P. Diddy Accused of Using Sweatshop Labor

[EdwardKnoxII 0]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,101407,00.html

 

NEW YORK  — Rap music mogul Sean "P. Diddy" Combs (search) said Tuesday he will investigate allegations of worker mistreatment at a Honduran factory that supplies garments for his Sean John (search) clothing line.

 

The anti-sweatshop National Labor Committee (search) released a report alleging poor working conditions at the Southeast Textiles factory in Choloma, Honduras, where Sean John clothes are made.

 

"If there is any proof of any wrongdoing, we will terminate our relationship with this factory immediately," Combs said. "I will not tolerate any violation of labor laws at any facility where Sean John is manufactured."

 

Combs said he was shocked at the allegations. He said a compliance officer conducted five inspections of the Honduran factory in the past year and a subcontractor inspects the facility every two weeks.

 

"I take this issue very seriously. I am determined to get to the bottom of this," he said.

 

The director of the National Labor Committee, Charles Kernaghan, and 19-year-old Lydda Eli Gonzalez, a former worker at the factory, stood outside the site of a Sean John store set to open next spring as Gonzalez described the alleged abuses that took place at the factory.

 

"We should be paid what we're owed. We make so little that it's not enough to have a dignified life," said Gonzalez, who said she was fired after she tried to organize a union.

 

Workers are subjected to daily body searches, contaminated drinking water and 11- to 12-hour daily shifts, the report said. In exchange, they are paid 24 cents for each $50 Sean John sweat shirt they sew.

 

But the factory owner, Steve Hawkins, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that Gonzalez was a disgruntled worker fired for producing poor quality merchandise, not clocking in when she arrived and repeatedly arriving late.

 

Hawkins said the charge that conditions at his factory were substandard "is completely groundless."

 

When Gonzalez was fired, she received a severance check equivalent to two-and-a-half months salary, Hawkins said. And while the minimum wage in Honduras is 55 cents an hour, he said his workers make an average of 90 cents per hour.

 

According to the report, about 80 percent of the Southeast Textiles factory production is for the Sean John clothing line. The other 20 percent is for Rocawear, co-founded by rapper and producer Jay-Z and rap music producer Damon Dash.

 

A call Tuesday to the New York offices of Rocawear was not returned.

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

Honduran and factory in the same sentence should've tipped him off a long time ago.

[EdwardKnoxII 0]

I guess he was to busy stealing beats and trying to be in everyone's music video to notice.

[NoCalMike 0]

it might be wise if he took his big warehouses and put them maybe in a poor city he grew up in which would really be giving back to the community by creating jobs, instead of telling his poor fans that they need to wear some $50 sweater in order to be cool.

[Slayer 0]

I wonder if he has 10 year-old third-world kids writing his music and lyrics too

[Guest FrigidSoul]

I wonder if he has 10 year-old third-world kids writing his music and lyrics too

If he did the "music" would be better

[Guest MikeSC]

I wonder if he has 10 year-old third-world kids writing his music and lyrics too

Are there any 10-year olds who lack any creativity?

 

Scary.

-=Mike

...When P. Diddy was 10, he "sampled" the life of Ralphie from "A Christmas Story"

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

F*ck you all -- I considered this fluff...