Are there really worse retailers than Primark?
Article published: Tuesday, March 10th 2009
by Dan Welch, Ethical Consumer’s leading alternative consumer organisation
Eleven year old refugees in India sewing sequins on clothes destined for
Primark – for 60p a day. A generation of Uzbek school kids bussed to
the pesticide-ridden plantations to pick cotton – for the love of the
Leader. Workers in filthy, dangerous factories working 16 hour
shifts, seven days a week. Striking garment workers in Bangladesh
shot by police. These are the depressingly familiar stories about the
distressing realities behind cheap clothes and fast fashion.
We’ve been hearing them for years. And for years the high street clothing
giants have been supposed to be getting their house in order. When
the Primark refugee story broke last year the company was proudly
displaying at its tills its credentials as a member of the Ethical
Trading Initiative. So what’s going on?
Ethical Consumer has just conducted a major survey of 29 high street
retailers. We asked them in detail about what they are doing to
ensure workers’ rights in the factories that supply them – from
how workers can safely voice complaints to whether companies train
their buying agents in ethical trade practices.
The good news? You can tell the sheep from the goats. There’s a clear
difference between those that are putting genuine energy and
resources into trying to improve conditions, and those that just
don’t seem to give a damn. The three clear winners on our ranking
of workers’ rights were Monsoon\Accessorize (79%), M&S (74%)
and Gap (71%), with runners up Next (62%), H&M (58%) and Tesco
(53%). They might not be the names you were expecting – but that’s
the point of the survey. Take Gap. Their reputation was shot to
pieces by a series of scandals about appauling conditions in supplier
factories. Reputations mean a lot to brands, and Gap put a lot of
energy into trying to improve things. Big names tend to get caught
out, while the smaller brands slip under the radar.
The bad news? Nineteen of them actually do worse than Primark. How!? you
might wonder. Well, stores like Urban Outfitters, Moss Bros and BHS
don’t appear to even have any policies in place to prevent abuse by
suppliers.
But if Primark were part of the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) when
refugee kids were sewing sequins for 60p a day, that rather knocks
the “ethical†out the “initiative†doesn’t it? The ETI
isn’t a product stamp like Organic or Fairtrade. It doesn’t
guarantee standards. It’s brings together retailers, unions and
NGOs to agree best practice and try and encourage better standards.
In 2006 the ETI reported on whether ten years of companies putting
policies in place and auditing suppliers had improved things. The
answer was: not much. Health & safety and child labour had
improved – but long working hours and low wages had actually got
worse. The model isn’t working.
While the high street has failed to deliver, designers and ethical shoppers
have taken things into their own hands. There’s been a massive
growth in smaller, ethical labels specialising in Fairtrade, organic,
and alternative materials. The UK is at the forefront of an ethical
and sustainable clothing revolution, with this year’s London
Fashion Week opening with Estethica, a showcase of ethical fashion.
May be it’s time to forget the high street.
Selected scores from Ethical Consumer’s new report: Mango 49%, Primark 42%,
New Look 37%, Topshop 34%, Zara 33 %, TK Maxx 20%, FCUK 3%, BHS 0%,
Urban Outfitters 0%
More: Manchester, News
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