Uniforms for children… made by children? This is what the Putean opposition is denouncing this week. Since Monday, 900 children from the Bergères, Parmentier and La Défense 2000 schools in the town of Puteaux (Hauts-de-Seine) have been experimenting with the unique outfit.
Problem: while the municipality had argued that these textiles were of European origin, to finally convince the parents of the experiment, they had the unpleasant surprise of discovering another origin on the labels of the polo shirts and sweatshirts provided to their children. children: Bangladesh and Pakistan.
The municipality accuses and summons the supplier
“This is not at all what was planned,” reacts Vincent Franchi, first deputy to the mayor, Joëlle Ceccaldi-Raynaud, to our colleagues at Parisian. According to the elected official, the company appointed by call for tenders to supply the clothes had committed to European production. More precisely in Portugal.
Because in addition to being major producers of “fast fashion”, these ranges of clothing produced at low costs and extremely harmful to the environment, Bangladesh and Pakistan are also criticized for using child labor in their textile factories.
Countries known for child labor
A point underlined by the opposition in the person of Francis Poézévara, Génération municipal councilor. s, who did not fail to make it known via a press release on Twitter: “These two countries are regularly targeted for child labor, despite the international conventions they have signed. »
If the municipal majority points the finger at the supplier, summoned this Tuesday to the town hall, Francis Poézévara recalls that the town hall prided itself on having obtained outfits for less than 200 euros, the maximum amount set by the government.
If the town hall assures that it is asking for additional guarantees for future orders (a new call for tenders has been launched for the year 2024-2025 for a fourth school), the opposition is asking for the experiment to be stopped while waiting for a ” commitment to ordering sustainable clothing whose sustainable manufacturing process respects human rights and the environment.”