ABC Radio Australia
German sportswear giant Puma has been on the back foot recently after a report the company commissioned showed a litany of abuses at one of its subcontractors in Cambodia.
The company commissioned the investigation after more than 200 workers fainted at a shoe-making factory in Phnom Penh.
Presenter: Robert Carmichael
Speaker: Chuon Momthol, trade union leader; Catherine Vaillancourt-Laflamme, International Labour Organisation
Click here to listen to the audio program (Windows Media)
CARMICHAEL: In April around 200 workers at a factory that makes shoes for Puma fainted and were taken to hospital. A few days ago another 49 fainted too.
The April incident drove Puma to commission an independent report from a US-based non-profit called the Fair Labor Association, and the results made for uncomfortable reading in Germany.
The subcontractor, a company called Huey Chuen, employs around 3,300 workers, and was found to have failed in dozens of areas.
For instance, deductions from employee wage packets were unclear; there was no fire safety plan; new employees received no training; the firm deducted sick days from annual leave entitlements. The list of breaches of Cambodian law is long.
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