Do you know where your clothes were made? What about who made them?
The Where of What We Wear
Where do our clothes come from? This is a complex question without an easy answer. The vast majority of clothing retailers outsource the production of their products to many different factories around the world. It is quite normal for cloth to be made in India, pieces of a garment sewn together in Cambodia, and the clothing finished in Pakistan. Clothing retailers have created a web of production that is often difficult to trace. Their basic concern is the bottom line: it is cheaper to outsource production to a third world country where people are desperate for work and will work for almost nothing.
The problem with this practice is that most of the factories used by major clothing retailers are sweatshops. Workers make almost nothing in comparison to the company's profits, and must work in unhealthy conditions for long hours. Of course most are happy just to have work, and since speaking up may get them fired, they go on working in a human assembly line of exploitation. Most consumers are unaware of who made the clothes they buy and what conditions they had to work in.
What is a sweatshop exactly? An organization called Global Exchange mentions several possible definitions: "According to the US Department of Labor, a sweatshop is any factory that violates more than one of the fundamental US labor laws, which include paying a minimum wage and keeping a time card, paying overtime, and paying on time. The Union of Needletrades Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE), the US garment workers union, says any factory that does not respect workers' right to organize an independent union is a sweatshop. Global Exchange and other corporate accountability groups in the anti-sweatshop movement would add to this definition any factory that does not pay its workers a living wage—that is, a wage that can support the basic needs of a small family."
In recent years more attention has been paid to the use of sweatshops by major retailers such as Nike, Wal-Mart, GAP, and Abercrombie and Fitch. In fact, it is very difficult to buy any clothing that was not manufactured in a sweatshop. Because there are few alternatives, conscientious consumers cannot avoid buying clothes from retailers who use sweatshop labor. And despite protests and boycotts, the retailers seem unfazed.
How do these companies get away with it? The retailers distance themselves from production by subcontracting through contractors all over the world. Many of these factories are located in Export Processing Zones, where the companies often do not have to pay taxes for operating in the country. This alone lowers their costs. Because the company does not directly employ the factory workers, they do not feel directly responsible for them.
Naomi Klein writes in her book No Logo, "Manufacturing is concentrated and isolated inside the zone as if it were toxic waste: pure 100 percent production at low, low prices... making sure the maximum amount of work is extracted from each worker, the maximum number of working hours extracted from each day." The factory conditions are atrocious: no windows, no proper ventilation, a constant humming of machines, and military-style supervisors. Workers are paid as little as 20 cents an hour, and forced to work overtime without compensation. As Klein states, "The Third World, as they say, has always existed for the comfort of the First."
Sweatshop workers are at the bottom of a tall ladder, with retail companies at the top rung and a series of subcontractors in between.
There is no easy solution to the sweatshop problem. The retail giants are helping the economies of mostly Third World countries, and without the factories many workers would be poor farmers or unemployed. So the workers don't want the factories to close or leave the country, which they do frequently as the clothing companies skirt around trying to find the cheapest possible labor and taking advantage of special tax-free offers from poor countries looking for foreign investment. But there must be a compromise.
Anti-sweatshop and human rights organizations representing the interests of sweatshop workers demand that workers are paid at least a living wage. This is different from a minimum wage. In fact, in many cases companies in Export Processing Zones aren't expected to obey the local minimum wage laws. A living wage varies in each country and each economy. It is simply the amount of money needed to fulfill a family's basic needs such as food, shelter, clean water, and health care.
Sweatshop workers are at the bottom of a tall ladder, with retail companies at the top rung and a series of subcontractors in between. Each rung takes its cut, with the clothing companies taking most of the profits. These profits are then spent on advertising, stores, and branding in the First World. The rest goes to top executives.
What is needed is for retail giants to become accountable for everyone they employ, from the lowest-rung factory workers to the CEO. Instead of just investing in marketing and branding, these corporations need to invest in the people behind their products. Instead of focusing on profits, they need to focus on human beings. This will require a mindshift in corporate thinking and a lot of concerned consumers.
What can you do?
Keep informed! For information, visit:
nosweat.org.uk
globalexchange.org
maketradefair.com
Support sweat-free and fair trade retailers:
Adbusters Blackspot sneakers: adbusters.org
Fair Trade Federation: fairtradefederation.com
SweatX: clothes with a conscience: sweatx.net
Write or call major retailers and voice your concerns about their sweatshop use.
