Mauritius: ASOS intervenes after supplier closure leaves migrant workers without wages, electricity, water & food
"Asos intervenes when supplier cuts off wages, water, food to workers", 19 August 2019
...Asos intervened last month when a Mauritius-based supplier cut off electricity, water and a food allowance to a dormitory of 151 majority migrant workers. The retailer became aware of the situation after the Dhaka Tribune reported on the workers' plight and the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC), a global research group with offices in New York and London, contacted Asos and John Lewis and Partners after determining them as customers of the factory.
In a letter to the BHRRC... Asos Sourcing Director Simon Platts wrote the company worked with the local government to restore basic necessities to the workers' living conditions after the Tex Knits factory went into liquidation... The workers had not been paid for months before the liquidation, according to reporting form the Dhaka Tribune. Working with a local labor union and the Mauritian government, Asos facilitated worker wage payouts for June. Wages up to July 19 should be paid by the end of August...
Asos' response demonstrates a growing understanding among retailers who operate with deep and diverse global supply chains. Resolving supplier issues, particularly regarding labor and human rights, requires involving multiple local authorities in what is often called a "jurisdictional approach."...