Saleswomen paid 5 euros (US$6.6) an hour, Asian subcontractors with dubious practices and counters in the shape of swastikas — in Germany the success of textile discounter Kik has kicked up a storm.
The latest example: A court in the western city of Hamm recently ruled as “indecent” the salaries paid to saleswomen Martina K, 47, and Ursula Grunwald, 62, who received 5.20 euros per hour.
Kik will have to pay them between 8,900 euros and 10,500 euros in back pay and raise their salaries to 8.21 euros an hour.
In all, 3,500 Kik workers in Germany, of a total 15,000 worldwide, are paid 5 euros per hour and receive the strict minimum in state health and pension benefits, services trade union Verdi said.
“Our workers might have to do more than others, but in exchange they have a secure job,” the co-founder of Kik, Stefan Heinig, told German media.
Heinig has a reputation of an obsessive cost-cutter. In his 2,700 stores, the decoration is minimal and there is no music and no air conditioning.
Kik, a German acronym for “client is king,” deals with low cost suppliers, including many in Asia, and changes them often if needed. Goods arrive directly at a center in Boenen, western Germany, and there are no middlemen.
Kik’s prices are therefore hard to beat. In a Frankfurt store, goods are piled high or are still in boxes and customers can find a pair of kids’ jeans for 2.99 euros or a military print T-shirt for 3.99 euros.
A small black and white cotton dress, the origin of which could not be determined, cost 4.99 euros.
In nearly 15 years of activity, Kik, which is majority owned by the German distributor Tengelmann, has steadily gained market share and posted sales of 1.4 billion euros last year.
In Germany or in eastern Europe, where the company is expanding, the group targets families with kids, “thrifty people and socially weak people,” its Internet site said.
Heinig was asked by the German daily Die Welt in 2007 about his models and replied: “I call them McAlKea. McDonalds, Aldi and Ikea are model businesses for me.”
Aldi is a hard-discount German supermarket chain.
Like those companies, however, Kik’s social policies are criticized by unions and non-governmental organizations.
In Germany there is no works committee, a spokeswoman confirmed, while one attempt in Austria ended up in court.
Testimony provided by Verdi member Henrike Greven showed staff were watched closely, their bags and even their cars were regularly inspected. The management has also hung posters urging workers to turn in others who steal.
At suppliers, such as in Bangladesh, clothing sewers must sometimes work seven days a week at jobs that do not pay a living wage. Some are said to employ children.
Kik rejects charges by antifascist Internet sites which call it “a Nazi store.”
In 2007, clients were shocked to find counters were shaped like swastikas, a symbol used by Nazis and which could be seen in Frankfurt.
“It is a completely normal presentation in retail,” a spokeswoman said.
RESILIENCE: Deepening bilateral cooperation would extend the peace sustained over the 45 years since the Taiwan Relations Act, Greene said Taiwan-US relations are built on deep economic ties and shared values, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said yesterday, adding that strengthening supply chain security in critical industries, enhancing societal resilience through cooperation and deepening partnerships are key to ensuring peace and stability for Taiwan in the years ahead. Greene made the remarks at the National Security Youth Forum, organized by National Taiwan University’s National Security and Strategy Studies Institution in Taipei. In his address in Mandarin Chinese, Greene said the Taiwan-US relationship is built on deep economic ties and shared interests, and grows stronger through the enduring friendship between
GAINING STEAM: The scheme initially failed to gather much attention, with only 188 cards issued in its first year, but gained popularity amid the COVID-19 pandemic Applications for the Employment Gold Card have increased in the past few years, with the card having been issued to a total of 13,191 people from 101 countries since its introduction in 2018, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. Those who have received the card have included celebrities, such as former NBA star Dwight Howard and Australian-South Korean cheerleader Dahye Lee, the NDC said. The four-in-one Employment Gold Card combines a work permit, resident visa, Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) and re-entry permit. It was first introduced in February 2018 through the Act Governing Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及雇用法),
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday said that it would redesign the written portion of the driver’s license exam to make it more rigorous. “We hope that the exam can assess drivers’ understanding of traffic rules, particularly those who take the driver’s license test for the first time. In the past, drivers only needed to cram a book of test questions to pass the written exam,” Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told a news conference at the Taoyuan Motor Vehicle Office. “In the future, they would not be able to pass the test unless they study traffic regulations
‘COMING MENACINGLY’: The CDC advised wearing a mask when visiting hospitals or long-term care centers, on public transportation and in crowded indoor venues Hospital visits for COVID-19 last week increased by 113 percent to 41,402, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, as it encouraged people to wear a mask in three public settings to prevent infection. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said weekly hospital visits for COVID-19 have been increasing for seven consecutive weeks, and 102 severe COVID-19 cases and 19 deaths were confirmed last week, both the highest weekly numbers this year. CDC physician Lee Tsung-han (李宗翰) said the youngest person hospitalized due to the disease this year was reported last week, a one-month-old baby, who does not
RSS