Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Fashion victims deserve better
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The way we conduct ourselves and treat others has been thrown into sharp focus recently, due to the coronavirus and the Black Lives Matter movement.
So when you hear of vulnerable people being exploited while billionaires line their pockets, it makes you sick to the core.
There were allegations this week that workers in garment factories that supply fashion chain Boohoo were “being forced to come into work while sick with Covid-19”. Claims also emerged that they are paid as little as £3.50 per hour, and work in squalid and dire conditions.
It all came to light when Leicester was singled out to stay in lockdown because of a recent spike in Covid-19 cases.
The outbreak seems to be concentrated around the city’s clothing manufacturing centre, where it is claimed many of the factories and workshops failed to properly shut down during national lockdown.
Local councillor Mustafa Malik said: “Certainly, there are factories that abided by the regulations, but there were some which were just breaching all those rules.”
Thulsi Narayanasamy, a labour rights researcher, investigated conditions in Leicester earlier this year and noted: “I’ve been inside garment factories in Bangladesh,
China and Sri Lanka, and I can honestly say that what I saw in the middle of the UK was worse than anything I’ve seen overseas.”
I’m particularly enraged by the fact that the majority of workers in this industry are of BAME backgrounds – the most vulnerable to Covid-19.
They often live in multi-generational homes, so can easily pass on the virus to their loved ones, some of whom will have underlying health issues.
Campaign group Labour Behind the Label focused a recent report on Boohoo’s influence in Leicester, where 75-80 per cent of its garments are reportedly produced.
It is a national disgrace that vulnerable people are being paid less than the minimum wage while business owners have become billionaires by selling cheap fast fashion.
Ordinary people in the UK do not want to be associated with brands that don’t do enough for the welfare of workers – and this was clearly demonstrated when £2billion was wiped off Boohoo’s value.
That’s what you get if you put profits before values.
Treatment of our garment workers an utter disgrace