Anti-Slavery

Research from Anti-Slavery International has found that top UK high street brands are selling clothing made by girls in slavery in Southern India.

The research uncovered that young, unmarried girls and women from lower classed families  are forced to work in the spinning mills and garment factories of five Indian clothing manufacturers that supply major western clothing retail brands. Export data was found which confirmed that dozens of major western brands had purchased garments from these manufacturers.


The workers are cheated into slavery. Parents agree to three year contracts for their daughters to work on the assumption they will receive their promised pay and the amount that they receive upon finishing their contract. The final bonus is used against the workers to prevent them demanding better working conditions or leaving.


The owners of the factories go against local customs, forcing the confinement of the women to hostels as a way of keeping them 'safe'
The workers are allowed a weekly five minute phone call to family which is monitored by security staff. If parents visit, they can only speak to their daughter under the watch of a security guard like in a prison. Apart from this, no other outside communication is allowed.
In most of the mills, there is no weekend breaks and if there is a day off, the women have to stay in the factory or mill compound. In some of the mills and factories, workers can have up to six days leave but have to work an extra month to complete their contract for each additional day they take off.

Many of the workers suffer poor health from poor food diets, poor hygiene and the hazards associated with working with cotton. Many workers get TB or ill from cotton in their lungs, some die from this lack of health care.

Workers are often not routinely paid, in one mill the workers were promised the equivalent of £52 a month for 48 hour weeks but only get £24 a month for 76 hour weeks.
Other factory workers are forced to work 12 hours Monday to Friday and 16 hours on Saturday to be allowed Sunday off.

Reference:http://www.antislavery.org/english/what_we_do/programme_and_advocacy_work/slavery_on_the_high_street.aspx

Modern Day Slavery

I found this video of a TED talk by Lisa Kristine, Jan 2012. Lisa is a photographer who travelled the world for two years, documenting the harsh realities of 'modern day slaves'.

Some Key Notes:

• “There are more than 27 million people enslaved in the world today — that's double the amount of people taken from Africa during the entire trans-Atlantic slave trade.”
• "I knew slavery existed in the world, but not to such a degree...I felt ashamed at my own lack of knowledge of this autrousity in my lifetime"
• 150 years ago, an agricultural slave would cost $50,000 in todays money, three times the annual salary of  an American worker, today they are enslaved for just $18
• Slavery generates profits of more the $13 Billion dollars world wide, each year.
• They are usually tricked with false promises of education and better jobs
• The goods that have enslaved people produce have value but the people producing them are disposable
• Slavery exists everywhere and is illegal everywhere
• Her camera got far better treatment than the people
• Some don't even know their enslaved as this has been the case all their lives, they have nothing to compare it too
• When the villagers claimed their freedom, the slave holders burned down all of their houses. 
• Some sex slaves were as young as 7 years old
• Between 100,000 and 300,000 American children are sold into sex slavery each year
• Children taken from their families and trafficked and vanished
• Met a slave who has known cruelty all his life and so passes that down to the younger slaves that he manages
• "He has a dream that he will become free and become educated with the help of local activists like free the slaves"

Textile Slavery, Uttar Pradesh, India. 10.14

• Visited villages were entire family's were enslaved in the silk trade.
• The mix dye in big barrels and submerge the silk in them up to their elbows, but the dye is toxic
• "We have no freedom, we hope still though that we can leave this house some day and go some place else where we actually get paid for our dying"

She took photographs like the one below as she wanted them to know we would be baring witness to them and try to make a difference in their lives. The images are not of issues, they are of people all deserving of the same rights and dignities in their lives. 

Reference: http://www.ted.com/talks/lisa_kristine_glimpses_of_modern_day_slavery.html

10 Facts About Modern Slavery

The Dollar A Day Dress

This film was created by BBC's Panorama in 2005. The team travelled the world to create the film which highlighted how the global garment industry can harm poor countries. 

Steve Bradshaw travelled from the Andrew to the Sahara collecting different fabrics for an outfit which was designed and made by a group of London Fashion Students, then was modelled at London Fashion Week. Each piece of fabric symbolised the plight of millions who live on less than a dollar a day to make the clothing that people all over the world wear.

Some people believe that the best way to help the poorer countries would be to 'wean' them off Western aid, ensuring a free and liberal world trade system. In this documentary, Panorama uncovers some of the harsh truths about the affect free trade has on the developing world and as to whether it would do more harm as well as more good.

Some of the findings:

• Cotton from Mali: Mali is one of the poorest countries in the world where farmers were encouraged to grow cotton. Cotton prices in the world market is dropping and the farmers are facing competition from heavily subsidised US cotton farmers. The West gives fifty billion dollars to Mali in aid, but three hundred billion dollars to its own farmers, giving Mali farmers no chance.
  The World Trade Organisation has ruled US subsidies illegal as it's a clear breach of the West's 'commitment' to free trade, however the US are yet to change this.
  As well as this, the famous blue robes of nomads in Timbuktu are no longer made from Malian cotton but from cotton textiles manufactured in China.
• Cotton from Uganda: In Uganda, most people wear second hand clothes which have been donated by the richer countries. This trade ruins the chances of growth for the local textile industry.
  Some Africans call the clothes "dead white men's clothes" not believing that people would willingly throw away such things. This comes back to an issue of sustainability. Until the country can phase out cast offs, their industry will not be able to provide the jobs and economic growth Uganda needs.
• Alpaca wool from Peru: In Peru, farmers are facing the loss of the country's most valuable resource as the quality and price of wool from the farmed Alpaca's suffers from poor breeding methods. The wool is supposed to be one of the worlds most luxurious and expensive fabrics.
  This is a great contrast to those farming the Alpaca's who are some of the poorest people in the world as the quality and price of the wool has taken a 'nose dive' due to poor breeding.
  More developed countries have also started to import some of Peru's genetic stock and began breeding selectively to produce finer wool which the Peruvian farmers can not live up to unless the richer countries share their breeding technology.
• Silk from Cambodia: In Cambodia, 1 in 5 people depend on the garment industry for their livelihood. The 250,000, mostly women workers, earn good wages and say they work in good conditions. The factories they work in are monitored by the International Labour Organisation supported by Cambodia's new labour union.
  The garment factories blossomed after Cambodia signed a global quota system, obliging rich nations to buy from countries with high labour standards, however in Jan 2005 the regulations ended and the country has to now compete with China whose workers wages and rights are unprotected.
  Cambodia's only chance of success is to market its labour standards to companies who are keen to protect their brand name. This would then give big companies a unique selling point, however the country could also likely to fall victim to "a race to the bottom" over labour standards.

I personally am quite shocked over the findings of this Panorama investigation. I can't quite believe how selfish the richer countries are and their unwillingness to really help the third world countries which have been and still are key to the fashion industry. High street fashion companies could make a real stand with partnering with a country such as Cambodia which has much higher labour standards than the countries they are currently opting to manufacture garments in. Why wouldn't a high street brand want to help and support a country where there is fair labour? It is all part of the selfishness, low costs at manufacturing provide companies with a bigger turn over. I'm sure, should this be campaigned about people would fight for the brands they are wearing to have been made in a country with high labour standards rather than made by sweatshop slaves and be prepared to pay more, knowing they are making an impact and changing the lives of thousands in the East.

Reference: news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/panorama/4314653.stm

Fashioning and Ethical Industry

Fashioning an Ethical Industry

Clothes are often manufactured in countries on the other side of the world from where they've been designed or destined to be marketed and sold. For these garment workers, poor working conditions and the abuse of their human rights are a day to day experience. Their lives could be changed for the better by changing standards within the garment industry.

Garment Workers

The part of the production cycle where the cloth is made into clothes is highly labour-intensive. This stage of production takes place in factories, workshops and living rooms across the world mostly by women.

Excessive working hours, forced overtime, lack of job security, poverty wages, trade union rights denied, poor health, exhaustion, sexual harassment and mental stress are all major problems in the stage.

This reality of life is a far cry from workers rights which are stipulated by law or the ethical commitments which are proclaimed by big brands and retailers

Global Production

Big brands and retailers have become 'global sourcing companies'. They are outsourcing the production of the goods they sell through complex international networks. Today, at least 50 countries look to garments to provide valuable exports and thousands of manufacturers are competing for a place in big brands and retailers supply chains.

Falling Prices

Prices on the hight street have fallen significantly in the last decade, partly due to 'value' retailers such as Primark and Asda George. 

There is now such a thing as 'fast fashion'. Shops used to change their collections a few times a year, now it's every 5 or 6 weeks after items have been seen on the catwalk, at minimal prices. These lower prices and faster orders mean that workers wages are lower, hours are longer and there are worsening working conditions.

Role of Consumers

Image is everything in the fashion industry, no company wants to be associated with sweatshops. From writing, emailing and phoning consumers have a real power to persuade brands to 'get their act together' and sort out their workers rights.

Over the last decade, people have been doing this beginning with the biggest global brands. Consumer pressure has meant that companies to get their act together. Now the agenda is wider, the whole industry needs to change, not just one company.

Marketing and Glamour

Catwalk glamour hides the sordid reality of working conditions around the world. Working late into the night, seven days a week for a few pence an hour is the reality and life of tens of millions of people sewing the clothes we wear.

Fashion Education

They activities of everyone who works in the industry, whether they're designers or buyers affects the workers all over the world. Students and graduates of fashion will be the next generation of industry players and have a critical role to play. They can have a real influence over the way the fashion business is managed in the future.

This research I have found highlights some of the key issues in the garment production chain. These issues can be addressed by the public and high street brands. The key issues are the 'fast, throw away fashion' providing a poorer quality of working life for those working on making the clothes from cloth.

Reference: fashioninganethicalindustry.org

                http://fashioninganethicalindustry.org/static/machine_rollover.html

An Overview: No Sweat

No Sweat is an unprofitable organisation which is run entirely by volunteers. It aims to fight against sweatshop exploitation from the UK to all over the world with a HQ in London's Kings Cross.

"No Sweat is an activist, campaigning organisation, fighting sweatshop bosses, in solidarity with workers, worldwide."

Child labour, forced overtime, poverty wages, unsafe conditions, harassment of women workers and intimidation of trade unionists are unfortunately commonplace from small, backstreet sweatshops to some of the biggest corporations in the world.

No Sweat stands for:

* A living wage

* Safe working conditions

* Independent trade unions

No Sweat aims to:

* Make solidarity with sweatshop workers and organisations

* Help unionise sweatshops in Britain

* Publicise, expose and help stamp out sweatshop employment

In 2005, No sweat exposed Top Shop, reporting those involved to authorities.

Numerous events are held in London, Sheffield, Glasgow, Brighton and elsewhere in the UK. They show a presence in places such as Glastonbury Festival as well as running a successful comedy night each Thursday in London. The events aim to publicise the plight of sweatshop workers, adults and children, around the world as well as giving a platform to other groups.

In 2009, the BBC news and Times newspapers covered a No Sweat fashion parade outside Primark's flagship Oxford Street store. This event was organised in response to the companies awful labour policies and relationships with subsidiary contractors who make regular use of child labour.

Image Reference: No Sweat (organisation) Facebook page, No-Sweat-organisation

It is organisations like this which help to expose and publicise sweatshop/unethical factory conditions. Through exposure, companies begin to change their policies and structures through fear of loosing companies. These issue need to come to light in order for high street companies to change their ways. Maximum impact will force the necessary change.

References: www.nosweat.org.uk
                  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jjmEjyr54Y (VIDEO)

Global Organic Textile Standard

The GOTS is recognised as the world's leading processing standard for textiles made from organic fibres. The standard complies to very high-level environmental criteria throughout the whole organic textiles supply change as well as requiring compliance with social criteria.

There are four organisations; OTA (USA), IVN (Germany), Soil Association (UK) and JOCA (Japan) which contribute their expertise in organic farming and enviromentally and socially responsible textile processing to GOTS as well as other international stakeholder organisations and experts.

Aim:
To define globally recognised requirements which ensure the organic status of textiles from the harvesting of raw materials to labelling. 

• Textiles miust contain a minimum of 70% organic fibres to become GOTS certified. 
• Chemical in inputs must meet certain enviromental and toxicological criteria
• The choice of accessories is limited in accordance with ecological aspects (zips etc.)
• A waste water treatment plant is required for any wet-processing unit and the processors must comply with the minimum social criteria

Mission Statement: 'Our Vision, Our Mission'

"Our vision is that organic textiles will become a significant part of everyday life, enhancing people’s lives and the environment."

"Organic production is based on a system of farming that maintains and replenishes soil fertility without the use of toxic, persistent pesticides and fertilizers...we define organic textiles as being processed with the least possible impact and residual natural and synthetic chemical inputs." 

"We foster constant progress towards development of better textile processing methods."

"As a global network we have representatives working to promote GOTS around the world. For us, team spirit means more than mutual respect, understanding and trust; it means working together to achieve solutions. Respect for both people and the environment drives us."

I have outlined the pure basics of this standard, it was introduced in 2006 and is supported with the growth in consumption of organic fibres and demand for unified processing criteria from the industry to retail sector. The universal recognition had allowed processors and manufacturers to supply organic textiles with a certification which is accepted in all major markets.

The GOTS is actually visible in large-scale retailers and brand dealers, not just in natural textile shops. This proves that it is possible for high street shops and brands to change their production and manufacturing methods. Yes, it may take time but the long-term results would be worth it.

Reference: www.global-standard.org/