Summary
- About 1,000 unionized Gucci employees are threatening to strike over unpaid welfare bonuses promised by parent company Kering for 2022-2024.
- This labor dispute puts Gucci in a pivotal position under its new leadership and adds to the string of labor scandals affecting other major luxury brands like Armani, Loro Piana, Dior, and Valentino.
As the luxury sector battles the external economic conditions that have led to falling sales, a wave of labor scandals rippled through the industry, affecting Armani Group, LVMH labels Loro Piana, Dior, and Valentino. Now, Gucci is also being roped into the labor troubles as a thousand employees threaten to strike.
Officially declaring a “state of unrest” yesterday, unionized Gucci Italia employees have invoked an industrial action that could ultimately lead to a strike, according to Reuters. “We do not want to, and will not, fall into the trap of a downward trade that removes protections from one side and transfers them to another,” the unions shared in a statement.
“We consider the company’s attitude to be extremely serious, and for this reason, we are declaring a state of unrest at the national level, with possible industrial action that will be communicated at the local level if necessary,” they added.
The trade unions Filcams Cgil, Fisascat Cisl, and Uiltucs represent the group of Gucci retail and logistics workers who say they haven’t been paid welfare bonuses promised by Gucci-parent Kering for the three years of 2022-24. Their statement cites specific guarantees regarding the benefits introduced in the package signed in July 2022.
The employees have rejected Gucci’s proposal to tie the welfare payment to a wider review of incentives for the period, saying the company “has done nothing but waste precious time, mocking the workers who work hard every day in the stores and who were waiting—and continue to wait—for their welfare payments.”
With its new CEO Luca de Meo and new creative director Demna, the brand stands at a pivotal moment both creatively and operationally. Kering’s Gucci has already borne the brunt of the economic slowdown, seeing sales fall by a steep 25% in Q2. The addition of a major labor scandal certainly doesn’t help their case. Gucci Italia experienced its last strike in 2023, as employees decried the decision to move the brand’s creative office. However, the previous strike involved only a few dozen workers.
As mentioned earlier, Gucci is not the sole offender in the sector. On Monday, Armani was fined roughly $4 million USD by Italian regulators who placed the company under court administration last year for employing workers in unsafe/illegal conditions.
In July, LVMH’s Loro Piana was the most recent luxury label to be placed in court administration for similar findings, culminating in the brutal beating of a garment worker in Milan. Loro Piana was the third LVMH label to get the restriction in the last two years, with Dior and Valentino having their restrictions lifted after taking corrective measures.
As of the time of writing, Gucci has not responded to the developments. Stay tuned to Hypebeast for the latest fashion industry insights.
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