Fashion Victims: The true cost of cheap clothes at Tesco Asda and Primark

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Tuesday, 12 December 2006 00:00

Fashion victims reportThis new report by War on Want uncovers evidence of workers in Bangladesh regularly working 80 hours a week for just 5p an hour, in potential death trap factories, to produce cheap clothes for British consumers of Primark , Tesco and Asda’s ‘George’ range. The research found six factories producing for some or all of the companies, and found serious workers rights violations in each, with workers too frightened to join a union and few who had even heard of a code of conduct, let alone spoken openly to social auditors.

These six factories prove that despite the fact that all three have commited to ensuring freedom of association, a living wage, legal working hours and proper monitoring and verifaction of supplier factories illegal and exploitative conditions are found within their supply chain. Whilst the research focused on factories in Bangladesh we can have little confidence similar conditions don't exist in other factories or other countries.

Read the full report »

Primark , Tesco and Asda have all made public commitments to the payment of a living wage to suppliers – commonly calculated to be a minimum £22 a month in Bangladesh. Yet starting wages in the factories researched for War on Want’s report were as little as £8 a month, barely a third of the living wage. Even better paid sewing machine operators receive only £16 a month, which equates to 5p an hour for the 80 hours they regularly have to work each week. The minimum wage for garment workers in Bangladesh halved in real terms during the 1990s, and many complain their pay is too low to cover food, housing and health costs.

Primark , Tesco and Asda have all made public commitments to the payment of a living wage to suppliers – commonly calculated to be a minimum £22 a month in Bangladesh. Yet starting wages in the factories researched for War on Want’s report were as little as £8 a month, barely a third of the living wage. Even better paid sewing machine operators receive only £16 a month, which equates to 5p an hour for the 80 hours they regularly have to work each week. The minimum wage for garment workers in Bangladesh halved in real terms during the 1990s, and many complain their pay is too low to cover food, housing and health costs.

Primark , Tesco and Asda have also pledged that their suppliers must not be required to work more than 48 hours a week on a regular basis, and should have at least one day off in seven on average. But workers interviewed for War on Want’s report can toil up to 96 hours a week – double the supposed maximum – and often lose their day off. Factory owners have forced staff to work up to 140 hours a month overtime, often unpaid, or face dismissal.
In February and March 2006, garment factory collapses and fires in Bangladesh left almost 100 workers dead and many others injured. Being locked in unsafe buildings has been a common complaint among Bangladeshi factory workers. Interviewees for War on Want’s report also stated that emergency exits are often kept locked in their workplaces. Primark , Tesco and Asda have given their commitment to fair treatment for suppliers’ workers. But employees interviewed for War on Want’s report said their managers had been given prior notice of these companies’ social audits, and workers themselves had been bullied by their bosses to lie about their pay, hours and safety.
Whilst this report focused on Bangladesh, the same conditions are found in garment factories all over the world despite commitments from companies like Tesco , ASDA and Primark that workers making their clothes are doing so in decent conditions.

Louise Richards, Chief Executive of War on Want, said: “Bargain retailers such as Primark, Asda and Tesco are only able to sell at rock bottom prices in the UK because women workers in Bangladesh are being exploited. The companies are not even living up to their own commitments towards their overseas suppliers. The Labour government must bring in effective regulation to end such shameful practices.”

Read the full report »