IKEA May Have Used East German Political Prisoners To Build Furniture, According To Swedish News Report [UPDATE]

A Swedish news report investigates the alleged relationship between IKEA and East Germany before the fall of the Berlin wall.

IKEA has been accused of allegedly using East German political prisoners to build furniture in the 1970s and 1980s, Agence France-Presse reports.

The news that the world's largest furniture retailer cozied up to East Germany’s Stasi secret police came from a trailer for an investigative news report by a Swedish broadcaster set to premiere this week, according to the Independent. The retailer is also facing allegations that it used Cuban prisoners to build its furniture in the 1980s, the Guardian reported Thursday.

The report, which will air Wednesday evening, will include an interview with IKEA's Jeanette Skjelmose, the company's social and environmental manager.

This post has been updated to include additional allegations.

According to the Daily Mail, IKEA is also launching its own internal investigation.

"'So far there are no indications that we would have asked that prisoners be used in manufacturing or known about it," Skjelmose told the Mail. "What we're looking into now is whether it could have happened anyway, without our knowledge."

This isn't the first time IKEA's relationship with East Germany has grabbed the spotlight. Just last year, a documentary by the German public television channel WDR revealed IKEA developed a strong manufacturing presence in the German Democratic Republic in the 1970s, establishing operations in 65 locations to produce parts and furniture, according to the Independent.

UPDATE: IKEA is investigating the allegations, the BBC reports.

UPDATE 2: The Swedish retailer is also facing allegations that it used Cuban prisoners to make its furniture in the 1980s, the Guardian reports. According to the report, IKEA made a deal to have its furniture built in Cuban prisons using East German trading connections.

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Comments

[danrothesq]

12:55 PM on 05/05/2012

Boycott them

[mariusvinchi]

10:20 AM on 05/05/2012

Before we throw stones at IKEA, we should look MUCH closer to home! WE, yes WE, the United States of America also use prison labor. The two largest PRIVATE prison operators actually REQUIRE capable inmates work in their prison factories. CCA actually leases out their prison industries to corporations. Inmates are paid .35 - 1.00 per 8 hour day. Now, before you defend this practice, think on the following:

1) CCA STILL charges the states the same per diem rates per inmate. So these laborers aren't reducing the cost to taxpayers ONE CENT.

2) These are jobs that could be filled in the community.

3) Companies who use these inmate laborers have a tremendous market advantage against competitors. Almost no labor costs, no benefits, FICA, Witholding or Unemployment Insurance costs. That essentially creates a DOUBLE impact to job creation. The first being jobs not created in the community and the second is the loss of jobs at their competitors....

[PJ Parker]

10:18 AM on 05/05/2012

I think I'm missing the point of this "revelation". Lots of mass produced furniture in the USA is made by American prisoners. That information is available on the web. The USA prison systems advertise their workforce to manufacturers.

[piscatawayan]

10:18 AM on 05/05/2012

They're just ahead of the curve.

[sentrysafe367]

10:17 AM on 05/05/2012

Who cares where anything is made and by who. If its what you want or what you need and the item looks good and the price suits you buy it.

[Captain Cochrane]

09:45 AM on 05/05/2012

Honore de Balzac once said,' behind every great fortune is a great crime." It's hard to find any large multinational that has not engaged in some sort of legal malfeasance , or cruelty or unjust behavior towards the public and it's workers. It is in their nature. Left unregulated, they can be trusted to live down to the basest instincts we know, all in the name of profit.

[Madtek]

09:42 AM on 05/05/2012

Actually, it sounds like a good idea. Require the inmates to learn a trade so they can become 'productive members of society' when they are released.

[dtmfman]

09:17 AM on 05/05/2012

quick...buy some posh stuff from them...while you're at it...buy an ipad/iphone....they use slave labor...but it's ok...the stuff's being sold in the US....

[grn1]

08:59 AM on 05/05/2012

busy hands no time for crime

[grn1]

08:58 AM on 05/05/2012

is that why their furniture has improved in quality?

[michaelat33685]

08:48 AM on 05/05/2012

It was either that or "You don't get this slice of stale break & rankish water today". Just like China, only there it's "You don't get this bowl of old rice today".

[P Markham72]

08:44 AM on 05/05/2012

So what.......may as well do something while your locked up. Who do you think is making all this UNICOR furniture.

[Katco]

08:34 AM on 05/05/2012

No different then Victoria Secret using prisoners to make panties

[Anonmouse33]

07:29 AM on 05/05/2012

although i'm upset about prisoners being used to make ikea's products. .

. .i'm slighlty more, and personally outraged by the prisoner used to put them together.

[chedet]

06:19 AM on 05/05/2012

How is this any worse than American companies using CHILD LABOR?

[Haus]

07:11 AM on 05/05/2012

Which ones do that?

[doonooch]

08:54 AM on 05/05/2012

in factories that moved to third world countries that pay labour pennies on the dollar, with poor labour laws and offer zero benefits. American companies have been exploiting third world labour for decades.

[Gronkie]

09:03 AM on 05/05/2012

Lots and lots of companies that manufacture their products in various Asian, Central American and South American countries. And you know it.