Workers at ivanka trump's shoe factory describe violent abuse, unfair pay, long hours

Workers employed at a Chinese factory used by Ivanka Trump to manufacture shoes have spoken to the media for the first time, detailing nightmarish conditions, long hours, and abuse at the

hands of managers, _The Associated Press_ reports. In one particularly upsetting incident, the workers recalled a manager bludgeoning an employee on the head with the heel of a stiletto.

"There was a lot of blood. [The employee] went to the factory's nurse station, passing by me," one of the workers recalled. Ganzhou Huajian International Shoe City Co. is used

by several other fashion brands in addition to Ivanka Trump's. Trump's brand, though, has come under particular criticism for its association with the company because of

Trump's retained ownership interest in her brand while serving in the government. On Tuesday, for example, the president's eldest daughter skewered China, which has been demoted by

the U.S. Trafficking in Persons Report to the lowest possible level, claiming the government report was a "clarion call into action in defense of the vulnerable and the exploited"

— but she has yet to comment on the conditions at her supplier's factory. Recently, three human rights investigators for the New York-based China Labor Watch were detained and accused

of secretly recording inside the factory. The group's founder, Li Qiang, said the reports out of the Ganzhou factory are "among the worst he has seen in nearly two decades

investigating labor abuses," _AP_ writes. "His group says pay can be as low as a dollar an hour, in violation of China's labor laws. According to China Labor Watch

investigators, until recently, workers might get only two days off — or less — per month." SUBSCRIBE TO THE WEEK Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis

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_The Associated Press_. Explore More Zurich Speed Reads