25p an hour, 16 hrs a day

Amidst recent protests by garment workers in Bangladesh and Cambodia for a living wage and decent working conditions, a new sweatshop case was uncovered by the Observer at Indian factories where workers are paid 25p an hour and forced to work overtime to manufacture clothes for M&S, Next and Gap. A few workers who voiced complaints were beaten up and fired from their jobs. This story from the garment industry is nothing new nor is it surprising anymore. But what are we going to do about it?

I suspect, many of us have come to accept what mainstream economists like Paul Krugman, Jagdish Bhagwati, and Jeffrey Sachs have preached for too long. “Bad jobs at bad wages are better than no jobs at all“.

At the time of slavery, these economists would have given a similar argument for slavery being better than no jobs at all. By their logic, husbands can perpetrate violence on their wives, as long as they provide them shelter and food, especially if their wives are unskilled and cannot get a job due to market or social constraints. Just because slaves would “voluntarily” choose slavery over starvation, and oppressed wives would continue to suffer their husbands instead of ending up with prostitution, does it justify the status quo? In fact, there is often a worse option to compare with when attempting to justifiy the most horrific and exploitative practices.

We should know better than find comfort in the ethically deviant arguments supporting sweatshops. Due to civil society campaign pressures, many big companies in the UK, including M&S, Next and Gap, have signed up to a code of conduct called the Ethical Trading Initiative. However, this form of self-regulation has not improved labour conditions by much so far.

Most of the global garment retailers work through a network of sub-contractors. This setup allows the retailers to distance themselves from unfair practices of their sub-contractors. On the one hand, the retailers may ask their sub-contractors to adhere to labour standards. But on the other hand, they apply intense pressure on these sub-contractors to reduce costs. Competition is fierce among the sub-contractors and they know that costs are the main factor in securing contracts. Labour standards therefore get a short shrift.

The greatest power consumers can exercise in this struggle for labour rights is by discriminating in favour of ethical retailers and manufacturers. However, there are serious constraints in doing so. Most people’s income is in some proportion to the overall price of goods in the market. This makes it difficult for a large section of the population on average income to pay a significantly higher price for ethically produced clothing.

Nevertheless, big social changes and victories in the fight for human rights have only come at the cost of personal sacrifices. If we all can do our bit, according to our respective financial capacities, we can send a strong message to the retailers. Looking at the alternatives is a good start.

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