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Katie Price's perfumes axed over 'slave labour' wages

By Lucy Hutchings on Tuesday 15 June 2010

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Katie Price - Oscars 2010: 10 Worst Dressed - Marie Claire

Superdrug has ceased selling Katie Price's signature perfumes, as it emerged that Indian workers earning well-below minimum wage were employed to bottle the £19.99 scents.

An investigation by The Guardian revealed that the factory in which Price's fragrances, Besotted and Stunning, were being made was paying its 7,000 staff just £2.05 a day, amounting to just 26p an hour.

The paper reports that the wage of 114 rupees a day was barely enough to cover food costs. The factory in Kosamba in the state of Gujarat, also bottles perfumes for Umbro, and made Jade Goody's perfumes, too.

A spokesperson for Price told The Guardian: 'The manufacturers of Katie's perfumes insist that at least the minimum ethical trading policies are met and in many cases they are exceeded.

'They take the report of the minimum wage not being met very seriously and will take it upon themselves to investigate these reports further.'

A new factory is now being sought to make the former glamour model's scents, although Superdrug has confirmed that all bottles will be removed from its shelves in accordance with its ethical policies.

Tuesday 15 June 2010

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Well done Superdrug! It is good to see retailers acting responsibly.
Comment by Elle on June 15 15:18

Perhaps all the companies who pay their workers exceptionally low wages should be named and shamed.They should be aware of factory conditions before contracts are exchanged.
Comment by kathy on June 15 16:28

I think what people don't understand is the effect that this will have on the indian people who have lost their jobs as a result of this, it is a very low wage but to those people it would have been a lifeline and possibly a source of income for whole families. It's a shame they couldn't have negociated better wages and working conditions rather than axing it and leaving hundreds jobless.
Comment by laurie on June 21 14:37