Stores must act to help school uniform slaves

I read with great interest – which turned quickly to disgust – your article entitled ‘25p An Hour’, which reported how women in Bangladesh are paid this sum to make school uniforms sold in supermarkets in the UK.

You stated that Aldi had announced ‘an immediate investigation into the workers’ allegations’. What this really means is that they have been caught and if they hadn’t been, they would have continued selling these cheap goods made by people treated as little more than slaves.

Parents on a tight budget can’t be blamed – if something is offered at a cheap price, then of course they will buy it.

Supermarkets are solely to blame. They, or their representatives, visit these factories and must see the conditions and know what wages are paid but choose to do nothing.

These retailing giants should donate a percentage from each item of uniform sold to a project to fund schooling for the children of these workers. Roger Findlay, King’s Lynn, Norfolk I was upset to learn that workers in Bangladesh earn a pittance of 25p an hour for making school uniforms for big stores such as Tesco. Most employees live in slums, with whole families in one room. Children often have to fend for themselves.

If Tesco and other stores arrange for school uniforms to be manufactured in faraway countries to save money, the least they could do is ask for proof of the wages and conditions of the workers making the clothing.

Jon Bryan, Liverpool The manufacture of low-end clothing is Bangladesh’s biggest industry. The quantity made for the British market is a tiny proportion of the whole production, which they sell all over the world. There is precious little else that the vast uneducated population of that country can do to earn a crust. Life isn’t always fair. F. Robin, Hampshire So you think people would be happy paying £20 for a polo top instead of a few pounds? I don’t think so. The woman who gets 25p an hour is lucky – if she did not work, she’d be on zero wages. It’s all relative. I’ve lived and worked in Bangladesh and know how cheap it is to live there – 25p an hour is a fortune.

Chris Driscoll, Alicante, Spain It is not Tesco’s fault the UK taxes earnings so much that businesses cannot employ British suppliers.

B. Roberts, Liverpool