Garment workers around the world experience low wages and exploitation. This is nothing new, but Jessica Simor QC, a barrister at Matrix chambers who has worked extensively on issues of fair pay and human rights in fashion, says: Covid has thrown a much brighter light on the inequity of the whole system. [It] has exposed the incredible imbalance between the worker, the factory owner and the retailer the biggest force lying with the retailer.
The Covid-19 pandemic has created fresh injustices. Throughout lockdown, garment workers in countries such as Bangladesh, Cambodia and Vietnam have faced destitution and starvation as big-name fashion retailers have cancelled 20bn in orders. A lot of these fast fashion companies have pulled contracts where fabric has been ordered, received, cut and sewn, said Raakhi Shah, CEO of the Circle, at an emergency panel the not-for-proft organisation held this week on fast fashion and slavery. The brands havent fulfilled their side of the agreement. And these thousands of garment workers have been left destitute.
In Leicester, where exploitation has been known about for years, the context of the coronavirus has refocused attention on garment workers forced to work throughout lockdown, despite high levels of infection.
It is easy to feel helpless but, says Shah: There are lots of ways that you can make a difference around this.
Speaking of whether change is possible to what, at times, seems an intractable problem, the Circles founder, Annie Lennox (formerly the Eurythmics frontwoman), dialling in from Los Angeles, said: Its like climbing a mountain, its not going to be overnight, but it is possible.
Some things, such as donating to funds for garment workers facing destitution, can make an immediate difference. Others involve collective action and require longer term, structural change.
Throughout the pandemic, organisations such as the Clean Clothes Campaign, Labour Behind the Label and Remake have put pressure on brands to pay factories for cancelled orders. Some brands have paid, some have refused to pay and some, according to the environmental journalist Lucy Siegle, who chaired the panel, are saying that they have, [but] they havent quite in the way that we need them to, for instance delaying payments or paying for parts of orders but not others.
Expecting factories to foot this bill when factories dont necessarily have any accumulated wealth is outrageous, says Siegle.
The Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) has created a tracker to show which brands have paid in full and which havent. It gets its intelligence from factories and workers, says Siegle, and is a good way to put pressure on those companies that have yet to pay up. Primark, for instance, according to WRC, pledged to pay for about $460m in orders it had previously cancelled, but did not, however, disclose what percentage of its total unpaid commitments this figure represents. C&A, which reinstated some orders after initially cancelling them, is delaying delivery and payment for as long as a year on some of the orders it has nominally reinstated.
Individual action needs to feed into structural reform, says Siegle, who suggests people should join Labour Behind the Label or support the Clean Clothes Campaign. She also advises emailing brands to call on them to pay up. Remake has a #PayUp petition calling on brands to pay suppliers, in full and in a timely manner, for all orders that were paused or cancelled because of the pandemic each time the petition is signed, executives from the brands who have not paid receive an email notification.
The Circle launched a fund, called The Women and Girls Solidarity Fund, which is supporting female garment workers 80% of the workforce are women at the start of lockdown. These women are often the sole breadwinners for their families and the fund provides them with emergency food packages and supplies such as face masks and soap.
Just 20 buys a food parcel and they have already managed to help thousands of families. While Shah calls the Circles emergency fund a sticking plaster in the short term, it is vital, given that, without it, many garment workers might have faced starvation.
Remake also has a number of funds it has set up to allow people to donate to garment workers in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Los Angeles.
Time and again fast fashion brands defend their actions by saying its what the consumer wants. Shah says those with purchasing power should be at the forefront now.
One way to disrupt the system is by voting with your wallet. Speaking at the panel, Livia Firth, the founder of Eco-Age, says consumers actions can send a strong message. Only by slowing down will we send a very strong signal that we are not going on like we have for the last 20 years. Lets show them that the consumer doesnt want it.
Siegle, though, believes the situation has gone beyond advising people how to shop more responsibly: This is an emergency, she says. She thinks individuals should question their stance. Whether its about warehouse staff in the UK or garment workers in Bangladesh or Leicester, its about who you stand with. A lot of people are so loyal to brands and are always giving them the benefit of the doubt. [The brands] are not going to change. Go and stand alongside the garment workers and warehouse staff, the workers in Leicester who have been denied union representation for years, not just now.
She says people need to be more informed: If you usually spend a portion of your day on social media looking at clothes on Pretty Little Thing or Boohoo, could you devote some of that time to reading the Clean Clothes campaign liveblog and might that cause a liberation and cognitive shift?
The long-term work needs to be on structural reform and holding these brands and retailers to account, says Siegle.
She advises going back and reading reports, from those by the Circle on the living wage to the Environmental Audit Committees 2019 report Fixing Fashion, none of the recommendations of which, including a suggested 1p per garment levy to tackle fast fashion, were taken up. Why werent those recommendations taken up? asks Siegle. We need to demand that they are.
Referring to Leicester, she says: These are illegal working practices and you have a right to contact your MP and call for a transparent inquiry into working practices around fast fashion companies.
Simors concern now is that criminal proceedings follow holding those responsible who should be held responsible. She is concerned that the victims will be further victimised and we will end up with the victims suffering more because it is quite possible that a number of them were here unlawfully, were trafficked or were asylum seekers. It is important, she says, that we keep an eye on this story.
What has happened in Leicester is shocking, and there are hopes that the reaction to the exploitation of workers there may have some positive knock-on effects for how we react to abuses of those working in the garment industry around the world.
Its always a bit shocking when this race to the bottom happens in our context, says Firth. We always consider the lives of people close to us more precious than the lives of those in far away countries.
As Siegle puts it: Even out your response to it. It might sound obvious, but its about having the same outrage for what is happening to those making clothes for fast fashion in Cambodia or Pakistan as those in Leicester.
Simor wants us to take note of the use by Priti Patel of the word slavery in reference to exploitation in Leicester. It is extremely important, she says, that the home secretary has used the word slavery about these practices. If the home secretary is willing to recognise this as slavery in Leicester, then the question arises as to how this can be acceptable anywhere in the world? Thats something that has to be challenged and we have to take ministers on.
Obviously, UK laws apply in Leicester, but in other countries where garments are being produced for consumers in the west, the UK has no jurisdiction. But, says Simor: We need corporate responsibility to extend to where products are made. We have to somehow come up with some kind of controls within our jurisdiction that have an impact on those other jurisdictions.
She cites cases of the EU legislating for actions and inactions outside of the EU, such as those involving conflict diamonds, data breaches, bribery and even the food supply chain.
Most of those areas are simply concerned with money or data and what were saying is theres no reason you cant extend those ideas and principles to human beings, she says. While she is working on a project to develop law that takes some of the ideas from those bits of legislation and apply them to wage laws, EU law isnt necessarily something individuals can have an impact on.
What individual action needs to do, says Siegle, is feed into structural reform its the same as climate. For starters, we can be more aware: Its great if someone wants to inform themselves and if they want to become a barrister, that would be great!
See the rest here:
Seven ways to help garment workers - The Guardian
- wage slavery - Why Work - December 8th, 2016 [December 8th, 2016]
- Pudzer isn't looking at the big picture - Las Vegas Sun - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Scheme for fishing crews is 'legitimising slavery' - Irish Times - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Living off the grid: Neo-peasants in Daylesford, Victoria take on ... - NEWS.com.au - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Attending College Doesn't Close the Wage Gap and Other Myths Exposed in New 'Asset Value of Whiteness' Report - The Root - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Why Do We Take Pride in Working for a Paycheck? - JSTOR Daily - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- An interesting life through the eyes of a slave driver - Irish Independent - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Attending College Doesn't Close Racial Wage Gap, Says New Report - Post News Group (blog) - February 8th, 2017 [February 8th, 2017]
- The Rule of Law and The Working Class - Anarkismo.net - February 8th, 2017 [February 8th, 2017]
- Wolf budget proposal calls for $12 minimum wage - Scranton Times-Tribune - February 8th, 2017 [February 8th, 2017]
- Where did capitalism come from? - Socialist Worker Online - February 15th, 2017 [February 15th, 2017]
- Aussies working too hard and we're headed for disaster - Bundaberg News Mail - February 15th, 2017 [February 15th, 2017]
- The Two Types of Campus Leftists - National Review - February 15th, 2017 [February 15th, 2017]
- Month of the Presidents - PrimePublishers.com - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- Believing is seeing - Arkansas Times - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- Uncomfortable truths: The role of slavery and the slave trade in building northern wealth - Daily Kos - February 17th, 2017 [February 17th, 2017]
- Point/Counterpoint: On Liberal Capitalism - The Free Weekly - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- To make Trump's America ungovernable, African American struggles are key - Green Left Weekly - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- Congress of Progressive Filipino Canadians against fascism: continuing the culture of resistance - Straight.com - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- What Chaos? The Trump Steam Roller has it Under Control - AmmoLand Shooting Sports News - February 22nd, 2017 [February 22nd, 2017]
- 31 Life Lessons After 30 Years - The Good Men Project (blog) - February 22nd, 2017 [February 22nd, 2017]
- No Room for Compromise on Lower Tipped Minimum - Eater Twin Cities (blog) - February 23rd, 2017 [February 23rd, 2017]
- Netflix is Allowing 13th to be Shown to the Public Without a Subscription - The Urban Twist - February 24th, 2017 [February 24th, 2017]
- Mayor Betsy Hodges says tip credits are bad for women - City Pages - February 24th, 2017 [February 24th, 2017]
- Washington State Rep Endorsed Slavery When Confronted by Voter - The Pacific Tribune - February 24th, 2017 [February 24th, 2017]
- Tesla warns that 'thousands' of Model 3 reservations holders will go outside of Connecticut to buy without direct sales - Electrek - February 27th, 2017 [February 27th, 2017]
- National Prison Strike Exposes Need for Labor Rights Behind Bars - Toward Freedom - February 28th, 2017 [February 28th, 2017]
- New: Berkeley's New Ideology: A critique of the Strategic Plan - Berkeley Daily Planet - February 28th, 2017 [February 28th, 2017]
- Column: Farmworkers, immigration and local food - GazetteNET - March 1st, 2017 [March 1st, 2017]
- Forced to work? 60000 undocumented immigrants may sue detention center - Christian Science Monitor - March 2nd, 2017 [March 2nd, 2017]
- Slavery 'lieutenant' jailed for 'heinous offences' - Bradford Telegraph and Argus - March 3rd, 2017 [March 3rd, 2017]
- The Confederacy was a con job on whites. And still is. - News & Observer - March 3rd, 2017 [March 3rd, 2017]
- VIDEO: Street cleaners fight for London Living Wage from ... - Wandsworth Guardian - March 3rd, 2017 [March 3rd, 2017]
- VIDEO: Street cleaners fight for London Living Wage from Continental Landscapes - Your Local Guardian - March 3rd, 2017 [March 3rd, 2017]
- Restaurant-backed campaign enters minimum wage debate - Southwest Journal - March 3rd, 2017 [March 3rd, 2017]
- VIDEO: Street cleaners fight for London Living Wage from ... - Your Local Guardian - March 4th, 2017 [March 4th, 2017]
- Erica Armstrong Dunbar Talks Never Caught, the True Story of George Washington's Runaway Slave - Paste Magazine - March 4th, 2017 [March 4th, 2017]
- Fountain pen prices 'write' out there - Sault Star - March 6th, 2017 [March 6th, 2017]
- Role of servers' tips fires up Minneapolis debate over $15-an-hour ... - Minneapolis Star Tribune - March 6th, 2017 [March 6th, 2017]
- Carson receives backlash after appearing to compare slaves to immigrants - WCVB Boston - March 7th, 2017 [March 7th, 2017]
- Wash Post: At Least 60000 Immigrants Were Forced to Work for $1 or Less Per Day - Newsmax - March 7th, 2017 [March 7th, 2017]
- Italian Nationalists Vent Fury Following Migrant Camp Fire - Breitbart News - March 8th, 2017 [March 8th, 2017]
- Ben Carson Says Slaves In America Were Just Low Wage Immigrants - The Ring of Fire Network - March 8th, 2017 [March 8th, 2017]
- Child labor in Seattle: Mexican girl kept in near slavery - seattlepi.com - seattlepi.com - March 9th, 2017 [March 9th, 2017]
- 10 Ways American Crime Season 3 Exposes Modern Slavery - Rotten Tomatoes - March 9th, 2017 [March 9th, 2017]
- Daily Reads: Trump Fills Government with Lobbyists; It's Been a Hot Winter, Blame Climate Change - BillMoyers.com - March 9th, 2017 [March 9th, 2017]
- America the Ahistorical: Ben Carson and the Dangers of Willful Ignorance - Rewire - March 11th, 2017 [March 11th, 2017]
- How a Mini-Retirement Brought Meaning to My Life - Entrepreneur - March 11th, 2017 [March 11th, 2017]
- Capitalist Globalization of Labor is Modern Colonialism - Truth-Out - March 11th, 2017 [March 11th, 2017]
- Gumtree pulls 'slave labour' domestic worker advert - Times LIVE - March 11th, 2017 [March 11th, 2017]
- Reese vs. Nicole vs. Bette vs. Joan? It's Not Too Early to Get Psyched for Best Actress at the Emmys - Decider - March 11th, 2017 [March 11th, 2017]
- Readers sound off on slavery, the CIA and Mike Francesa - New York Daily News - March 12th, 2017 [March 12th, 2017]
- Raped, beaten, exploited: the 21st-century slavery propping up Sicilian farming - The Guardian - March 12th, 2017 [March 12th, 2017]
- It's Alive! It's Alive!: Our Film Critic Previews The 60th San Francisco International Film Festival - East Bay Express - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- LETTER: Getting our history wrong - Leavenworth Times - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- Small World: Ranking the rank - The Bridgton News - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- Is Passover Broken Beyond Repair? - Forward - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- Caribbean Reparations Movement Must Put Capitalism on Trial - teleSUR English - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- Two Democratic hopefuls for Va. governor on schools, Metro and the minimum wage - Washington Post - June 6th, 2017 [June 6th, 2017]
- The Myth of the Kindly General Lee - The Atlantic - June 6th, 2017 [June 6th, 2017]
- Big business backs Labor call for new anti-slavery legislation - The Sydney Morning Herald - June 6th, 2017 [June 6th, 2017]
- Paying Inmates Minimum Wages Helps the Working Class ... - Bloomberg - June 6th, 2017 [June 6th, 2017]
- Slavery law to protect supply chains backed by big companies - The Australian Financial Review - June 6th, 2017 [June 6th, 2017]
- Filipino Women Against Modern Day Slavery - Workers World - June 7th, 2017 [June 7th, 2017]
- Paying minimum wage to inmates helps the working class - Chicago ... - Chicago Tribune - June 7th, 2017 [June 7th, 2017]
- Nova Ruth Wants To Free Us From The Bondage Of Wage Slavery - Village Voice - June 7th, 2017 [June 7th, 2017]
- A Myopic View Of Robert E. Lee - National Review - June 8th, 2017 [June 8th, 2017]
- Jeff Sessions Says Social Media, Encrypted Apps Hamper War on 'Modern Slavery' - Reason (blog) - June 8th, 2017 [June 8th, 2017]
- Modern-day slavery alive in Cambridge as couple refuses wages to domestic worker: AG - Metro US - June 8th, 2017 [June 8th, 2017]
- Education & Wage Slavery | The Middle Finger Project - June 8th, 2017 [June 8th, 2017]
- 21 sad and shocking facts ahead of World Day Against Child Labour - ReliefWeb - June 9th, 2017 [June 9th, 2017]
- Australia: Submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Inquiry into ... - Human Rights Watch (press release) - June 9th, 2017 [June 9th, 2017]
- 4 Signs You are a Slave to Your Job | The Unbounded Spirit - June 9th, 2017 [June 9th, 2017]
- It's True: Black Women Are Working Harder And Getting Less In Return - Essence.com - June 10th, 2017 [June 10th, 2017]
- Taxi drivers are hit by '21st century slavery' in Uber row over fares - expressandstar.com - June 10th, 2017 [June 10th, 2017]
- The eco guide to prison labour - The Guardian - June 11th, 2017 [June 11th, 2017]
- Fashion doesn't empower all women - The Guardian - June 11th, 2017 [June 11th, 2017]
- Slave wages in Zimbabwe farms - The Standard - The Zimbabwe Standard - June 11th, 2017 [June 11th, 2017]
- Exeter car wash owner in court accused of posing modern slavery risk - Devon Live - June 12th, 2017 [June 12th, 2017]
- The scout system at Oxford must be scrapped - Cherwell Online - June 12th, 2017 [June 12th, 2017]