Company profile: America Latina Luif GmbH
Headquarters: Wien
Country: Austria
Founded in: 1977
Total points of sale in Europe: 11
Owned by: Georg Luif Irmgard Luif-Kretschy
Name of CEO: Both Owners of the company are the General Managers
Product description: Woman’s clothes as blouses, skirts, trousers, dresses, jackets, ponchos, pullover
Countries of production: Peru, India, Europe, Germany
General remark: n.a.
America Latina Luif GmbH
Osterleitengasse 7A 1190 Wien
luif(at)americalatina.at
Comment from CCC and proposals for action
America Latina is a small Austrian company producing mainly womens clothes in Latin America, India and Europe. They were engaged to provide us with information and held a meeting with CCC-Austria representatives. They published a policy statement which is not comparable with the Clean Clothes Code of Conduct. Until now they don’t have independent monitoring, but they are interested in a membership of the Fair Wear Foundation.
Take action: Send them an e-mail to America Latina supporting their process for labour standards commitments and transparency.
The following evaluation of the company’s performance in terms of transparency, code implementation and monitoring of labour standards is based on the company’s response to the questionnaire from the CCC and on an additional desk study conducted by the CCC in 2007. In the section “Recent developments” you can find additional information gathered after 2007.
Transparency
America Latina Luif GmbH has responded to the CCC-questionnaire and has provided some additional documents. The company is in dialogue with some NGOs. Some information is disclosed about turnover and profits. The salary of the CEO is known. Information is given about producer countries and the structure of the supply chain. The country of assembly is mentioned on the label. A sustainability report is publicly available but it does not meet international reporting standards (GRI). America Latina Luif GmbH provides neither the results of factory audits nor information about verification activities. General targets for future monitoring activities and for improving respect of labour rights in the facilities used are formulated on the basis of social audit outcomes.
Formal commitment to labour standards
America Latina Luif GmbH has adopted a code of conduct that requires compliance with all relevant local labour laws, but does not indicate that where local and international standards are at variance the higher standard should prevail. The code does not include a reference to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The code of conduct does not include all provisions from the ILO Core Conventions. These include the right to organise, bargain collectively and prohibit child labour, discrimination, and forced labour. America Latina Luif GmbH’s code of conduct does not apply to all workers affected by labour practices for which the company has some measure of responsibility. Beyond the ILO Core Conventions, the company is neither committed to wages in accordance with living wage principles nor with minimum wage legislation. There are no restrictions on the number of working hours per week. No mention is made of a safe and hygienic environment for the workers who produce the company’s garments. The company does not explicitly require that all workers receive a regular employment contract.
Beyond the labour standards mentioned above, the company code is not precise enough on some specific issues. It does not state its commitment in relation to*:
- The provision of transitional measures that will be in the interest of the child and of her/his family where child labour is found;
- special provisions for workers under 18 years of age (e.g. education, no night work);
- prohibiting the retention by employers of security deposits or identity papers;
- payment of overtime at a premium rate.
- guaranteeing a living wage during regular working hours without overtime.
- prohibiting physical abuse, threats of physical abuse, unusual punishments or discipline, sexual and other forms of harassment as well as intimidation by the employer.
- ending the worst forms of child labour with explicit reference to ILO core-convention 182.
Code implementation and purchasing practices
America Latina Luif GmbH did not indicate the steps it is taking to effectively implement minimum labour standards in its supply chain. The company’s code of conduct hasn’t been translated into the languages of any of the countries it is sourcing from. There is no evidence that training on labour rights issues is promoted by America Latina Luif GmbH. According to the information given America Latina Luif GmbH has no intention to implement the payment of living wages to workers. America Latina Luif GmbH takes, to some extent, the impact of its own purchasing practices into account. It has established some procedures which show how to improve planning and prevent excessive overtime.
Monitoring and Verification
The company is not involved in independent verification by a multi-stakeholder approach.
Violations of labour rights and public conflicts
There are no public urgent appeals from CCC calling on America Latina Luif GmbH to take responsibility for workers’ rights violations in its supply chain.
Recent developments
n.a.