Detail on workers' rights

Wages

Inditex's code only commits it to minimum wages, although as an ETI member it is committed to working towards a living wage.

"The External Manufacturers and Workshops shall comply with the local legislation in force with regard to labour matters. They shall pay their employees at least the minimum wage established by Law for each professional category."

Inditex's annual report measures performance only against minimum, not living, wages.

Freedom of association

The External Manufacturers and Workshops shall respect the rights of the employees to associate or organise themselves or to bargain collectively, in no case shall employees be subjected to any kind of sanction because of this.

In the long term: to develop a professional and competent trade union fabric, capable of looking after the rights of workers and to establish mature relations of collaboration between the workers and the management of the factories.

Monitoring and verification

Inditex's Annual Report indicates that in 2005 it audited 1060 of 1686 production sites.  Of these, 339 were `rejected for breach'.   Inditex follows the `BSCI' model of social auditing, singled out for criticism by campaigners because it was developed without collaboration with trade unions and labour rights groups, and its consequent `minimalist' approach.

Our conclusion

There are a number of areas in which Inditex is performing well. For example, when a factory supplying Inditex in Bangladesh collapsed in 2005, killing 64 workers, it was one of the first to contribute to the relief effort, and has invited other brands to contribute to a relief fund. We still have significant concerns based on the information made public by Inditex, above all in regard to its auditing processes.