Have you ever wondered who laboured countless hours away making your new sweater? Or who hand-made that gorgeous necklace you just saw in a beautifully arranged shop window? Many of the biggest high street, and even some high end, shops use horrifying sweatshops to create their "masterpieces." Marks and Spencer's, Banana Republic, Nike, H&M and Adidas are all rumoured and have even confessed to use of sweatshops. If you are unfamiliar with sweatshops, they are unacceptably dangerous working environments where the workers earn usually less than minimum wage for working very long hours. Sweatshops can also breach the laws against child labor. You might believe that in our day and age, in 2012, a thing like sweatshops wouldn't exist. Imagine a child as young as 6, spending his days making a sweater for you and me, just to stay alive. The thought is just gruesome. This fact is shameful for every single brand that pays for sweatshop use. Dozens of workers, widely underaged, sit in dirty and unhygienic factories to gain a mere 1.60USD at the end of their 16 hour shifts. Sweatshops are however not only found in less developed countries such as Cambodia and some parts of India, they are found widely in the U.S. Sweatshops need to be brought to light, the fashion industry has oppressed this issue. Many people have taken a stand against sweatshops and vowed not to purchase anything from a shop that uses sweatshops. Nicole and I have both taken an oath to restrain from buying from any shops that use sweatshops.
Tell me what your opinion on sweatshop labor is? Should there be a official stop put to this?
THANK YOU FOR WRITING THIS. Before, I basically lived off H&M. Once I found out about this sweatshop business, I totally stopped. Just so I can have a new sweater, a 8 year old child is starving on an 8 hours shift. It's so not right and I'm gonna try to shop mostly secondhand-it's safer.
ReplyDeleteI agree it's so awful and wrong but so hard to find out whats really going on and who's doing what. I hate thinking there's a small child out there working in a stinky hot factory threading away rather than playing in the sunshine and enjoying their childhood. It's so sad :o(
ReplyDeleteSDMxx
www.daringcoco.com
Thank you sooo much this has totally enlightened me. I'm never gonna shop in shops like primark or hnm ever again. Thank you soo much I love all your blogs they are soo inspiring and amazing to read
ReplyDeleteLove all your blogss they are soo amazing
ReplyDeleteHi, dear! First off, thank you for the lovely comment on my blog. I'm already following you!
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I agree with this post. I knew Nike used sweatshops to create some of their merchandise like their shoes but I never knew H&M was involved as well. It's similar to the horrendous working conditions kids had to endure during the Industrial Revolution - I honestly never thought that our world would be so backward and uncivilized to continue things like that.
It's absolutely revolting, but then again, sometimes the little kids who work at sweatshops are PAID MORE than what they would be paid in their own villages. Perhaps they CHOOSE to work at the sweatshops, simply because they offer better money than elsewhere for those poor, uneducated kids. Keep in mind that they have little elsewhere to go!
I totally agree with you in that employers should not exploit those children and should pay them way more - the kids definitely don't deserve to be treated like that. Big companies are all about the profit, and they should realize that paying their workers more only makes them happier and more productive/willing to work! But sadly, it will be difficult to get the kids to quit their jobs or to tell them to seek better jobs :(
Such an enlightening and thought-provoking post, dear (: I'm glad you guys are thinking deeply about these issues because it's important to keep these sort of things in mind. I certainly won't be purchasing from H&M anytime soon. I wonder how many other stores do this - I'll research and get back to you guys!
Love, Fatima (fashionpilgrim)
Twitter: @fashpilgrim
Instagram: @fashionpilgrim
Thank you everyone for the thoughtful comments and for stopping by The Green Ray Bans! :) x
ReplyDeleteOMG...I didn't know that ...so awful!! I'll never go shopping in shops like primark or hnm!!! Thanks for sharing!!
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you so much for your sweet comment! You said you are following me, but I can't see you on my GFC followers list :S
x♥x♥
"Saúde & Beleza - Health & Beauty"
PS: Sorry dear, I was checking my GFC followers list, and we have been follwing each other for a long time ;D
DeleteAnd I'm between Grace and Alexa in your GFC followers list, you can check it ;)
Perhaps you're interested in following each other on bloglovin, if you do, let me know, so I can follow you back! it's really easier to keep in touch, and maybe you will not forget me<3
x♥x♥
"Saúde & Beleza - Health & Beauty"
Unbelievable, i'm glad you guys have brought this situation to light, will definitely do more research on brands before i purchase from them from now on! Hopefully sweatshop labor will be put to an end soon. Thanks for sharing this, very enlightening!
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