By Manasi Nene
A new report by The Guardian has revealed the savage working conditions of PT Buma, a garment company that provides material for big brands like Ivanka Trump’s. Oblivious to reality, though, Ivanka’s recent book Women Who Work seems to consist of vagaries, cliches and women-targeted branding.
Workers in the Indonesian arm of PT Buma are paid the lowest wages in the country, and some parents have to send their children away because they cannot afford to live with them. Sure, they get three months paid maternity leave and a bonus if they don’t take menstrual leave, but considering how bad working conditions and wages are, the workers aren’t really getting a great deal out of this. Broadly also writes about workers not being paid for their overtime labour, and the Chinese company that manufactures her shoes is apparently moving operations to Ethiopia, where the minimum wage is even lower.
Ivanka, however, remained silent about the allegations, but her brand released a statement distancing itself to the scandal.
Meanwhile, a labour activist who was trying to investigate human rights abuse at her Chinese shoe factory has been detained, and two others have gone missing.
As an author of a book that is apparently about women’s issues, it’s strange (but no surprise) that Trump isn’t a fan of paying her workers anything above a minimum wage. A look inside the shoe factory in the Chinese province of Guangdong shows that it isn’t a super-comfortable place to work, either. Last month, Ivanka made headlines by praising Saudi Arabia’s progress with women’s rights after it donated $100 million to the World Bank, but Saudi Arabia doesn’t have a fantastic track record with women’s rights today, either. Besides, she’s surprised by the ‘vicious’ attacks against her father, President Donald Trump.
Sounds like somebody needs to get a reality check, especially where workers in her own factories are concerned. Perhaps her next great feminist text could enlighten us?