Folens launches inquiry into claims Indian print staff paid just €3 a day

Irish schoolbook publisher Folens has launched an investigation into claims that a factory in India is paying workers as little as €3 for 10-hour shifts printing some of its titles.

The revelation comes at a time when Folens has implemented price hikes on some of its print products.

In a statement yesterday, Folens said that it was “very concerned by allegations regarding a company with which we have had previous commercial dealings”.

The schoolbook publisher said it was “launching an immediate investigation into the issues raised”.

Among the issues outlined in the Irish Mail on Sunday — following a visit by a reporter to Mangalore where the factory, Manipal Technologies Ltd is based — include:

* Folens worked with the company in Southern India for the past four years;

* While Manipal boasted it could shave 70% off printing costs compared to prices in Europe, staff were paid pittance;

* Contract workers employed by external agencies, who account for 60% of the factory’s employees, receive approximately €80 a month for a seven-day working week;

* A quarter of contract workers’ pay goes towards food and housing, with up to half a dozen adults sleeping in one room where laundry is also hung to dry;

* Contract workers claim they get one day off a year while direct employees of Manipal are paid more, get Sunday’s off, and a fortnight annual leave.

A spokesperson for Folens was keen to emphasise yesterday that the publisher “has no current print jobs” with the Indian company and while “some re-prints” of products had been done earlier in the year, there were no plans to do business with Manipal in the future.

However, that appears contrary to what a spokesperson for Manipal is quoted as saying in the Irish Mail on Sunday.

“Our business with Folens is growing all the time. We also work 24/7, 365 days a year, and companies in the West can’t compete with that.”

Folens said yesterday that Manipal was accredited to Sedex (Supplier Ethical Data Exchange), a not-for-profit membership organisation that is dedicated to driving improvements in responsible and ethical business practices and that none of their (Folens’) due diligence and vetting procedures supported the claims.

However the company said it “will not consider placing any other printing work with the company in question until the investigation is completed”.