Four Republican members of Congress from Florida are among a group asking IKEAs North American president to explain reports that the Swedish furniture maker oncebenefited from Cuban prison labor for its products.
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Miami, along with U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami, U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, Miami, and U.S. Rep. David Rivera, R-Miami, were among the signers of a letter seeking a prompt meetingover reports that IKEA had teamed with Cuban dictator Fidel Castro in the 1980s to use political prisoners to make some furniture.
We want to know the exact circumstances that led IKEA to apparently enter into an accord with the Castro dictatorship to produce some of its furniture in Cuba, Ros-Lehtinen stated in a release.These are serious allegations and they have caused much consternation in our communities, and rightly so.
"I urge IKEA to continue its investigation regarding these serious allegations. All entities, including major corporations, have a moral responsibility to assure they are not used by tyrannical regimes to further violate human rights," Ros-Lehtinen continued. "If true, these press accusations are more grievances in a long list of horrors committed against the Cuban people by the Castro brothers.
IKEA USA spokeswoman Mona Liss said the company has received the letter, and "we are in communication to set up a meeting."
IKEA also issued a statement that noted the company no longer had business relations with Cuba and that since 2000 the company has had a very strong code of conduct for suppliers, with a zero tolerance for forced labor.
As far as we know there have only been occasional test purchases of a limited amount of products from suppliers in Cuba in the late 80s, IKEA stated.
The congressional letter to IKEA came on the heels of a report from the German media source Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) that the furniture maker struck a deal with Castros communist government in 1987. The deal was uncovered with the release of Stasi secret police files.
"It is the responsibility of every company to ensure that its products and their respective components are derived from responsible labor practices," the letter addressed to Mike Ward, head of IKEA USA, stated.
"They certainly should not derive from the dark prisons of authoritarian regimes that repress their own populations, including the denial of basic workers' rights."
The four from Florida were joined in the letter by Sen. Bob Menendez, D-New Jersey, and Rep. Albio Sires, D-New Jersey.
All six are Cuban-Americans.
IKEA has stores in Fort Lauderdale, Orlando and Tampa.
According to FOX News Latino, IKEA already faces allegations that it used former communist East German prisoners to make its furniture.
IKEA told FOX News Latino an internal inquiry was underway.
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung article refers to events that supposedly took place around 25 years ago and we will immediately look deeper into this as part of the ongoing investigation in GDR, as well as Cuba, according to an IKEA statement to FOX News Latino. We are now accelerating this investigation and have also taken in external expertise. Before the investigation is complete, we will not speculate on the outcome.
FOX News Latino noted that while the Cuban government produced "35,000 dining tables, 10,000 children's tables, and 4,000 three-piece suites," the first delivery was delayed due to "poor quality and production."
Reach Jim Turner at jturner@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 215-9889.
