BBC Primark exposé

The fact that Primark have pulled out of these factories and therefore left these people with no income has made things all the worse for those children exposed as working in these conditions. What is needed is consumer responsibility and a willingness to abandon the cheap fix and pay more for the clothes we wear. This would result in the factories being able to pay their workers more and the need for cheap child labour would be abolished.
Comment by Marie Cronin on June 24 16:12

Primark sacked 3 of its suppliers after this programme is shown on TV. To me, this is just to shift their own responsibility to the suppliers. Everyone knows that the cause of child labour is because Primark buyers give very stingy buying prices for the clothes and accessories. The suppliers have to minimise their costs in order to meet the target price set by Primark. This force some of the suppliers to use child labour or refugee labour.
I am surprised that Primark doesn't look into its own ethical practice and pricing strategy, and just shift all the blame to the suppliers.
Deep down, I don't think that Primark take the ethical standards seriously. Didn't Primark responded by saying that "using child labour is not uncommon in the fashion industry?"
I think that the fashion industry should do something to stop this type of ruthless exploitation of the child labour in third world countries. This is not a job Primark can do or is willing to do.
Comment by Liz on June 24 17:10

I have worked in the UK fashion industry for 20 years ( I am based in china)
It might ( or may not) suprise you to know the current margin expected from garment buyers is 700% on the high street.
Next time you buy a shirt for GBP18.99 the buyer has paid approx GBP 2.70.take into the account fabric buttons labels and shipping, you can understand how little the worker is paid - even on local minimum wages.
Dont forget the factory also needs to pay salaries and make a profit.
This is purely driven by retailers so called price points( based on their perception of what the customer will spend and based on competitive prices such as H&M, Primark and Tesco.
Add to that the cost to the environment using cheap dye, requiring more electricity than is available in these countries and creating heavily polluted environments - do you feel good about your bargain purchase?


Comment by Miss fashion on June 27 16:42

i watched blood,sweat and t-shirts a few months ago on bbc three and its really affected my views on fashion and has made me stopped shopping at places such as primark (except for the odd occasion -i'm not made of money!). If people want to make a difference, we as consumers have to be willing to buy fewer clothes, but of better quality, so we will wear them and really appreciate them. I recently emailed primark and said they should put there prices up, and either make all their clothes in Britain, or start making the sweatshops theyare made in up to British standards and pay them British wages,and moniteer EXCATLY how each item was made and how all the components were attached. I was pleased this programme was aired as it encouraged poeple to start to care how and where their clothes were made.
Comment by phoebe on June 27 17:48

The ethical decisions behind this are vrey delicate. I'm not condoning what they do.

Like Jesse said, it isn't just Primark's. It isn't just Nike, more shops than you think use sweatshops. New Look and Zara and share one of the factories that Primark uses, I found that out from Mintel and that was a recent article in 2010.

M&S were using them up until recently...
Comment by BecSTAR on April 13 11:45

It's a terrible predicament to be in that you need the work, however, the conditions that they work under are not safe. It's up to their own governments to punish employees who exploit cheap and child labour. This is typical of most third world countries, and I have seen programmes where the people have asked that you continue to buy the products to feed their families. It's their own governments who are responsible for the conditions that their own people live and work under, so they should work much closer with the charities who are wiling to help them, so that they can learn, teach and educate and improve work conditions, to increase the wages and allow the children to have schooling. They are not responsible for the wars, famines and weather conditions that cause the floods, however, they have got to ensure that the relief gets through and goes to increasing their food supply and clothes on their backs. Primark are not the only, and will never ever be, the only manufacturers who exploit poor countries. You cannot wipe out greed in one foul swoop but you can try and protect the downtrodden from the greedy. All companies, such as Primark, should work closely with societies, such as, Fairtrade. It doesn't mean the products have to increase substantially in cost, you just have to pay a fair price. All companies should annually have to prove where their imported products are manufactured and a list of banned employees can eventually be built up. It's a long term progression, but if they want to be seen as honest companies they should be willing to prove it, at their cost.
Comment by Susan on February 10 18:17