Ikea to pay 6M euros to East German prisoners [Video]

Furniture giant Ikea has agreed to pay 6 million euros (US$6.5 million) towards a government fund compensating victims of forced labour under Germany’s communist dictatorship, in a move campaigners hope will pressure other companies to follow.

Political as well as criminal prisoners in Germany during the Cold War era were forced to build flatpack furniture for Ikea. The revelations came to light in Swedish and German media reports more than a decade ago, prompting the company to commission an independent investigation.

• The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App

Prisoners were producing furniture for Ikea, a global giant in the home furnishings industry, as recently as the 1970s and 1980s, the investigation conducted by auditors Ernst & Young found. Ikea representatives at the time were likely aware that political prisoners were being used to supplement labour, the report found.

The former East Germany …