The court of Milan's preventative
measures section on Friday put Giorgio Armani Operations SPA,
the fashion group's company dealing with the design and
production of clothes and accessories, into administration.
The move is linked to a criminal probe by prosecutors Paolo
Storari and Luisa Baima Bollone and the Carabinieri police's
labour inspectorate into alleged worker exploitation.
The allegedly exploitation regards work contracted out and
carried out at allegedly illegal plants using Chinese citizens
employed off the books.
Investigators said Giorgio Armani Operations SPA had been
"incapable of preventing and curbing phenomena of labor
exploitation within the production cycle, having not implemented
suitable measures to verify the real working conditions or the
technical capabilities of the contracting companies," thus
facilitating "the crime of gangmastering".
They said this system had made it possible to lower production
costs, not paying direct taxes, insurance and social-security
contributions, not respecting workplace health-and-safety
regulations, and not complying with obligations of the sector's
national collective contract for pay, work hours, breaks and
paid holidays.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
