Unpaid Turkish clothes makers tag Zara items to seek help

A clothing by Zara (Photo by Zara – Turkey)

ISTANBUL — Shoppers at the fashion retailer Zara in Istanbul have found unusual tags on their garments: put there by Turkish workers complaining they have not been paid for the merchandise in the store.

Workers of an outsource manufacturer for Zara and other retailers have been going into Zara shops leaving tags inside clothes saying: “I made this item you are going to buy, but I didn’t get paid for it.” The tag calls on the shopper to pressure Zara into paying them and support their campaign.

The tags say the workers were employed by the manufacturer Bravo, which closed down overnight. The campaign says that the manufacturer owes them three months of pay and severance allowance.

Inditex, which owns Zara, did not immediately respond to questions from the AP.