Ivanka Trump: her employees denounce scandalous working conditions
At the head of a clothing and accessories brand, the daughter of US President Ivanka Trump is facing a crisis. The employees of a factory of his brand located in Subang in Indonesia are breaking the silence and denouncing deplorable working conditions.
At 35, Ivanka Trump is already an accomplished businesswoman. Vice-president of the "development and acquisition" department of her father Donald Trump's company, she has also developed her own line of clothing, handbags, shoes and accessories. However, the revelations of the daily "The Guardian" come to darken the picture.
Indeed, Ivanka Trump's company is swimming in the midst of a scandal. In question, the revelations of the newspaper "The Guardian" this Tuesday, June 13 on the conditions of the workers of the factory who manufacture the clothes of the eponymous brand. Intimidation, harassment, or extremely low wages, a dozen employees tell their daily ordeal.
Under an assumed name, several employees of the Subang factory agreed to testify, like Alia. With a monthly salary of 173 dollars (the equivalent of 153 euros), the young woman cannot even raise her two children. Placed with their grandmother, she visits them as soon as she has enough money to refuel, that is to say one weekend a month. With these miserable working conditions, Alia couldn't help but laugh yellow when she heard about her boss's writing project: a book called "Women who work" ).
I don't know where to go yet, I don't know anyone
Same alarming observation for Sita. At 23, the young woman, who started working seven months ago to support her sick parents, is exhausted by the pace imposed and overtime for a pittance. While Sita is keen to leave the factory for a better paying job, the reality is not so easy. "I don't know where to go yet, I don't know anyone," she explains. A shame for Ivanka Trump who defended the place of women in companies alongside Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last February.
And the scandal does not end there. Several people interviewed by "The Guardian" revealed to be victims of verbal abuse. "Monkeys", "idiots" or even "animals", insults rain down regularly.
The only benefits enjoyed by the 1,875 female workers (out of a total of 2,500 employees), paid maternity leave for three months as well as a supplement of ten dollars if they do not take time off during their period of menstruation.
This is not the first time that the business of the businesswoman has been at the heart of a controversy. And two weeks ago, it was the turn of a Chinese factory producing Ivanka Trump's shoes to be questioned. A Labor activist - who exposed the ill-treatment suffered by employees - has been taken into custody, while his two colleagues (also activists) are now missing.
