Labour Behind The Label

A new report by SweatFree Communities demands an end to the suppression and criminalisation of trade union organisers and human rights advocates in Bangladesh.

This 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.

For over a decade, consumers, workers and campaigners have been calling on fashion brands to make sure the workers who produce the clothes they sell are paid a living wage. At the start of 2006, Labour Behind the Label decided it was time to check in with the fashion industry, to see what progress has been made. This report presents the results of our investigation, revealing who is - and isn’t - doing what.

The world's Football Associations will make over £200m from sponsorship and licensing arrangements this year, while their sponsors are expecting hundreds of millions of pounds in additional revenue from World Cup goods.

Meanwhile, the people stitching the footballs, sewing the shirts and glueing the boots that will earn this money are working late into the night, six or seven days a week, for poverty wages. Those that attempt to form trade unions to try to improve their working conditions are persecuted and often lose their jobs.  This report was produced in 2005 by Labour Behind the Label and the TUC.