Brands must act immediately to make sure their suppliers pay workers and stop cheating them out of legal minimum wages.
Brands must act immediately to make sure their suppliers pay workers and stop cheating them out of legal minimum wages.
As per Civic and Social Organization’s “Clean clothes Campaign†and its recent measures, ‘Almost £41 million as arrears is owed to more than 40,000 workers in Karnataka, India.
The bare minimum that brands need to do is ensure at least what is owed to the workers is low’. Garment workers in India contribute massive energy to brands like Zara, Next, H&M, Adidas, M&S, Levi’s, American Eagle, The North Face, Gap, Uniqlo, Primark, Abercrombie & Fitch, Target, Walmart, Tesco and so on. Big fast fashion giants seem to give a miss at the root of fashion ethics which is paying and respecting ground workers of the production units.
It is about time to set a reminder for brands to respect labour rights and pay workers at least 10 % more than what they have been paid. This could help avoid garment workers going hungry in the struggle of providing brands a higher fashion appetite. Major brands are using the excuse of the global pandemic and staying silent as devastating wage theft continues in their supply chains. Corporate accountability should strongly include a binding commitment from the global apparel brands.
Brands often do not pay the suppliers enough wages to cover basic production costs. They are ending up in a tragic status of labour suffering high costs. Labour costs are one of the first costs to be cut so that suppliers can make ends meet.
Brands typically outsource their production from independent manufacturing. While brands may not be directly responsible for garment workers’ salaries or deciding how they should be paid, they can certainly vouch for what they are hiring and how it should be managed.
Source: Times Of India.com
Image Source: Google Images
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