Zara working on ‘hardship fund’ for unpaid Turkish workers

ISTANBUL – Fashion retailer Zara says it is working on establishing a “hardship fund” to help a group of Turkish workers who were left unpaid when an outsource factory closed down.

The workers went into Zara shops in Istanbul, leaving tags inside garments that read: “I made this item you are going to buy, but I didn’t get paid for it.”

The workers were employed by the manufacturer Bravo, which the workers say owes them three months of pay as well as severance allowance.

Spain-based Inditex, which owns Zara, said it’s working with a trade union and retailers Mango and Next for a fund to help workers affected by “the fraudulent disappearance of the Bravo factory’s owner.”

Inditex said: “We are committed to finding a swift solution for all of those impacted.”