On May 8th, the Court of Milan initiated a working group to discuss initiatives to prevent labor exploitation in the fashion industry, with the aim of establishing a protocol by the end of July.
Context
In recent months, three major Italian fashion companies (Alviero Martini, Dior, and Armani) have been placed under judicial administration after the Public Prosecutor’s Office detected instances of labor exploitation in their production processes.
For these three companies, labor exploitation was primarily identified in the subcontracting chain.
Specifically, it was found that fashion houses would commission the creation of a product to seemingly compliant companies, which would then outsource the orders to third-party companies. These third-party companies, in turn, employed irregular labor under exploitative conditions to cut costs.
In this context, the initiative by the Court of Milan aims to provide contracting companies with tools and guidelines to monitor and control their production chains, thereby preventing judicial intervention.
The Protocol to Prevent Labor Exploitation in the Fashion Industry
The protocol aims to identify risk indicators and profiles of companies to enable contracting companies to detect labor exploitation situations along supply chains and to facilitate the selection of contractors or subcontractors based on sustainability and responsibility criteria.
The document has been developed by a team of experts and, once approved by the prefecture, a final meeting will be held for its approval, scheduled by the end of July. Once the protocol is approved, it will also be presented to fashion associations, the labor inspectorate, and the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
The Black List
In parallel, a regional database is being prepared, which will include a «black list» of companies considered at risk of labor exploitation based on judicial experience. This tool aims to highlight companies operating under non-compliant conditions, providing businesses with a reference to avoid collaborations with unreliable parties and thus promoting ethical and sustainable work practices.
