with their duty of care.
The discounter was confirmed by the BAFA that he had not violated it: “Based on the information available here, no violation of entrepreneurial diligence duties according to the LKSG can currently be determined in the situation in question,” says the final report, which is available.
KIK and CSR director Ansgar Lohmann “are surprised that the facts around the Pakistani supplier Mount Fuji will be discussed again”. “So far we have no new hints or complaints on this topic. There have also been no reports from workers in this regard: We have been received in the inside-neither about the official KIK complaints mechanism nor about the Complaint Mechanism of the International Accord, in which the relevant factory is listed,” says a statement.
“We continue to check the factories we commissioned regularly. According to our knowledge, the supplier Mount Fuji has concluded an existing union agreement with the NTUF and we assume that this employment relationship also pays attention to compliance with all diligence,” it continues.
“No effective measures”
The complainant: this is too little inside; They chalide that Kik “did not take effective measures [habe]”To remedy the documented violations of his supplier”. “Instead, Kik relied on the promises of the supplier and dubious social audit from consulting companies – despite clear indications of their unsuitability,” it says.
In fact, this is the problem with supply chain problems – a lack of direct contact between clients and the contractor; Audits through third parties can hardly convey the entire picture and are not sufficient for good, long -term business relationships.
“KIK sells superficial, ineffective measures as progress, while the workers concerned: inside in Pakistan continues to work under precarious conditions and we are hindered in our trade union work,” explains NTUF-General Secretary Nasir Mansor in a message dated June 19.
Consequently implement and enforce LKSG consistently
For Annabell Brüggemann, Senior Legal Advisor at the ECCHR, the incident illustrates the justification of the LKSG. “The KIK case clearly shows why we need the supply chain law, but also what is currently dysfunctional.
In addition to ECCHR and NTUF, the NGO Femnet was also involved in discussions with the discounter from the start, since its expertise on labor and women’s rights in the clothing industry, especially in Asia, and through the continuous exchange with local unions on site, it has a deep understanding of working conditions in the region.
“The KIK case is also politically relevant: it shows that the current discussion change at LKSG endangers the protection of those affected. The federal government must counteract these developments instead of weakening or even abolishing the law,” advises Sina Marx von Femnet.
In any case, one thing is certain – the back and forth between unions, companies and the client delays real action and this has – once again – on the weakest members of the supply chain – the clothing workers: inside. Here, Kik could take a picture on site through quick, unbureaucratic action, i.e. his own assessment on site, instead of relying on third parties and sit down with factory enthusiasts and workers: to remedy the situation inside. Because it is often not about the reinvention of the wheel, but about simple communication and simple solutions.