Conclusion

In fashion there are bad things and good things. Not every high-street brad is bad. New look seen on almost every high- street is an example of a  the positives in the fashion industry. New look has a Ethical code of conduct which is a an agreement set up the company so members in the organization know  right from wrong. The ethical code of conduct is on three levels: codes of business ethics, codes of conduct for employees, and codes of professional practice. New look tries to keep everyone on the supply chain profitable. They have a close relationship with there suppliers and factory workers so  no who is working for there business.









New Look should be an example for lots of other companies. They show that you can still create a profitable business but you can help create a good quality life for those that supply your company.
We also have to understand that in Britain hundred a years ago things happening in China, Bangladesh and India were happening there. Manufacturing is just part of developing a country and we should look at it as a positive.

Child Labour



Child Labour in a Sweatshop

Children as young as eleven have been employed in the fashion industry. All major companies use child labour as cheap labour, Forever 21, Victoria Secret, Reebok, Nike, Gap and many more. Last year Apple had been found using hundred and six children. According to the UN India is the capitol of child employment. They employ over fifty five million children from age 5 to 14. Children are easy to exploit by paying them low wages and they even force them to work unrealistic shifts, up to 22 hours.

A child from India said. “The men came looking for us in July. They had loudspeakers in the back of a car and told my parents that, if they sent me to work in the city, they won’t have to work in the farms. My father was paid a fee for me and I was brought down with 40 other children. I am working for free. The supervisor has told me because I am learning I don’t get paid. It has been like this for four months.”

No young children should have to work this amount of hours for so long.  There should be stricter laws on children labour but it shouldn’t be abolished completely. It’s better that children are learning a trade rather than on the streets were they are could steal and do worse. In the factory they should put schools on sight so children could learn as well.

Sweatshops

Sweatshops are factories were workers get very low wages, have to work long hours, work in poor, dangerous conditions, exploited and many not allowed to speak out or join a trade union.  Sweatshops are widespread throughout Asian countries however there are sweatshops in parts of Europe and The United States. Lots of the factory workers end up having to accept work in sweatshops or they would face extreme poverty.


Sweatshop

China has the largest cotton/textile industry in the world. If you look at the clothes in your wardrobe the majority of them are made in China. To cope with the western demands China has to employ many workers. Shenzhen has both benefited and has been at an advantage because of this. 50 years ago Shenzhen was a small fishing village bordering Hong Kong. Over the years Shenzhen has changed dramatically. Now it is home to ten million people, most of them who are migrants from other parts of China. The Guandong Province (Where Shenzhen is situated.) has a booming economy that accounts for half of Chinas GDP.

 



Li Chun Mei like any other Shenzhen citizen is employed as a toy factory worker. Normally she would work past midnight despite of Chinas law that says workers can’t work for more than eight hours. Sadly she died after a sixteen hour shift. Her roommate found her on the bathroom floor of their dormitory with blood pouring out of her mouth and noise. The factory manager blamed her death on a motorcycle accident that took place previously though her death was on the premise of the factory.

 


Many of our high-street brands use sweatshops so they can supply the consumer with cheap clothes. Workers in Bangladesh stitching Primark garments, earn so little they cannot eat properly. Some workers are even malnourished. Primark a leading high street brand after allegations on bad conditions of sweatshops set up a website ‘Ethical Primark’. War on Want claimed its latest evidence showed there is no difference in the lives of the workers due to Primarks’ new website.



Workers are paid by garment made not by hour this way of payment means workers have to work long, hard hours. Primark’s code of conduct state that workers should have a maximum working time of 48 hours a week but workers say they work up to 84 hours. The workers said the conditions are appalling. They say there is no safe water to drink and the toilets are dirty. Few workers in these conditions can speak out as women and immigrants are banned from joining trade unions. We would think Governments would do something about this but they have little economic power compared to this big cooperation’s.


We have to understand that these workers have a better life that they are working though the conditions are bad. To solve these problems companies should be open about their overseas labour so the consumer knows and how their clothes are made. Countries should enforce their laws on wage and working hours by having regular inspections on the factories. If we really knew how our clothes were made we would have a different outlook on the clothes industry. The companies are not the only ones to blame some of that lies on us. Our demand on cheap clothes meant companies meant they had to find cheap labours so they could still increase their profits and supply us with our need for clothes.

 













 












 

Nike

Today Nike is valued at 10.7 billion dollars. It is the biggest shoe shop in the world and puts itself as an industry leader. I can say that we in the UK at least owned or own a shoe made by Nike. Nike sells 5 million shoes a year all made by someone who can’t afford to buy them.

In the 1970S Nike shoes were made in South Korea and Twain as the workers gained more freedom they demanded higher pay. Nike moved to China, Indonesia and Vietnam where the law prohibits workers from forming independent trade unions. Nike says it is in the business in marketing not manufacturing as Nike contracts the work of various other factories around the world.

 Many Nikes workers in Indonesia have complained to be physically or verbally abused and women sexually abused. The New York Times reported one factory supervisor who had been convicted for physically abusing workers and another had to flee the country during a police investigation of sexual abuse charges.

During the 1990s Nike had been accused of using child labor in the production of footballs in Pakistan. Pakistan does have laws against child labor but they do little to enforce these laws.



  
April 1997, 10,000 Indonesian workers went on strike over wage violations. In the same month, 1,300 workers in Vietnam went on strike demanding a one-cent-per-hour raise and in 1998, 3,000 workers in China went on strike to protest not only low wages, but hazardous working conditions.

Nike is one of the richest companies in the world and should supply a stable wage for their workers. At the moment Indonesian workers make $2.46 a day, in Vietnamese workers make $l.60 a day and in Chinese workers make $1.75 a day and it costs 5 dollars to make a shoe and Nike can sell a shoe in the UK for up to 100 pounds. Nike could increase their workers wage by 10% and still make a profit. The workers are happy and Nike is still making a big profit.

 

 

Intoduction

Oxford Street: Londons' mains shopping district'

 

Fashion. It is something that is all important to us as a society. We all wear clothes, we all go shopping and indulge ourselves in an item of clothing that we might never wear. When we pick up the latest trend in our favourite shop we never realise how much Blood, Sweat and Tears went into this garment. The fashion industry is worth 21 billion pounds in the UK alone do we really know who makes our clothes?

Sweatshop in China

 5000 miles away a man, women or even a child’s livelihood to survive is to make this piece of clothing. They have to put up with a low wage, working over nights or not even a clean toilet. They have to put food on their table for them and their family.

In this blog I will be sharing with you the truth about the fashion industry. I am going to talk to you about sweat shops, child labour, low wage and what governments and big

corporations are doing about these issues.

The fashion industry is not all about, the newest trainer from Nike or the animal print that Roberto Cavalli chooses. Yes to some degree fashion is that but it’s also how we can get a high street copy of the latest Chanel bag, cheaply, and how all your favourites’ shops make an enormous profit. Though there are many problems to solve there are lots of solutions so the Fashion industry can be a win- win industry.