Sweatshop Free

Sweatshop free clothing Sweatshops are factories and workshops, which are mostly, but not always, in the developing world, where workers' human and labour rights are routinely ignored. Where pay is so low people can't actually make ends meet. Where the working week can be 70, 80 hours, with forced and often unpaid overtime and even 24 hour shifts. Labour organising and trade union representation is usually banned, even though it is recognised in most countries as a basic legal right. Attempts to stand up for their rights usually lose people their jobs, as does getting pregnant or refusing to do overtime because, for example, you are unreasonable enough to want to go home and care for your children. Child labour, bullying and abuse, dangerous and unhygienic conditions, such as locked doors and inadequate sanitation, are also commonplace.

You might wonder why anyone agrees to work in these kind of conditions, but if your alternative is no job at all and no social security to fall back on, you don't have a lot of choice. And actually, although they're really low, the wages in sweatshops making goods for export are often higher than in manufacturing for the domestic market.

Why is this happening?

The clothing industry has changed a huge amount in the last 20 or so years and sweatshops are commonplace. More and more money is spent on branding and making you want to buy clothes and less and less on the actual production. We've been persuaded that we should buy lots of clothes and change them frequently. And we expect to get quality for rock-bottom prices. But in order for companies to put new ranges in the shops every two weeks or for a supermarket to sell you a t-shirt for £3, they have to have very quick, very cheap production.

The easiest way to do this is to go where labour is cheap and where governments need foreign investment. This has two advantages - firstly, governments offer tax breaks and very flexible interpretations of labour law; secondly, there is little economic incentive to look after workers well, because troublesome or sick workers can be easily replaced and are very unlikely to be able to sue for unfair dismissal.

So when we talk about clothes being sweathsop-free, we're not saying that the workers are working in the best conditions in the world, there's always room for improvement, but we are confident that they're being paid properly, their working hours are reasonable and that their working environment is a safe and healthy one.

NB. Sweatshops are not confined to the garment industry. They can be found in most branches of manufacturing, from electronics to food processing.

Have a look at our links to campaigns and organisations, for groups who can give you more information.

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Sweatshop Free