Fashion Victims
This was the title of a recent report by War on Want http://www.waronwant.org/Fashion+Victims+13593.twl). According to the report ‘Workers in Bangladesh are 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. Starting wages in the factories in Bangladesh 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.’
Research from the University of Cambridge shows that the population of the UK purchases approximately three billion garments per year, equivalent to approximately 50 items per person.
Of the price of a £7 T-shirt bought in the UK 22p is for the raw material (cotton), 33p for cotton processing in the USA, 53p for processing the fibre costs in China, and 88p for producing the garment in China. For each £7 T-shirt they receive a 6p subsidy from the US government via their cotton subsidies to farmers. Each T-shirt has caused the employment of 22 people in the USA, 234 people in China and 57 people in the UK!
Buying fair trade clothing can be a positive resopnse. We have our own local supplier of ethical clothing in Bishopston Trading http://www.bishopstontrading.co.uk/ and there is also the possibility of online shopping with Adili http://www.adili.com/lingerie_nightwear/c6728-1.html.