You spend your days sitting, back hunched, for at least 60
hours per week. You can’t chat too much or hum too loudly, you will be yelled
at. You’ve developed a cough from the inhalation of cotton fibres in such a
small, cramped space without ventilation. You are allowed half a day off on
Fridays without holidays or sick leave and you get by on $25 a month.
Such is the life of a nine-year-old sweatshop worker, Meem,
as described in the Daily
Mail. She is one of around 300,000 young women in Tamil Nadu, South India. These
workers are the first point of the production chain and the bottom of an
oppressive slave labour system.
It’s difficult to comprehend that this practice is still
prolific in developing nations as we read about it on our MacBooks or iPhones,
often clad in the very garments Meem slaves over. The question echoes, how do
we let this happen?
The shirts, jeans and hats aren’t grown on trees or
harvested. Nor do they simply appear in warehouses before they are shipped to
your local mall. There are three main phases of the supply chain:
- Raw materials- these are the ‘ingredients’ for your clothes; cotton, wool, rawhide and oil (for synthetic fibres)
- Inputs production- here, textiles are spun, knitted, dyed and embroidered
- Final stage production- the material is cut, trimmed and sewn into wearable garments
A report by Baptist World Aid, featured in the Sydney
Morning Herald, revealed that 77 per cent of surveyed fashion companies
their suppliers at the final stage of production. Similarly, 29 per cent knew
where their fabric was produced.
Only 5 per cent were
aware of whom their suppliers were. This indicates a major problem in the
raw materials stage of the supply chain.
If companies don’t know (or don’t care) who their suppliers
are, how can they ensure the ethical treatment of the workers?
Based on their transparency
and willingness to engage with researchers, Oroton, General Pants, Pumpkin
Patch and Lorna Jane were among the worst ranked companies.
Adidas and Audrey Blue, in contrast, scored a perfect ‘A’
grade. Of the 87 companies surveyed,
only 6 earned themselves the top assessment.
Are you shopping to support an ethical supply chain? Check
the tag on your shirt you’re wearing. Now search it on Shop Ethical. How do you
rank?
Claire Dowler is a
Conference Producer with Akolade. She recently graduated with a double degree:
a Bachelor of Journalism and a Bachelor of Media and Communications Studies
majoring in International Communication. Claire minored in sarcasm and puns.
A ballroom-dancer who
collects salt and pepper shakers and volunteers for animal rescue, you might
say Claire has eclectic interests.
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