Unusually well-dressed protesters posed outside Prada holding placards denouncing the treatment of the woman workers who make some of the products on sale inside.
After sending an e-mail from the Labour Start web site, I received a reply from Mulberry, one of the other companies selling products from the Desa factories in Turkey. This claims that Mulberry have investigated the allegations that were made through a number of audits and visits to the site and are confident that the two Desa factories which supply them with goods are working to the high ethical standards that they insist on for all their suppliers – which include respecting the rights of workers to join the union of their choice.
On the specific case of the women who were sacked and whose cases are currently under appeal, it states that Mulberry will insist that Desa follow the court rulings when these are made.
There seems to be a very direct conflict between this message and the information about Desa at Labour Behind the Label, the group behind the demonstration. But obviously the companies that are profiting from selling these highly priced cheaply made goods and all the people they employ both in Turkey and here have a considerable interst in maintaining the status quo.
But you can read both sides of the story and make up your own mind. There is more about it and more pictures on My London Diary. I’m sure if you send a message from the Labour start website and you will get the same Mulberry response as I did a day or two later in my e-mail.