Stories behind the label – responding to the tragedy of the clothes workers in Bangladesh

[Boyd Roberts]

See attached Word document for full piece with images

 

Increasingly, clothing manufacture is a global business, with clothes made in countries where labour is cheap and sold elsewhere. In both real and actual cash terms, the price of some clothing has fallen in Western countries over the past 15 years or so, as clothes are manufactured in places with low labour costs.

The appalling tragedy of the deaths of clothing workers in the collapse last Wednesday of a factory in Bangladesh making clothes for well-known Western retailers reminds us of the price people are paying for the cheap clothes people in other countries enjoy.

As Award participants all wear clothes (!), finding out something about the background to their production and considering carefully what they buy seems very appropriate – as part of Personal Global Footprint / Being good with your money.

One approach is to follow the following model:

(See attached Word document for diagram)

Participants:

Research the background to the clothes they wear

Relate this to their existing knowledge and attitudes

Reflect on how they use their clothes, what factors they take into account when they purchase clothes etc

Reflect on whether they wish to change their purchase and use of clothes….

And take Action.

Although it may be helpful to begin with a sequence as above, the three Rs, and action all interact. Reflection should stimulate additional research, and action will prompt continuing reflection. Action sits at the heart of interconnected learning processes. It also adds to knowledge and, through reflection, is related to existing opinions, helping to shape values and attitudes.

 

Research

Look at your labels  15 mins

This activity explores where our clothes are actually made. It generally transpires that although many of ‘brand names’ are big UK or US companies, the products are made in developing countries, and in particular East Asia. Please see accompanying leaflets to provide you with more information on this issue.¨

• In pairs, look at each      other’s labels and find out where the items of clothing were made. Then
• Look at a world map and      stick dots onto the countries where your items have come from.
• Then follow up with      questions:

• Where are most of the clothes made? (Refer to the map)

• Where do you think the company headquarters are based?

• Why do you think that their clothes are sourced from the countries that have been

  mentioned?

• Why do you think some clothes had no labels (there is no obligation)?

This activity is taken form a pack Passion for Fashion – an exploration of the global fashion industry, published by Reading international Solidarity Centre (RISC), UK. The pack outlines a series of activities relating to different academic subjects and taking a whole day. But some of the activities can be used alone.

The pack was produced in 2002, so some of the information may be a little out of date.

http://www.risc.org.uk/files/passion-for-fashion.pdf

 

For information on this factory collapse examine newspaper reports from different countries:

For instance, see:

Khaleej Times (United Arab Emirates)

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/kt-article-display-1.asp?xfile=data/int...

CNN (USA)

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/04/25/opinion/bangladesh-factory-collap...

The Independent (UK – with specific reference to UK companies associated with the companies in the destroyed building).

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/290-dead-as-high-stree...

Deutsche Welle  (Germany)

http://www.dw.de/protesters-police-clash-over-bangladesh-factory-co...

 

For recent responses of clothes producers to the tragedy, see http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/bangladesh-disaster...

Google Bangladesh fire 2013 for information on fires in clothing factories so far this year.

 

 

For background information on conditions of factory workers making cheap clothes

Videos

War on Want has produced  Arifa -- the life of a sweatshop worker

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXTwzW5mXvs&list=PL9A49DA5731D17...

 

Russian news network RT gives a short report on Bangaldeshi factory workers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mnt5-M88jsg

 

Other information

Abir Abdullah is a photographer who has been recording fires in the garment factories of Bangladesh. Read his story and see some of his photos at:

http://www.alexiafoundation.org/stories/AbirAbdullah?gclid=CKPZ6KX5...

 

Labour behind the label is a UK-based campaign organisation that works to improve conditions and empower workers in the global garment industry.

http://www.labourbehindthelabel.org/

The Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights is running a campaign to improve the conditions of clothes workers in Bangladesh.  It gives updates on events in Bangladesh and on its activities to improve garment workers’ conditions.

http://www.globallabourrights.org/campaigns?id=0003

Democracy Now is campaigning for improved rights for Bangladeshi workers, leading calls for clothing manufacturers to provide better conditions. The following video relates to a large recent factory fire in Bangladesh:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mnt5-M88jsg

 

 

Actions

• Buy FairTrade clothes when available.
• Ask the shops where you buy clothes about where the clothes are made and the conditions of the workers. (This lets them know that their customers notice and care about these things).

 

• Contact clothing manufacturers and retailers to ask about the conditions of the workers producing the garments.

 

• Put pressure on clothing manufacturers to improve conditions for their workers in developing countries – write letters.

 

• Sign a petition, for example, there is a petition to WalMart on conditions in the factory in Bangaldesh in which there was a large fire killing many people.

http://www.change.org/petitions/walmart-and-other-retailers-linked-...

• Start your own online petition. Change.org provides a platform to do this:

http://www.change.org/start-a-petition