Last Updated: 2018.03.30
Progress on Improving Conditions at Pacific UNIQLO Production Partner in China
FAST RETAILING CO., LTD.
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The January 11, 2015 report issued by the Hong Kong advocacy group, Students & Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour (SACOM), along with other reports, highlighted issues regarding working conditions at the factory operated by Pacific (PanYu) Textiles Limited in China that makes fabric for UNIQLO clothing manufacture. Following those reports, Fast Retailing started working with the Pacific factory to determine a regime of improvements and implement better working conditions. Fast Retailing has been able to confirm the implementation of instructed improvements by sending members of the Sustainability Department directly to the factory in December 2017 to interview employees and check onsite documentation, and subsequently closely monitoring factory data and other relevant information.
The Fast Retailing Group remains committed to actively encouraging improvements in working environments across its entire supply chain.
| Highlighted Problem Areas | Confirmation of Improvements |
|---|---|
| The factory is still causing pollution with hazardous waste. | During the period spanning July 2015 through August 2017, quarterly inspections of waste water by the Chinese Government judged that all chemical waste generated by the factory was within legal limits. |
| The factory is still exposing workers to harmful chemicals. | The factory has strengthened its management of chemical substances. It has also provided employees with regular training sessions on hazardous chemical management and fire safety conducted by external experts. |
| The factory does not provide workers with masks unless requested to do so. | The factory defined rules for each department regarding the distribution of necessary protective equipment, such as masks and gloves. Protective equipment is distributed regularly to employees according to those rules. |
| No health and safety training was provided in the factory despite reports of workers being injured by heavy machinery. | The factory provides regular health and safety training for employees involved in the operation of heavy machinery. |
| The factory failed to give workers the results of their medical check-ups. | The factory provides workers with the results of their medical check-ups. |
| Employees could not join the factory's housing provident fund. | The factory holds monthly seminars to explain the housing provident fund system that is open to all employees, and any employee that wants to join is able to do so. In addition, the factory has deposited the housing provident funds for those workers participating in the scheme with a government body. |
| The factory's basic wage was the minimum wage, less than half the living wage. | Factory workers' average wage, which constitutes a basic wage (excluding overtime) plus a productivity bonus, is approximately 1.4 times the minimum wage. The average wage for the 60-hour week stipulated by Fast Retailing, including overtime, is approximately 2.8 times the minimum wage. |
| Overtime hours at the factory were illegally high at between 80 and 100 hours per month. | The factory has been trying to strengthen working hour management, fixing a medium-term target for a 63-hour working week, and a long-term target for a 60-hour week that would bring the factory in line with Fast Retailing's own stipulation. The factory has already achieved their medium-term target for approximately 70% of the workforce, and their long-term target for approximately 30%. Fast Retailing will continue to request the factory fulfill our stipulation for a maximum 60-hour work week, and intend to monitor progress regularly to ensure specific improvement regimes are fully implemented. |
| Insufficient worker representation, with no democratic election of worker representatives. | Worker representatives at the factory's labor union were selected in 2014. However, after ascertaining that these representatives had not been elected by union members but were instead selected on the recommendation of factory management, Fast Retailing asked the factory to ensure that all union members will be entitled to vote in the next election to be held in May 2019. The factory agreed. |
Relevant information
－In response to Working Condition Claims at UNIQLO Garment and Textile Suppliers in China (January 11, 2015)
－Fast Retailing Takes Action to Improve Working Conditions at its Production Partners in China (January 15, 2015)
－Fast Retailing Strengthens its Commitment to Improve Working Conditions at Production Partners (February 18, 2015)
－Fast Retailing Advances Working Conditions at its Production Partners (July 31, 2015)
－Progress on Improving Conditions at Tomwell UNIQLO Production Partner in China (March 22, 2018)
