For the last 25-30 years Ikea has had continual incidences with forced labour. Ikea had opened factories in the former East Germany where there are now claims from the prisoner group the UOKG that they were forced to work against there will. These claims are currently being investigated by Ernst and Young with the help and funding of Ikea.

Respectably, Ikea realizes the mistakes that it has made and is doing what is necessary to fix it’s wrong doings. The incidence ultimately occurred as a result of placing the labour contract in the hands of the East German Government. The question is though, why did it take about 30 years to catch this?

There are and will be many more disputes over labour as people seek to have the lowest cost of production and most efficient production. Many steps have been taking in the western world to combat disputes such as child labour, proper working conditions, and adequate treatment of workers. Unfortunately though, there are a mass amount of not only third world but first world countries with lower standards of working conditions where employees are exploited.

It takes proper government regulation and inspection to ensure that working conditions for their fellow country men and women are adequate. This is a task requiring large amounts of money, labour and commitment, all of which are things many governments are not willing to sacrifice and until they do little can be changed.