The Council on Ethics recommends that Page Industries Ltd be excluded from investment by the Government Pension Fund Global due to an unacceptable risk that the company causes systematic human rights abuses.
Page is an Indian textiles company with an exclusive licence to produce, sell and market lingerie and swimwear for two international brands. The company has 17 production facilities in India. Investigations into working conditions at one of the company’s factories identified numerous labour rights violations , including verbal and physical harassment of employees and occupational health and safety hazards. The company also seems to restrict employees’ rights to organise. The Council emphasises that Page has not provided any information to help clarify the case or how it works to prevent norm violations at its facilities. In practice its seems as though the company does little to prevent the abuse of labour rights in its operations.
The Council on Ethics submitted its recommendation 19 February 2020. Norges Bank published its decision to exclude the company on 31 August 2020.