The fast fashion industry does not shy away from hurting our most vulnerable populations. In this post, we are going to be talking about how the fast fashion industry impacts people; both the people who make our clothing and those who buy them.
GARMENT WORKERS
The biggest impacts the fast fashion industry has in regard to people is on the garment workers; factory workers whom are hand making our clothing in unsafe, unjust and unethical conditions. There are garment workers all over the world and majority of brands hire factories from the Global South to manufacture clothes from places such as China, Bangladesh, Indonesia and India where they have the lowest labour standards, and thus purposefully lower the wages of garment workers in order to lower the overall costs of the supply chain, and ultimately provide clothing at super low prices to consumers (Ethical Consumer, 2021). It's great that fast fashion is essentially accessible for all, but at what cost? If items tend to be cheaper to begin with, sans sales and coupons, there is almost most definitely a human cost.
The fast fashion industry exploits workers whom majority are from overseas, in order to maximize their profits. As I've mentioned in the first post of this series (I will always either be referring back to multiple posts or most definitely repeating myself because it is nearly impossible not to with how complex and intersectional the topic is. Also, if I want this information and facts to really sink into your brain, it's going to be have to repeated numerous times), the main goal of these fashion brands is to maximize their profit margins (Definition: the amount by which revenue from sales exceeds costs in a business), and the only feasible way they can do that is to lower their costs by any means necessary. They prioritize profit over people.
According to Global 16 Days Campaign, there are 60-70 million garment workers worldwide and 75% are women (Global 16 Days Campaign). The women who work in these factories are often exposed to abuse and sexual harassment, discrimination and other forms of violence, nonetheless working in conditions that are unsafe with zero benefits and social protection. Garment workers work in factories with no ventilation, breathing in toxic substances, which results in the deterioration of their health from long hours of inhaling fumes from textile production. (Sustain Your Style).
85% of garment workers do not make a living wage (Definition: a wage that is high enough to maintain a normal standard of living) (Garment Worker Centre), which is different from a minimum wage, in that a minimum wage is the lowest wage permitted by law, which means one can still maintain a standard living. Garment workers are known to get paid a "piece rate", which means they get paid 2-6 cents per piece of garment. They also work extremely long hours (60-70 hours) a week and do not get paid overtime, taking home about $300 (Garment Worker Centre).
One recent event occurred during the pandemic in March 2020 when brands had to close all stores and cancel massive orders due to the global lockdown, resulting in the decision to not pay for the clothing that was ordered from factories, and thus factory workers not being paid and many losing their jobs (Consumed, 2021). Typically, these brands purposefully outsource manufacturing for the low cost, but due to the unregulated legal bindings, they also choose to only pay when the clothing get shipped to the destination, not when they are hired to make the clothing. The factory workers end up being in deeper debt because not only do they pay for the materials to make the clothing, but now they cannot pay their workers or any other logistics due to this theft.
This issue resulted in the #PAYUP campaign started by Remake (a non-profit working at the intersections of labour rights, climate justice and fashion activism), which demanded brands pay their workers (the factory workers are considered their workers too because they hire them to make their clothing...isn't that common sense? Clearly not to fashion brands who treat them as if they're not their employees too), alongside other intersecting issues such as;
- Keep workers safe
- Show transparency
- Give workers centre stage
- Sign enforceable contracts
- End starvation wages
- Help pass laws
- Urban Outfitters (Anthropologie, Free People)
- American Eagle Outfitters
- Arcadia (Topshop)
- JCPenney
- Walmart (Asda)
- TJX (T.J Maxx, Marshalls)
- End human and environmental exploitation in the global fashion industry
- Safe working conditions and living wages for all people in the supply chain
- Redistributed and more equal balance of power across the global fashion industry
- A bigger and stronger labour movement in the global fashion industry
- A global fashion industry that works to conserve precious resources and regenerate ecosystems
- A culture of transparency and accountability across the value chain
- An end to throwaway culture and shift to a system where materials are used for much longer and nothing goes to waste
- Heritage, craftsmanship and local wisdom are recognized and valued
THE FACTS:
- Ethiopian garment workers earn a base wage of $26 a month. The minimum monthly living wage in Ethiopia is about $110 (Remake)
- 14 to 16 hours per day is the average working day in most manufacturing countries (Sustain Your Style)
- 50 workers have died and another 5000 are sick due to blasted sand inhalation in denim factories in Turkey (Sustain Your Style)
- Garment workers must work until 2 or 3 am during peak season to meet deadlines imposed by fashion brands (Sustain Your Style)
