Kanye West's £150 Yeezy trainers are made by Chinese workers earing just £147 a MONTH

© Provided by Trinity Mirror Plc It is believed Adidas paid Kanye £7million to collaborate on the Yeezy trainers (Photo: REUTERS)
Factory workers making Kanye West ’s new Adidas trainers are paid just £147 a month, £3 less than the price of the £150 sneakers.

Fans queued for four days outside a shop in Nottingham in February to get their hands on the rapper’s latest line, the Yeezy Boost 350 V2.

© Provided by Trinity Mirror Plc Credits: 18montrose 

The limited edition shoes, which were expected to later trade online for up to £500, are made by workers who slave for 10 hours a day, six days a week.

They are expected to arrive 15 minutes early every day to sing the company song and attend production meetings, meaning they do an hour and a half unpaid time every week.

© Provided by Trinity Mirror Plc Low paid staff queue up to be served lunch from huge pots 

The Mirror teamed up with US-based China Labor Watch to find the Apache Footwear factory in Guangdong province where the shoes are made.

Pay is as low as £147 a month, just £6 more than the minimum legal wage there.

© Provided by Trinity Mirror Plc Staff have to work up to 80 hours of overtime a month to scrape a living 

Apache staff are paid the equivalent of 85p an hour based on a five-day week.

By working an extra 20 hours a week, meaning six, 10-hour days, they can raise take-home pay to £329 a month.

© Provided by Trinity Mirror Plc Basic accommodation of one of the factory workers 

The average wage in Chinese cities is £714.69 a month. The 80 hours’ overtime exceeds the 36 hours permitted by Chinese labour law.

Worker Fang Lee, 39, told how she was expected to stand for 10 hours a day. She said: “I am way too weary to stand for such a long time without rest.”

© Provided by Trinity Mirror Plc Staff are expected to turn up early to attend an unpaid morning meeting and sing the company song 

She said workers had to arrive at 7.15am, 15 minutes early, or be sacked. Mum-of-two Fang said: “I have to get up at 6am and take my children to school as my husband is working. The work and taking care of the children has worn me out. For the family’s sake, I must keep holding on.”

© Provided by Trinity Mirror Plc A poster at the factory 

The family shares a single room, paying £40 a month rent. Fang said: “My basic wage is too low, so I have to work overtime to make ends meet. But even if I work 80 hours’ overtime every month, there is nothing much left.

“Everything goes on rent and living expenses. I have to take every opportunity to work overtime and not take leave or we will be in financial trouble.”

© Provided by Trinity Mirror Plc Machines at the factory where the shoes are made 

Adidas argues its supplier is allowed to take advantage of a loophole allowing some employers to use an average overtime figure for the year.

It is believed that Adidas paid 39-year-old Kanye, who has two children with his wife Kim Kardashian, £7million to collaborate on the Yeezy trainers.
Workers are expected to turn up early to attend an unpaid morning meeting and sing the company song.

© Provided by Trinity Mirror Plc Blocks where workers live 

War on Want’s Owen Espley said the use of cheap labour was “shameful exploitation” and called for Adidas to be “held to account for the shocking conditions in their suppliers’ factories”.

Adidas said it was investigating the allegations of the early morning meeting and agreed that workers should be paid for attending meetings outside working hours.

© Provided by Trinity Mirror Plc Kanye with his wife Kim (Photo: PA)

The company said when bonuses and allowances were taken into account, the average take-home pay for an Apache worker was £329 a month.

A spokeswoman said: “We are fully committed to protecting worker rights and to ensuring fair and safe conditions in our factories.

© Provided by Trinity Mirror Plc Excited customers with their new Yeezys (Photo: Evening Gazette)

“We only conduct business with overseas manufacturers who work in a fair, honest and responsible manner.
“We have strict procedures in place to ensure employees are paid and treated fairly.” - Mirror