Montblanc is greenwashing: it preaches sustainability but makes workers work 12 hours for 3 euros.

Montblanc is a major luxury accessories brand: not only its famous pens, but also leather goods and bags. It is part of the Richemont giant (which also controls other brands in the sector such as Cartier), a group with a turnover of €20 billion and an annual operating profit of nearly €5 billion. Through its usual opaque subcontracting mechanism, Montblanc outsourced part of its production to two Chinese companies (Z Production and Eurotaglio), which also employ Pakistani and Afghan workers. All are paid €3 an hour, with daily shifts of around 12 hours. When employee protests began, the owners of the two Chinese companies, the usual corporate shells used for these unscrupulous operations, decided to fire all 70 workers. Hence the protests in downtown Florence, with the slogan "We are not disposable people."

Now, as much as Montblanc tries to distance itself from its suppliers of labor at modern-day slavery prices, questions remain about what appears to be a genuine case of greenwashing. The company, in fact, preaches sustainability, as is evident from a dedicated section on its website. And rightly, this concept includes, first and foremost, respect for people and their work. Montblanc writes: "Sustainability is a fundamental element of the Group's long-term vision and guides its actions as a responsible business... Our corporate culture includes the protection of the people who work with us and the communities in which we operate." And does this "protection" also include being paid 3 euros per hour for a 12-hour workday?

Read also:

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• Ferrero is greenwashing: it preaches sustainability, but pays its workers €5 an hour through outsourcing.

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