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Zara Workers to Protest outside Spanish Stores after Record Profit

A Zara store is pictured in Cannes, southern France, Friday, May 24, 2013. (AP)
A Zara store is pictured in Cannes, southern France, Friday, May 24, 2013. (AP)
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Zara Workers to Protest outside Spanish Stores after Record Profit

A Zara store is pictured in Cannes, southern France, Friday, May 24, 2013. (AP)
A Zara store is pictured in Cannes, southern France, Friday, May 24, 2013. (AP)

Workers at Zara owner Inditex' stores plan to protest in eight major Spanish cities on Friday to demand better benefits after the fashion giant reported record profits and raised shareholder payouts, unions said on Monday.

Inditex shares hit a record high after it reported positive early spring sales and a record annual profit last week, and said it would boost its dividend payout by 28%.

"We are happy with Inditex's results, but having seen them, they can't make excuses to the workers and need to discuss more benefits," said Alvaro Cajigal, leader of the UGT union.

Spain's two largest unions, UGT and CCOO have called on shop workers in Inditex's home country to gather outside Zara and Bershka stores in cities including Madrid, Barcelona and Seville at midday on Friday.

CCOO union leader Lucia Trenor said union representatives and workers will gather for an hour and will do so outside of their regular shifts, so shops will work as normal.

"There will be no shop closures during the demonstrations," she told Reuters.

The unions want the company behind the Zara brand to offer more hours for part-time employees and a minimum number of weekends off a year for all staff. UGT also wants seniority bonuses to start after four years of service, as the company is discussing offering a benefit based on experience, so they can reach the majority of workers.

Union and Inditex representatives will meet on Tuesday. The company declined to comment on the union's actions.

Last year, the company increased wages for its around 28,000 shop workers in Spain by around 20%. Globally, wages of 161,281 Inditex employees rose by 9% in 2023, reaching an annual average of 28,726 euros ($31,274), according to its annual report.

In Spain, the company has also agreed to an average 3.5% pay rise for its shop workers this year and to renew a one-off bonus of 1,000 euros.

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Fashion

80-year-old LL Bean Staple Finds New Audience as Trendy Bag

Gracie Wiener poses with some of her tote bags in Washington Square Park in New York, Wednesday, July 17, 2024, (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
Gracie Wiener poses with some of her tote bags in Washington Square Park in New York, Wednesday, July 17, 2024, (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
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80-year-old LL Bean Staple Finds New Audience as Trendy Bag

Gracie Wiener poses with some of her tote bags in Washington Square Park in New York, Wednesday, July 17, 2024, (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
Gracie Wiener poses with some of her tote bags in Washington Square Park in New York, Wednesday, July 17, 2024, (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

L.L. Bean created it 80 years ago to haul heavy blocks of ice. Now it's a must-have summer fashion accessory, The Associated Press reported.

The simple, sturdy canvas bag called the Boat and Tote is having an extended moment 80 years after its introduction, thanks to a social media trend in which they're monogrammed with ironic or flashy phrases.

New Yorker Gracie Wiener helped get it started by ordering her humble bags from L.L. Bean monogrammed with “Psycho” and then “Prada,” the pricey Italian luxury brand, instead of just her name or initials, and posting about them on Instagram. Then others began showcasing their own unique bags on TikTok.

Soon, it wasn’t enough to have a bag monogrammed with “Schlepper,” “HOT MESS,” “slayyyy” or “cool mom.” Customers began testing the limits of the human censors in L.L. Bean’s monogram department, which bans profanity “or other objectionable words or phrases,” with more provocative wording like “Bite me,” “Dum Blonde” and “Ambitchous.”

Social media fueled the surge, just as it did for Stanley’s tumblers and Trader Joe’s $2.99 canvas bags, which were once selling on eBay for $200, said Beth Goldstein, an analyst at Circana, which tracks consumer spending and trends.
The tote’s revival came at a time when price-conscious consumers were forgoing expensive handbags, sales of which have weakened, and L.L. Bean’s bag fit the bill as a functional item that’s trendy precisely because it’s not trendy, she said. L.L. Bean's regular bags top out at about $55, though some fancier versions cost upward of $100.
“There’s a trend toward the utilitarian, the simple things and more accessible price points,” she said, and the customization added to the appeal: “Status items don’t have to be designer price points.”

L.L. Bean’s tote was first advertised in a catalog as Bean’s Ice Carrier in 1944 during World War II, when ice chests were common. Then they disappeared before being reintroduced in 1965 as the Boat and Tote.

These days, they’re still made in Maine and are still capable of hauling 500 pounds of ice, but they are far more likely to carry laptops, headphones, groceries, books, beach gear, travel essentials and other common items.

Those snarky, pop-oriented phrases transformed them into a sassy essential and helped them spread beyond Maine, Massachusetts’ Cape Cod and other New England enclaves to places like Los Angeles and New York City, where fashionistas like Gwyneth Paltrow, Reese Witherspoon and Sarah Jessica Parker are toting them — but not necessarily brandished with ironic phrases.

“It’s just one of those things that makes people smile and makes people laugh, and it’s unexpected,” said Wiener, who got it all started with her @ironicboatandtote Instagram page, which she started as a fun side hustle from her job as social media manager for Air Mail, a digital publication launched by former Vanity Fair Editor-in-Chief Graydon Carter.

The folks at L.L. Bean were both stunned and pleased by the continuing growth. For the past two years, the Boat and Tote has been L.L. Bean’s No. 1 contributor to luring in new customers, and sales grew 64% from fiscal years 2021 to 2023, spokesperson Amanda Hannah said.

The surge in popularity is reminiscent of L.L. Bean’s traditional hunting shoe, the iconic staple for trudging through rain and muck, which enjoyed its own moment a few years back, driven by college students.